Most Unique Wedding Dresses of All Time

Ever wonder why so many brides wear white? Thank Queen Victoria. In 1840, she walked down the aisle to marry Prince Albert wearing a white wedding dress that sparked a trend, making white the go-to shade for brides.

Katharine Hepburn opted for an unusually ornate gown to say her vows in for her wedding to Ludlow Ogden Smith in 1928. The cream colored velvet dress with v-neck embroidery was auctioned off in 2004, among other items from her estate.

Wallis Simpson was an American socialite who intended to marry the British King Edward VIII. Because of her non-royal status and first marriage that ended in divorce, the king was forced to abdicate his throne in order to marry her. Though you can't tell here, Wallis wore a subtle, blue dress to their wedding, which none of Edward's family attended.

When Swedish-born actress Ingrid Bergman wed Petter Lindström in 1937, the bride's simple crepe gown was of typical fashion for the decade. Her real showstopper? The caged Juliet cap that she wore on top of her pin curls and veil.

In keeping with tradition, Bette Davis did not wear white for her third marriage, which was to William Grant Sherry in 1945. Instead, the bride went with a plaid suit dress and a veiled flat hat.

When former child star Shirley Temple married Army Corps sergeant, John Agar, in 1945, it was an event that all of America wanted to witness. Her dress, a full-length stain gown with short sleeves, was on par with the fashion of the time, but the unusual beaded neckline and matching headpiece were far from typical.

Even though Lauren Bacall is an old-Hollywood actress known for her sultry looks, she skipped the big white dress and wore a beige skirt suit and black leather belt for her wedding to Humphrey Bogart (who also happened to be 25 years her senior).

During her fourth wedding to Jo Bouillon, Josephine Baker let her style shine with a dress embellished with flowers and a belt.

After her marriage to director Orson Welles ended, '40s film star Rita Hayworth caught the attention of Prince Aly Khan. The two married in 1949 on the French Rivera in a highly publicized ceremony. Rita chose a light blue, pleated dress and matching wide-brimmed hat for the occasion — a style that was soon replicated by many across the United States.

For her 1951 wedding to Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner wore a moiré silk gown with a fitted bodice, a box pleated neckline, and chiffon cap sleeves. As it was the bride's third marriage, she decided against wearing a veil and instead accessorized with a double-strand pearl choker.

Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis decided on an intimate affair at home in Greenwich, Connecticut. For the ceremony, Janet wore a mid-length, short-sleeved suit, a patterned scarf, and a white embroidered Juliet cap.

While she wore several gowns for her many marriages, Elizabeth Taylor's first unconventional dress was this simple suit for her 1952 wedding to her second husband, Michael Wilding.

When Hollywood starlet Marilyn Monroe married baseball legend Joe DiMaggio in San Francisco on January 14, 1954, she didn't wear white. In fact, she wore something nobody would've expected: a chocolate brown dress that hit just below her knees, plus a matching jacket.

Joan Crawford's fourth marriage, to Pepsi executive Alfred Steele, was all about simplicity. The two decided to elope in Las Vegas and the bride wore a simple and elegant black dress with an elaborate white orchid pin.

For her first marriage to Robert Wagner in 1957 (the two would remarry in 1972), Natalie Wood opted for a modern look that included a white strapless cocktail dress, a lace hood, and ballet flats.

The '50s bombshell chose a wedding dress with a fitted mermaid style, to complement her hourglass figure, when she married body builder, Mickey Hargitay.

Although you can't see the bottom, this stunning lace dress was actually midi-length. The gorgeous tulle hat completed her look.

It wasn't just the hunter green dress Taylor wore to her wedding to Eddie Fisher that made it through the gossip mills. The marriage as a whole was one of Hollywood's biggest scandals, given that Fisher was married to Taylor's close friend, Debbie Reynolds, when the two first got together.

For her second wedding, the French actress threw tradition out the window and (although you can't tell here) wore a pink gingham shirtwaist dress by Jacques Esterel to her wedding to actor Jacques Charrier.

Eartha Kitt was the epitome of class at her wedding to John William McDonald.

After a 20-year marriage to costar Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball married nightclub comedian Gary Morton in 1961. For the joyous occasion, which was met with 1,000 fans gathering outside of the church, Lucille wore a silk brocade coat and veiled fascinator.

For her wedding to fifth husband Richard Burton, Taylor opted for a canary yellow chiffon dress, topped off with dozens of white flowers in her hair. While her marriages certainly made the news more than her gowns, this was her brightest dress to date.

In typical '60s style, actress Jane Fonda wore a high-neck, sleeveless white mini dress with tall black-heeled boots to marry French director Roger Vadim in 1965.

On top of being a trendsetter with her iconic pixie cut, Mia Farrow totally ignored conventions when she wore a short, structured white skirt suit for her wedding to Frank Sinatra in 1966. The marriage itself was seen as scandalous, given the age difference between the pair: Farrow was just 21 at the time, while Sinatra was 50 years old.

For her first wedding to Peter Allen, Liza Minnelli wore a white dress ensemble, but with her own flair. The lace blouse with ruffled sleeves and a turtleneck, paired with a sleek cream skirt, was ahead of its time.

The famous actress's crotchet outfit she wore to wed producer Patrick Curtis at the City Hall of Paris on Valentine's Day in 1967 was so casual, it looked like she could have just walked off of the beach in St. Tropez — despite the winter season.

Ready for a big surprise? Elvis Presley's wife, Priscilla, designed her own dress for the pair's Las Vegas wedding — and it was a dramatic one, featuring chiffon, beads, and a three-foot veil.

Sharon Tate's wedding dress for her London ceremony to Roman Polanski was the height of '60s fashion. The Valley of the Dolls star opted for an ivory silk moiré dress with a mini hemline and high neck.

Considering her famously stunning looks, it's no wonder that Audrey Hepburn looked every bit the blushing bride at the wedding for her second marriage, which was to Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti in 1969. Still, it came as a big surprise that she opted to wear a pale pink Givenchy minidress with long sleeves and a headscarf.

Never one to be conventional, Natalie Wood chose a yellow embroidered dress, a matching coat, and a flower ribbon headpiece for wedding to Richard Gregson. That said, the bride stuck with one tradition: She carried a bouquet that included straws of wheat, a common Russian bridal custom.

Judy Garland married Mickey Deans, her fifth and final husband, in a whirlwind London ceremony. Though not evident here, The Wizard of Oz star walked down the aisle in an all-blue ensemble, complete with a chiffon mini dress, a matching feathered poncho, and a pill box cap. Sadly, the actress passed away later that year from an accidental overdose.

Being the unconventional couple that they were, Yoko Ono and John Lennon chose to wear untraditional garb to their nuptials. Ono rocked several of the decade's most iconic trends: the mini skirt, a felt hat, and knee-highs.

The English star sought out John Bates, a popular designer in the '60s, to design her short, red, velvet wedding dress to Bobby Willis. Even though it wasn't expected, it was clearly good luck, because the two were married for more than 30 years until his death in 1999.

When model Bianca Jagger married Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger in 1971, she wore a low-cut white skirt suit that was by no means conventional, yet it's still easily one of the most stylish celebrity bridal looks of the decade.

After divorcing in 1974, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor re-wed in a small intimate ceremony a year later. The bride wore a rainbow peasant gown with flowers in her hair, while Richard opted for a very '70s look: a red turtleneck and white slacks.

Aretha's bridal look had it all: lace, gloves, and a lovely veil.

For this royal wedding, Queen Noor al-Hussein, née Lisa Halaby, dressed modestly in an elegant high-neck, tiered gown by Christian Dior.

The world waited for a glimpse of the dress the princess would wear for her 1992 nuptials to Philippe Junot — after all, her mother Grace Kelly's high-neck gown still to this day sways bridal trends. Caroline's sheer embroidered, bell-sleeved gown did not disappoint.

Princess Diana's show-stopping wedding dress had over 10,000 pearls and a 25-foot train. Before her wedding started, she actually spilled perfume on her gown — but Diana's team managed to hide it, so it went unnoticed.

Leave it to one of the most iconic singers of all time to wear a memorable wedding dress. When she wed actor Sean Penn, she donned a dress by her costume designer, but it was the black bowler hat with a veil attached that had everyone talking.

No one did '80s glam better than Brigitte Nielson, especially at her wedding to Sylvester Stallone in December 1985. She designed the long-sleeved gown herself and added a statement-making beaded headdress on top.

For her marriage to Vic Damone, Diahann Carroll wore a stunning cream suit that was complemented with pearls.

When Rita Wilson walked down the aisle with Tom Hanks, she rocked a super short, poofy-meets-bodycon dress that didn't exactly stand the test of time. What did stand the test of time? Their marriage. The couple has been together for over 35 years, which is basically a century in celebrity relationship years.

When Emma Thompson married Irish actor Kenneth Branagh in 1989, it's unlikely that anyone expected her to walk down the aisle in a multicolored dress featuring a squiggly pink bodice. To be fair to Emma Thompson, the late '80s and early '90s weren't exactly the most fashionable years in history.

For her 1992 wedding to Timothy Taylor, Lady Helen of Windsor had British designer Catherine Walker create a custom ivory silk gown with a wide-arching neckline that turned heads.

In a lavish affair on June 5, 1993, singer Mariah Carey married Sony Music's Tommy Mottola wearing a massive $25,000 Vera Wang gown with a 27-foot-long train. That's right, 27 feet of fabric. The couple divorced just four years later.

The iconic singer kicked off her marriage to her manager Rene Angélil on December 17, 1994, wearing a breathtaking Mirella and Steve Gentile gown featuring long sleeves and a 20-foot train. The (literal) crowning glory of the look that's more divisive than the dress itself: a seven-pound headpiece.

When Marie Chantal Miller married Pavlos, the Crown Prince of Greece, in 1995, the American heiress opted for a pearl-encrusted Valentino gown with a fitted bodice and a high, sheer neckline.

JLo's second wedding was a whirlwind. She married her backup dancer, Cris Judd, less than eight months after splitting from her boyfriend of two years, Sean Combs. Jennifer wore a Valentino gown and the duo put together their wedding plans in just three months.

In a move that only a true rockstar could pull off, No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani married Bush singer Gavin Rossdale while wearing a wild Christian Dior dress designed by John Galliano that featured a striking white-to-pink gradient and a lengthy train.

Julianne Moore opted against white for her wedding to Bart Freundlich and wore a lavender Prada dress instead. The couple said their vows at a friend's Greenwich Village home in 2003.

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wore a blue-gold dress coat by Robinson Valentine, inspired by her mother's jewelry, for her exchanging of vows with Prince Charles. She wore a headpiece by Philip Treacy.

Dita Von Teese and Marilyn Manson were anything but traditional, so for their 2005 wedding, the burlesque dancer chose a custom violet silk dress by Vivienne Westwood.

If anyone were willing to bare all at their wedding, it was bound to be Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock. When the pair tied the knot on a yacht in St. Tropez, the bride rocked (hyuck hyuck) a teensy white bikini.

In a moment that would be viewed by millions on reality TV, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt exchanged their vows in front of a dramatic crowd on MTV's The Hills. Leading up to the moment, there were rumors that Heidi would design her own gown, but for the her big day, she wore a Monique Lhuillier dress.

For the Real Housewives of Atlanta star's wedding to Peter Thomas, she went as far from a white dress as she could, wearing instead a platinum-colored gown custom made by designer Rubin Singer. She said her modern venue, Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta, was her inspiration.

For Prince William and Kate Middleton's massive wedding at Westminster Abbey, Kate pulled out all of the stops for her dress. Her Alexander McQueen gown featured 58 gazar- and organza-covered buttons down the back — and she borrowed the Queen's Cartier Halo, which was given to Queen Elizabeth by the Queen Mother on her 18th birthday.

Not to be outdone, this Real Housewives of Atlanta star wore three dresses to her wedding to Kroy Biermann. Her most extravagant (and revealing) was this low-cut, 32-pound Baracci Beverly Hills dress, which reportedly set her back $58,000.

When the fashion model married Jamie Hince, she wore a custom gown by John Galliano that was inspired by popular chiffon dresses from the '30s. While undeniably stunning, some people did point out that it looked a little see-through.

Keira Knightley opted for a dress she already owned for her 2013 ceremony to James Righton: this blush tulle tea-length dress by Chanel. Keira must have really loved the dress, because she wore it again after the ceremony at a red carpet event.

As for Kandi Burruss, another Real Housewives of Atlanta star, there's no surprise here that she didn't hold back for her wedding to Todd Tucker. Her custom Reco Chapple dress reportedly cost $20,000 and featured a 12-foot ostrich feather train.

What better way to celebrate your nuptials than by wearing an outfit you can actually move around in? That's exactly what Solange Knowles did on her way to marry music video director Alan Ferguson in New Orleans on November 16, 2014. Her look was totally stunning, yet super comfy — she could even ride a bike in it!

Amal and George Clooney's wedding weekend in Venice included a mirage of gorgeous gowns worn by the lawyer. Our favorite? The chic white jumpsuit and wide brimmed hat she reportedly wore for their civil ceremony.

The model and star of Bravo's Vanderpump Rules designed her own dress for her wedding to Michael Shay at the height of the crop top fad. Some thought her dress was too trendy and would appear outdated in only a few of years.

Filmed for Vanderpump Rules, Katie walked down the aisle for her wedding to now-ex Tom Schwartz in this unique $15,000 dress, made by Zuhair Murad.

Instead of wearing white (technically it was her first wedding, since her 1990 marriage to Mick Jagger was annulled), the model and actress wore a light blue Vivienne Westwood dress.

Maria Menounos and her longtime boyfriend Keven Undergaro got engaged in 2016 and decided to marry in the middle of Times Square on New Year's Eve in 2017 — and they put it on live television too. Maria wore a Pronovias gown with sleeves in an attempt to cover as much skin as possible, given the cold December temps.

Meghan Markle's veil was 16 feet long and featured flowers of the 53 nations of the Commonwealth. She chose a British designer, Clare Waight Keller of Givenchy, to design the dress for her big day with Prince Harry.

Priyanka married Nick Jonas in a multiple-day wedding ceremony, wearing not only this stunning traditional lehenga, but also a custom Ralph Lauren gown.

Princess Eugenie requested a low back on her by dress (designed by Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vosdress). As a child, she suffered from severe scoliosis, which required an eight-hour surgery after she turned 12 — and it resulted in a scar that's became a part of her identity and one she reportedly didn't want to hide it on her wedding day.

Rose is all smiles in her Elie Saab wedding dress for her wedding to fellow Game of Thrones co-star Kit Harrington.

Paris got ready in her Oscar de la Renta dress with help from her former stylist Kim Kardashian. The custom gown was one of several she wore for her wedding to Carter Milliken Reum and was inspired by Grace Kelly.

Paris didn't just wear one dress, she wore several — including this shorter Oscar de la Renta number for her party.