The Modest Bride

The music starts. Family and friends sitting quietly in the pews stand in unison and turn expectantly toward the entrance of the church auditorium. The doors open, and there at long last is the bride! Holding her father's arm, her radiant face expresses her great joy. But wait! What is this gown she wears...?

The gorgeously soft, flowing dress of cleanest white is a portrayal of the bride's purity. When a Christian girl who has always clothed herself decently in the past walks down the aisle on her father's arm, her wedding dress should be consistent with her and her church's beliefs and worn in a way that continues to accentuate her chastity. Did the Bible make an exception for the bride to be immodest on her wedding day? Why is it then that Christian girls who have dressed modestly all their lives walk down the aisle in a gown that reveals too much? What a bride chooses to wear for her husband in the privacy of their home is their business, but the figure that was covered all those years should not be exposed before the entire church simply because she is about to be married.

Considered how the groom might feel. I wonder how many young men have been shocked to see the young lady they love, who has always been decent in the past, suddenly meet him in a dress that reveals her femininity, not only to him as her husband, but to the whole of the congregation as well. I have to think that, though the groom might appreciate it for himself, it would be offensive that his wife would share herself with anyone other than him. Not only might this be offensive to the groom, but also to those who did not wish to see what the bride has revealed and expected more than this from the young woman whose standards they believed were so high.

We know of one preacher in particular who will not marry a couple until his wife has seen the dresses of the bride and bridesmaids and deems them to be modest. Perhaps this sounds a bit drastic, but I think it is something worth praising God for! Why should the poor preacher have to avert his eyes from the indecent bride he is marrying before his entire church--those who know his stand on Biblical modesty? This causes a very awkward situation for the preacher who is then required to sanction the marriage of a bride who defies the church's standards by publicly wearing something that cannot be considered modest.

In searching the Internet for bridal accessories and comparing prices, I have come across bridal websites that say "Be the hot bride." Hot bride? When was it the bride's goal to look hot? I understand that this is the world's terminology, but when the wedding dress of a Christian bride is suddenly inconsistent with her former standards of modesty, this is compromise with a world that says the bride is supposed to look "hot."

A bride should look the essence of sweetness and loveliness. Marriage is a picture of the union of Christ and the church, His chaste virgin. Those who compromise in this area are corrupting a Biblical picture that has long been considered the summit of Christianity. Perhaps this is something that those of us who are brides-to-be should seriously consider. We have the great privilege of playing out this perfect picture of spiritual things to come entrusted to us by the Lord. May we please Him in everything...even our wedding!