What was the expected of a bride in the 16th century?
By the 16th century, veils were out. The fashionable bride wore instead a delicate hat with a brim. Red and gold were the popular colors for gowns. In 1533, Catherine de’ Medici of Florence married into the French nobility and the event was so celebrated that unique facets of her wedding — lace, heeled shoes, lingerie, and even dancing — became new wedding customs in France. A few decades later, in 1558, Mary Queen of Scots married in a white dress — long considered by the French to be the color of mourning. A bold move, considering that she was marrying into the French royalty. Despite some outrage, brides favored the look, and the color white made yet another stride towards becoming the color for wedding gowns. The Elizabethan bride usually wore flowers in her hair, often a crowning wreath, and carried a bouquet trimmed with knotted ribbons. Royal brides throughout history favored ornately jeweled gowns, and in 1613, England’s 16-year-old Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King James
