Friday, December 28, 2012

Wearing White On the Wedding Day

Why do most brides wear white? Why should a bride wear white?
White has always been a symbol for celebration for some 2,000 years, as well as a symbol for happiness and joy on the wedding day. Most brides wear white to symbolize maidenhood. White is also the symbol of purity and virginity. Cream, Ivory and Pearl are also acceptable colors and they carry the same symbolism as white.

A bride wearing white on her wedding day means much more than simply physical purity. Yes, we make mistakes, but the Lord says that “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). While a woman may not possess her virginity any longer, she can still possess purity, because purity is much more than mere virginity. Purity is your actions before God and man with the man who you are going to marry. If a woman has confessed her sin and repented of it, it is no longer remembered by God, for He has said “I will not remember thy sins” (Isaiah 43:25). He has made her clean. He has granted her a second chance.

Because a wedding is a time for celebration, and represents the happiness and joy of the couple getting married, there is no reason why the bride should not wear white if she and her husband-to-be have guarded their purity with each other until God united them in marriage. A woman is able to wear white for all the reasons above as well as the fact that God has purged her, made her sins as white as snow and remembers them no longer. She may not be a virgin, but she has maintained purity since her mistake, being cleansed and made pure by God. If she and her husband-to-be are walking in purity in their relationship, there is no reason she should not be able to wear white.

A woman should wear white for the following reasons:
  1. White represents a time of celebration, which is what a wedding is.
  2. White represents happiness and joy, which is what takes place in marriage.
  3. White represents maidenhood, a woman's time of singleness prior to unity.
  4. White represents purity, your current actions (despite past mistakes) in light of God's forgiveness and granting of a second chance.
  5. White represents the cleansing of God, washing our sins from us and making them as white as snow.
A bride should wear white on her wedding day because God has cleansed her and made her as white as snow, giving her a second chance at purity; because their relationship will be guided by purity, and they can honestly stand before God and man and say that they remained pure with each other until marriage united them. White reflects not only physical purity, but also what God has done for and in us, as well as what we have chosen to do in purity. If Christ does not see His bride as tarnished when we commit sins, why should a bride have to appear tarnished despite her past sin? It is all washed white by the blood of Christ, forgiven, forgotten, and cleansed.

With that being said, the majority of weddings taking place today are mocking the sacredness of the marriage institution when the bride wears white. This is especially true of secular weddings. These women should not be wearing white because they are neither virgins nor are they maintaining purity. Any couples who joyously and habitually partake in fornication out of wedlock, when they get married the bride should be wearing any colour except for white. In fact, it would be most fitting if these brides were wearing black. If you are not pure or maintaining your purity, you have no right to get married in a white wedding dress! If you wanted to get married in a white dress, you should have thought about your actions earlier and repented of your sins, forsaking them and practicing purity until your wedding day. Then, and only then, do you have the right to wear white.