Brides Are Looking to Colorful Accessories to Add Personality to Their Wedding Looks

by · WWD
Loeffler Randall's Natalia Blue floral bow heel.Courtesy of Loeffler Randall

The bridal accessories market has been experiencing a jolt of color recently, with some brides forgoing the traditional white and ivory styles for bolder colors that reflect their personalities.

While neutral tones remain a go-to for bridal accessories, designers and brands are seeing more brides opt for colorful shoes, jewelry, handbags and other styles to complement their all-white looks, both at their wedding and at other wedding-related events. 

“People more and more just want to feel like they are being themselves when they get married,” said accessories designer Jennifer Behr. “People are willing to do more and more experimenting so that they feel like they have a wedding that stands out and is really beautiful, which isn’t to say like — white can be very beautiful as well and can be unique — but color can also bring a lot of happiness and liveliness to things.” 

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Designers are seeing brides leverage a wide range of colors for their bridal looks. The most popular shade plays into the ubiquitous “something blue” tradition, where brides are opting for powdery blue shoes, jewelry, hair clips and other accessories. 

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At Loeffler Randall, founder and creative director Jesse Randall stated that year-to-date the brand’s blue heeled sandals comprise roughly 10 percent of the brand’s direct business. For the brand’s Dahlia shoe, which is its bestselling pleated heel year-to-date, the blue colorway is Loeffler Randall’s number-one style. 

“We repost a lot of like user-generated content of brides wearing our product and I’ve noticed this anecdotally,” she said. “I’ve noticed that on our Instagram, we’ve been posting a lot of UGC of people maybe wearing like a dark green or blue or a color in their shoes.” 

Jennifer Behr’s Marisol earrings.

Behr has also seen consistent interest in its blue accessories, and explained she’s been seeing the tradition evolve into different shades of blue. 

“We’re going to see blue as well, but not in a super traditional way and in a more interesting way,” she said. “Blue for us is always a really, really strong selling color, and we’ve been seeing more sapphire rather than a really light blue. I think that will continue to develop — like a sapphire colorway.” 

Light pink, green and red are also becoming more popular in bridal accessories, designers said.

Accessories designer Lele Sadoughi said she sees brides go for jewel-toned accessories, typically for winter weddings. This December, Sadoughi is introducing her latest collaboration with Swarovski, which includes several bridal-inspired styles with an array of colorful crystals. 

Jennifer Behr’s Kendall headband.Courtesy of Jennifer Behr

Sadoughi said she thinks part of the reason why brides are leveraging colorful accessories is because there are now more wedding-related events than in previous years. 

“It’s no longer about just the actual ceremony,” she said. “It’s about celebrations like a shower, a bachelorette, the brunch after, the rehearsal dinner. There’s a theme that goes into not just planning a Pinterest board for the day of, but actually the whole experience with your invitations and your bridesmaids’ outfits.”

With multiple wedding events comes multiple outfits, and colorful accessories are a way to make each bridal look unique, according to the designers.

“My guess is that people want to show their personality a little bit and have a little bit more fun,” Randall said. “People change into different looks — they might wear the blue shoe for the rehearsal dinner, or maybe they’ll put it on for the reception or even for the ceremony, too. There are so many more events now more than there ever were, so there’s probably more looks. That’s also part of wanting to have a lot of different expressions throughout the whole event.” 

Colorful accessories allow brides to add a personal element into their bridal looks, whether they are playing into the “something blue” tradition, opting for their favorite color, or matching their bridesmaids’ dresses.

Lele Sadoughi’s Sweetheart sunglasses.Courtesy of Lele Sadoughi

“Accessories are the best way to customize your look,” Sadoughi said. “Someone might have the same [wedding] dress, someone might have the same bridesmaid’s dress, but there will not be that person that has the same combination of the beautiful headband that has a hint of color and maybe the bridesmaids all have different colors, so you can really individualize the look. At your wedding, you want to be the only person that looks like you. It’s an opportunity to individualize a look through accessories.” 

Whether brides play into the “something blue” tradition or opt for a bold hue, the designers think accessorizing is an optimal way to add a subtle, personal element to any bridal look.

“There’s definitely a fashion customer for it, but I also think it’s a bridal customer as well,” Behr said. “We’re seeing people that are really trying to express their own style rather than looking like a quote, unquote bride.”