White Wedding’ lookbook bridal shoot at ITC hotels, with models Sneha Ghosh and Jessica Aaron

The colour white has several connotations; to the Western world, it is associated with new beginnings. In relation to Western weddings, it has several other connotations though, like purity and innocence. The origin of ‘White Wedding’, a term derived from the colour of the dress, can be traced back to Great Britain and the 1499 marriage of Anne of Brittany to Louis XII of France. However, it was popularised as an elite choice of wedding attire during the Victorian era following Queen Victoria’s white lace wedding dress. Thereafter, a chosen wedding attire for the Western world and Christian weddings or church weddings, the white dress gained further prominence with Princess Diana’s dramatic train of her wedding gown. Though gowns are more or less restricted to the Western wedding tradition, the colour ‘white’ for wedding attires has crossed borders and boundaries long back.

In this lookbook, however, we have focused on the regal and elegant white gowns, with a variation in veils and silhouettes. It is an eclectic mix of pre-Victorian classics and traditional Christian and Western wedding styles to the more modern slender styles. Models Sneha Ghosh and Jessica Aaron charmingly don the looks for t2.

(l-r) “The Western wedding looks are all about minimal make-up, keeping it natural and looking blushy like a princess. I always tell my brides that they must look like themselves first and then use make-up and accessories to define the look. My idea was to showcase different hairstyles with minimal make-up so that brides opting for the ‘white wedding’ attire can add a magical touch to their look right from the first kiss to the last dance”-- Sumit Samanta, hair stylist and make-up artist, “It was such a delight and so exciting to style this bridal shoot. I have styled many wedding dresses and trousseau for my sisters, cousins and friends, but this was different. The challenge was to conceptualise and create six beautiful looks, and the goal was to showcase both traditional and contemporary styles as well as simple and glamorous styles. I also had to keep in mind comfort and the weather. Each look had to be unique in terms of dress, hair and make-up and accessories. The bride is the star of the show on the wedding day, and we aimed to create looks that will make her look like the princess she has always dreamt of dressing up as– beautiful, delicate and graceful” --- Nicola Gomes, stylist