Top 10 Memorable Movie Wedding Dresses

There’s nothing more daunting than creating a movie costume for an iconic outfit from a book. Fans already have high expectations based on what they imagined, so getting every detail right is key. The final gown featured in “Catching Fire” was reminiscent of a creation by Alexander McQueen, but in fact it was a collaboration between costume designer Trish Summerville and Indonesian designer Tex Saverio. The frothy feathered design is the perfect dramatic piece for one of the pivotal moments in the “Hunger Games” story. It’s so pretty that we don’t want to watch it burn!

The costume designers for this film sure had a lot to live up to. Queen Victoria’s wedding dress is possibly the most iconic bridal gown of all time. She’s often cited as the one who started the modern tradition of brides wearing white on their big day, although she technically wasn’t the first royal to be wed in white. For the film, starring Emily Blunt, the designers were heavily inspired by the real life dress, but didn’t recreate it identically. They kept the look a little more fresh and palatable for modern audiences.

Sofia Coppola’s 2006 historical drama was every fashion lover’s dream. The pastel-hued reverie taking place at the Palace of Versailles left viewers drooling over the beautifully elaborate gowns. The real Marie Antoinette was only 14 when she married into French royalty and though the real gown no longer exists, historians have a good idea of what it would have looked like. Milena Canonero designed the movie version, which fit the description of being made with silver cloth with a hoop skirt and the bride highly adorned in ribbons and embellishments.

In terms of over-the-top wedding gowns, the ‘80s definitely did it best. While this movie gown didn’t feature the giant puffed sleeves that the era is known for, it did have a puffed veil and an epic train. This rosy hued outfit is especially memorable because of the pivotal role that the wedding scene plays in the film. Prince Akeem thinks that the woman he has been arranged to marry is walking down the aisle towards him, but when he lifts her veil, it’s actually Lisa McDowell, his true love.

While this classic romantic comedy was made in the ‘80s, it was set in the Renaissance Era, and Princess Buttercup’s dress reflects the bridal fashion of the times. While this farcical film doesn’t spend much time on historical detail, the dress is one thing that was intended to be accurate. Costume designer Phyllis Dalton created this empire waist dress with dramatic oversleeves. The material is a silvery blue tone and features corset lacing in front. The gown is so popular that some fans have tried to recreate it for their own nuptials.

Maya Rudolph’s character wears two hard-to-forget gowns in the 2011 movie “Bridesmaids” and neither is remembered for how great it looked. The first dress is worn during what is debatably the film’s most memorable, and most disturbing, scene. The girls get food poisoning while trying on dresses at a bridal boutique and carnage and hilarity ensues. Let’s just say that Lillian Donovan needs a new dress afterwards. Meanwhile, the dress that she ultimately wears for her wedding is absurdly ornate and was modeled after the elaborate final gowns that designers often send down the runways.

Keira Knightley is known for wearing gorgeous corseted ball gowns in many of the period pieces she acts in and the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise is no exception. Her character, Elizabeth Swann, has the opportunity to sport many beautiful dresses throughout the series, but by far the most incredible is her wedding dress in the second installment, “Dead Man’s Chest.” Her wedding to Will Turner may have been rudely interrupted, but at least we got a chance to see this gold-toned concoction before it ended up at the bottom of the sea.

The creators behind the “Sex and the City” movie probably knew that no matter what dress they chose for Carrie’s ultimately ill-fated wedding to Mr. Big that it would be hotly contested amongst fans. They remedied this by having the famous fashionista try on multiple dresses for a Vogue bridal shoot, eventually settling on a show-stopping Vivienne Westwood creation for her big day. The high fashion sculptural gown sadly didn’t make it down the aisle, but in the end we loved the little white suit that Carrie wore for her casual brunch wedding at the end of the film.

Today, Audrey Hepburn is an icon for old Hollywood fashion and one of the roles that cemented her title was 1957’s “Funny Face.” In the film, where Hepburn becomes a high fashion model, she shows off many stunning outfits by Hubert de Givenchy, but the crowning glory is of course the wedding dress. While the design may look retro to our eyes, at the time it was actually strikingly modern. The tea-length ballerina style gown may have only been used for a fashion shoot and not an actual wedding, but that doesn’t make it any less lovely.


Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

“The Graduate” (1967)


“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1” (2011)


“Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones” (2002)

Maria was not exactly known for being fashion forward, but her wedding gown still makes it to the top spot on our list. The demure and elegant dress perfectly suited her character. Interestingly, because the producers of “The Sound of Music” had no idea how beloved their film would become, all of the costumes used during shooting were returned to a movie costume rental company. So Maria’s famous wedding gown was actually worn for other productions in later years and sadly was subject to alterations, as well as wear and tear. In 2013, however, the dress was put up for auction with the winning bid bringing in over $23,000.