Dreams of a white wedding have gone Technicolor this year. Continuing last year’s trend, colour is creeping back into bridal fashion, from a wedding gown with a subtle gold sheen to a bold crimson sash on a bridesmaid’s dress. White may be nice for some brides, but others are veering away from tradition and using their nuptials to express themselves with splashes of colour as diverse as a display of paint chips.

Designer Alida Lloyd, of Alida’s Gowns on Vancouver Island, says this trend has been a long time coming. “All the European gowns now are coloured,” she tells the Straight at the 2007 Wedding Fair at the Westin Bayshore Resort and Marina. Lloyd explains that women got married in a spectrum of shades until 1840, when Queen Victoria chose a white number for her wedding. The noncolour trend took off and eventually took on a virginal subtext. But things have changed.

“Nobody thinks white means virginity anymore,” Lloyd says with a smile. Without that baggage, colour was ripe for a comeback, with its potential to inject creativity into this most significant dress. “The biggest thing with a bride is she wants to be unique,” Lloyd says. “That’s the easiest way, to add colour.”

Lloyd likes to incorporate colour into the custom-designed gowns she makes with her daughter, Beverly. A bride may visit her Sidney show room and work with her to draft the concept for a one-of-a-kind gown, or she can choose an original design from www .alidasgowns.com/ and have it made to measure. Prices run from $2,000 to $6,000, and although a hop or two to the island is necessary, Lloyd says, “Brides will go a long way for that right gown.”

Lloyd’s creations include an off-white silk, Empire-waist gown with pale gold and robin’s-egg–blue lace accents (shown at left). The strapless ruched bodice is given a subtle hue by overlaying it with Italian lace and freshwater pearls. This detailing extends down the dress’s hourglass-shaped centre panel. The side seams and centre back seam feature gussets with the same lace, which unfurls dramatically when the bride moves.

An even bolder choice is a sophisticated strapless gown with a slim skirt and a deep back slit. It’s finished with a silk peau de soie and cranberry Italian lace and features a cranberry silk dupion belt with a long, flowing back sash. A detachable white three-quarter balloon-effect skirt with a built-in crinoline, worn with a white silk shrug with a standup collar, give a nod to tradition during the ceremony. Take them off for the reception, and the result is a versatile, sophisticated, colourful dress that could actually be worn again.

Brides too shy for this much colour can still add a wisp of it with a belt or a sash. This trend played out on the Wedding Fair fashion-show runway. Colourful belts encircled waists of both bride and bridesmaid gowns—often providing the link between bridal-party dresses—from Bryan’s Bride (Brentwood Town Centre, 4–4567 Lougheed Highway, Burnaby). Accents appeared in subtle shades of pale gold, peach, beige, or chocolate brown as well as brighter pink, turquoise, and red. Many dresses were embellished with simple bows or rosettes on the belts, or at the gathers of the skirt. A white veil finished with face-framing crimson echoed the crimson sash of one gown.

Strapless and ruched bodices figured highly in design detail, as did fitted bodices with asymmetrical waistlines, often with drop waists. Skirts stayed full and glamorous, billowing round and spilling into trains. Jewel tones brightened up bridesmaid dresses. Maria’s Bridal & Gift Gallery (3660 East Hastings Street) showcased several strapless, above-the-knee picks made flirty with tulle underlay and scalloped hems. For men, Western Tux (3298 East Broadway) showed jewel-toned brocade vests. After all, with such brilliant brides, why would a guy stick to black and white?