5 Reasons You Should Consider a Black Wedding Dress for Your Adventure Elopement
THE HEaRNES adveNturE phoTOGraphy | Utah elopement photographers
Rachelle had the best of both worlds, wearing a white wedding dress for their sunrise first look in Canyonlands National Park, and a black wedding dress for their ceremony in a secret canyon near Moab, Utah. Click here to see the full blog post from their Moab elopement!
This one is for the edgy brides. Are you one of those girls who always wears black? Does your closet look like it could belong to Steve Jobs? If so, this post is for you. I was inspired to write it after one of our gorgeous black dress wearing brides was featured in this black wedding dress round-up on Green Wedding Shoes, and I realized there are some obvious and not-so-obvious, even practical reasons to embrace the color black on your wedding day! Especially if you’re going against the grain to do an adventure elopement instead of a traditional wedding. We’re clearly all about breaking tradition around here, and your wedding attire shouldn’t have to be an exception!
Ray is wearing a gorgeous black elopement dress from the Reformation
REASON ONE: you do you
I kind of touched on this already, but the first reason to consider wearing a black wedding dress for your adventure elopement is because it’s just another way to break tradition and do something that feels totally YOU on your wedding day. For so long, our society has told brides what to do for their wedding; I mean, I can see how a checklist like this might be helpful, but I can also see how it might make you want to throw up and hide in a closet. Which is why we love elopements - the check list is like 10 things and they’re all fun 😉 But that’s a different topic. One of the biggest things we’ve always told couples, even back when we shot big weddings in Texas, is to make every decision based on what YOU want, not what people or magazines or blogs are telling you to do! Are you not a fan of cake? Get donuts instead! Do you feel more yourself wearing black? Get a gorgeous black wedding dress!
REASON TWO: it’s easier to keep clean
I spill just about everything I eat on myself. Seriously. When I got married, I wore a white dress because I didn’t know there was another option (I still love my dress, but you get the point), and I literally had to make a bib out of napkins when I ate my dinner so I wouldn’t ruin it. It should be no surprise to you that our adventure elopement brides often get pretty dirty, from hiking to climbing in and out of a jeep to laying all the way down on the ground, these dresses get put through the ringer! And while we always encourage our brides to embrace the mess, a black wedding dress is way more likely to look good as new at the end of the day - and throughout all of your photos.
REASON THREE: you can wear it again
A HUGE benefit of wearing a wedding dress like Ray’s Reformation Dress in this Moab, Utah elopement is how easy this would be to wear again to nice event, date night, or even a friend’s wedding! I had a bride once who mentioned her wedding dress company allows you to ship your dress back after the wedding and they’ll dye it black for you so you can wear it again to formal events, but imagine just rocking that gorgeous black wedding dress on your wedding day too! And then when people compliment your amazing dress, you can say “thanks, this was my wedding dress!” and watch the look on their face 😏
After wearing a white wedding dress for their sunrise first look in Canyonlands National Park, Rachelle changed into this gorgeous two-piece black wedding dress that was really a tulle skirt paired with a black sweater for a high-neck, long sleeve look.
REASON FOUR: it photographs beautifully!
Black wedding dresses look absolutely amazing in photos, especially if you’re eloping in the desert, like in Moab, Utah or Zion National Park. The way the black stands out against the red desert dirt is so beautiful. It’ll help you and you pop against the landscape, whether you’re eloping in Moab, or Alaska, or anywhere else in the world! I honestly can’t think of a wedding destination where a black dress wouldn’t look good, except maybe inside of a dark cave 😂 Also, it’s pretty universally known that the color black is extremely flattering for pretty much all skin toes, hair colors, and body types.
REASON FIVE: black dresses tend to be less expensive than white dresses!
This last one is purely practical — you can typically find formal black dresses for much less than your typical white wedding dress! For instance, Ray’s dress from The Reformation is $428, which is just a fraction of the price of most wedding dresses! Rachelle’s black dress is actually a two piece, she bought her black tulle skirt on Etsy and paired it with a black sweater that she already had for a gorgeous high neck, long sleeve look!
Remember, the number one thing to keep in mind when planning your wedding is making it a day that reflects YOU. Whether your dress is black, white, yellow, or tye dye 🤪, as long as you feel beautiful and confident, you’ve made the right choice! My biggest hope with a blog post like this is to be helpful, so I’ll end it with a few of my favorite black dresses I found that would look incredible for your adventurous elopement!
List Updated April 2022:
I hope this was helpful! As always, let me know what you think + if you have any questions in the comments!
