Lady Kitty Spencer in her second wedding dress
Gemma Larkin
Over the past decade, wearing more than one wedding dress has slowly but very surely gathered momentum. The Duchess of Cambridge, Duchess of Sussex and Princess Eugenie all changed into a second gown for their evening parties. More recently Lady Kitty Spencer went on to wear another four Dolce & Gabbana gowns at her wedding in Rome last year. Needless to say, it really is now the done thing.
The whole idea of the second dress is that you change for your party, giving you the option to set aside and preserve your more traditional church gown, and slip on something less formal and more comfortable. That said, it’s important to keep the look bridal which means stick to white. Any other colour will leave you blending into your crowd of guests along with your bridal moment lost which you may well live to regret. Aside from tradition, one reason white is important is that it ensures your bridal visibility throughout the day.
A touch of colour and embellishment is fine to reflect the party mood – the Duchess of Cambridge slipped out of her lace gown into a more relaxed satin number complete with crystal waistband and marabou feather crop jacket.
If you’re desperate to have a complete change keep it metallic as this is the only other accepted bridal shade and will maintain the glamour. However, make sure it’s show-stoppingly fabulous in every which way. Short is fine but then this absolutely has to be white. A short-coloured frock means you could be and would be anyone.
