AisleDash

Traditionalists will give a firm "no!" to that question. White, they say, symbolizes purity (by which they mean virginity, of course.) We won't dwell on the fact that it's rather rude to speculate about the personal life of the bride, and we certainly won't be so crass as to speculate as to what percentage of first-time brides "deserve" to wear white.

Anyway, it turns out the traditionalists aren't as "traditional" as they think. Prior to Queen Victoria's wedding, women didn't tend to go out and buy something special for the event. They just wore their best dress.

Victoria wore a white dress, yes -- because that was the color of most (rich) women's best dress at the time. Why rich women? Because white is so impractical! In the days when all items were washed by hand, you had to have money if you could afford a dress that would have to be washed after every wearing.

So, it turns out white is only secondarily a symbol of purity. Mostly, it just meant you had money. Nowadays, it's mostly just a symbol of a joyous special event. What does this mean for a second wedding? It means that if the bride wants to wear white, so she may.