Top 10 Iconic Wedding Dresses

The times may have changed, but classic dress trends remain in existence. We saw some incredible gowns on the runway in the past 6 decades and think they are as timeless as they get. Check out these 10 iconic wedding dresses and the brides. Which one  deserves the most recognition?

1. Grace Kelly (1956)

The most iconic wedding dress of all time came with a real life fairy tale that people still talk about to this day. Hollywood actress Grace Kelly had often played royal parts in movies. A trip to France’s Cannes Film Festival led her to meet Prince Rainier III of Monaco and a year later they were married in a dazzling ceremony. This ended her film career as Kelly became a full time Princess. MGM costume designer Helen Rose who had won two academy awards for her work was asked to design the royal gown. A bell shaped skirt made from taffeta with a beautiful embroidered lace bodice with a high neckline, long sleeves and a graceful train, the dress was the epitome of elegance with exquisite detailing. Princess Grace Kelly’s wedding dress to this day inspire women and I believe it will do so forever. Recently wed Ivanka Trump and Nicole Richie are both said to have been inspired by the dress for their fairytale wedding.

On September 13, 1982,  tragedy struck. While driving with her daughter, Stéphanie, to Monaco from their country home –  Roc Agel – on the French side of the border, Princess Grace suffered a stroke. The stroke caused her to drive her Rover P6 off the serpentine road down a mountainside. Grace was alive when she was pulled out of the wreckage, but had suffered serious injuries and was unconscious. She died the following day at the Monaco Hospital (“The Princess Grace Hospital Centre” in English—in 1985), having never regained consciousness; she was only 52 years old. It was at first reported that Princess Stéphanie suffered only minor bruising, but it later emerged that she had suffered a serious cervical fracture.

Princess Grace Legacy: On June 18, 1984, Prince Rainier inaugurated a public rose garden in Monaco in Princess Grace’s memory because of her passion for the flower. In 1993, Princess Grace was first U.S. actress to appear on a U.S. postage stamp.

2. Princess Diana (1981)

Designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, Diana Spencer’s wedding dress was made for the‘Wild Romance.’ This was one of the most fairy tale wedding dresses to be made in history, it was made from silk taffeta with a tiny waist and a huge skirt. There were big puffy sleeves, a frilly neckline and the dress was decorated with antique lace, hand embroidered with hundreds of sequins and 10,000 pearls.  The most memorable and mesmerizing part of the dress was the 25ft train that covered the aisle of St Paul’s Cathedral where she and Prince Charles got married.

Diana and Charles – who had sons Princes William and Harry together – separated in 1995 and were divorced in 1997, weeks before her tragic death in a Paris car crash. On 31 August 1997, Diana was fatally injured in a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma road tunnel in Paris, which also caused the deaths of her companion Dodi Fayed and the driver, Henri Paul, acting security manager of the Hôtel Ritz Paris. 

The initial French judicial investigation concluded the accident was caused by Henri Paul’s drunken loss of control. But in February 1998, Mohamed Al-Fayed, the father of Dodi fayed, for whom Paul had worked, publicly maintained that the crash had been planned and accused MI6 as well as the Duke of Edinburgh. An inquest in London starting in 2004 and continued in 2007–2008. No one to this day knows what happened.

Princess Diana Legacy: From her engagement to the Prince of Wales in 1981 until her death in 1997, Diana was a large presence on the world stage, often noted as the “world’s most photographed woman”. She was noted for her compassion, style, charisma, and high-profile charity work, as well as her tumultuous marriage to the Prince Charles which led to divorce and scandal.

3. Kate Moss (2011)

Moving out of the topic of royalty, Kate Moss stuck by her old friend, designer John Galliano and opted for a beautiful bias cut dress. Keeping hair and make-up soft and pretty turned this supermodel into a stunning English Rose.  And something blue turned out to be the lining in Mossie’s Manolo Blahniks, not Jamie Hince’s YSL suit.

Moss’ new husband Hince shunned traditional dark colours and opted for a light blue Stefano Pilati for YSL suit, giving his ensemble a rock twist with a pair of sunglasses.

The bridal party included 14 young bridesmaids in white chiffon dresses with a gypsy-style neckline and matching ballet pumps, with maid-of-honour, Moss’s former casting agent Jess Hallett in a blue Stella McCartney creation.

4. Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge (2011)

What can we say that hasn’t been said already? The Duchess of Cambridge managed to  wow  everyone in this stunning gown designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen. The much-anticipated frock paid respect to Grace Kelly with its lace bodice, nipped in waist and a full skirt.

According to Yahoo News, Kate Middleton has now sparked a new wedding dress trend when she dazzled the world in an elegant lace bridal gown at her Royal Wedding to Prince William.The Duchess drew gasps as she emerged from her car in an Alexander McQueen lace gown with long sleeves, a plunging, yet modest neckline and full skirting. She’s heralded the re-emergence of the classic looks.

Just a year ago,  a strapless wedding dress was all the rage and dresses with even so much as a spaghetti strap were tough to unearth – but as the world of wedding fashion has caught up, that is all about to change.

5. Wallis Simpson (1937)

The marriage of Wallis Simpson and Prince Edward wasn’t a royal wedding as it should have been. The prince had decided to abdicate the throne in order to marry divorcee Mrs. Simpson. The bride wore a simple blue dress with a fitted waistband, gathered bodice all finished off with a neat hat – the style was widely copied for its simplicity. They would later move to the United States until the Prince Edward died in 1972.

6. Kristen Stewart (2012)

Kristen Stewart wore a Carolina Herrera gown for the Twilight on-screen wedding where her character Bella married vampire Edward. It took its designer and four seamstresses over six months to make and was custom-made specifically for Stewart.

The rear of the dress features a sheer panel with delicate scrolled embroidery and was designed by Carolina to be a ‘romantic’ surprise.

Stephenie Meyer and the Breaking Dawn director Bill Condon selected the final design out of ten sketches that were submitted by wedding dress designer.

7. Genie Francis:

The wedding of Luke and Laura was one of the biggest – if not the biggest scenes on General Hospital and in all of soap opera history. After the summer adventures of Love on the Run, fans awaited the nuptials of their favorite couple. On November 16, 1981, Luke and Laura were finally married outdoors in front of 30 million viewers watching this event! Today, soap operas are lucky if they can get 1 million viewers.

Over the years, a lot has happened to this supercouple: two children, Lucky and Lulu, a divorce, a remarriage, and Laura’s institutionalization and emergence from a catatonic state with the help of an experimental drug. The drug’s good effects were short-lived, however. Knowing this, Luke went through with a re-marriage ceremony, though at the time, he was  married to Tracy Quartermaine – Polygamy. A catatonic Laura returned to the institution to seek further treatment.

On January 8, 2013, executive producer Frank Valentini and Entertainment Weekly confirmed that Francis would again return to General Hospital. ^[8] She first aired on February 11.

8. Empress of Iran (1951)

The Shah and Empress of Iran at their 1951 wedding. She wore a custom Christian Dior gown for the occasion. The wedding did not last long. On 21 March 1958, the Iranian New Year’s Day, a crying Shah announced his divorce to the Iranian people in a speech that was broadcast on radio and television. He  also said that he would not remarry in haste; although, he did. get remarried.

9.  Carolyn Bassette (1996)

The sleek and sexiness of Carolyn’s bias-cut, Narciso Rodriguez gown resulted in the launch of his career and then solidified her as a style icon.

Carolyn Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr. were married in a secret ceremony on Cumberland Island, off the coast of Georgia, on September 21, 1996. The ceremony took place in a small Brack Chapel of the First African Baptist Church.  40 guests attended, including Ted Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy and her husband Edwin Schlossberg. The wedding was planned by Gogo Ferguson, a Cumberland Island resident who also designed the couple’s wedding bands.

The bride walked down the aisle in a $40,000 pearl-colored silk crepe floor-length gown, hand-rolled tulle silk veil and long silk gloves by Narcisco Rodriguez. She also wore beaded satin Manolo Blahnik sandals. Her hair was pulled back away from her face and styled by George Kyriakos. A bun at the nape of her neck was pinned with a clip belonging to Jackie Kennedy. She clutched a lily of the valley bouquet, arranged by Rachel “Bunny” Melon, the same woman who designed the White House rose garden.

Carolyn died on July 16, 1999, along with her husband and older sister Lauren, when the Piper Saratoga II HP Kennedy was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Martha’s Vineyard. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause of the crash was: JFK Jr. failure to maintain control of the airplane during a descent over water at night, which was a result of his spatial disorientation.

10. Gwen Stefani:

Gwen Stefani’s Custom Dip-Dyed Gown by Dior This Dior dip-dyed silk faille gown was custom-created for the pop star’s 2002 wedding. We love this ombre look.

Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale were dating for 6 years before Rossdale finally popped the question on New Year’s Day 2002. On September 14th of 2002, modern music’s most famous front-woman and her British beau exchanged vows in a traditional Anglican service at St. Paul’s Covent Garden in London. The bride (Stefani of course) arrived an hour late for the ceremony, but for the groom she was well worth the wait. “God bless Gwen,” Rossdale stated.

Following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Stefani donated $1 million to Save the Children’s Japan Earthquake–Tsunami Children in Emergency Fund. Stefani also ran an auction on eBay from April 11 to April 25, 2011, allowing participants to bid on vintage clothing items from her personal wardrobe and custom T-shirts designed and signed by her, with all  proceeds from the auction going to Save the Children’s relief effort.