Are Wives Wearing White This Valentine’s Day?

By Isabella Lamon Turner

Valentine’s Day is here— and I’ve noticed more married women quietly setting aside red and pink in favor of white.

For those of us who are married, especially newlyweds, this is an exuberant occasion— one filled with giddy anticipation and marital bliss. The right outfit can make or break the day. Rumor has it that married women are returning to their roots of love by wearing white to celebrate this year's national day of love. 

Do what wives wear on Valentine’s Day carry more meaning than we admit?

Since getting married, I’ve noticed an unspoken shift— an expectation of a polished and mature look among wives. But regarding the color of their attire, generally, Valentine's Day is associated with the colors red, symbolizing intense passion and sacrifice, and pink, symbolizing affection and sweet romance. But why not white? 

As a newlywed in my first year of marriage, I’ve found myself reaching for white again and again. Something about it pulls me back to my bridal season— to the quiet weight of vows, and to the covenant we entered into together before God. As Christ loves the church, so a man loves his wife. And as the church submits to Christ, so the wife submits to her husband. It really is a beautiful picture— and what color encompasses such purity and devotion as the color white?

The Biblical Image of Love

Scripture often returns to this image of marriage— Christ loves the church so much that He gave His life to make the Church holy, radiant, and without blemish. The Scriptures also say that though our sins are as scarlet, He washes us to become white as snow. The concept of white being the picture of pure, sacrificial love is evident throughout the Bible, which is, in part, why the bride wears white on her wedding day. 

There’s a reason the bride wears white: Scripture has always used white to tell the story of God’s love which purifies, cleanses, and redeems. All this to say, white has come to feel like the clearest expression of a marriage grounded in perfect love.  

Valentine’s Day is the celebration of marriage, right?

This question sends me back to the origins of the day itself. Valentine’s Day celebrates the martyr of Saint Valentine and his valiant stand for love. Saint Valentine was allegedly a priest in Rome who secretly married couples because, at the time, Emperor Claudius II Gothicus outlawed marriage for young men on the notion that single men made better soldiers. Others claim the holiday remembers St. Valentine of Interamna, a bishop who was beheaded during Claudius II’s reign for refusing to renounce his faith and converting new followers. 

In both of the above cases, the concept of sacrificial love is celebrated by this holiday, a concept beautifully encapsulated by marriage. 

And what better way to remind your husband of the best day of his life?!

The decision to wear white to celebrate Valentine’s Day reminds your husband of a few things: 

It reminds him of the day you got married— of watching you walk down the aisle in the most beautiful white dress he has ever seen.

Of the beginning of your marriage: new and clumsy and hopeful.

Of his courtship— the effort it took to pursue you, the nerves of asking your father or mother for permission to take your hand in marriage, the opinions about napkin colors and seating charts and whether Great Aunt Judy would feel left out.

And in all of it, this reminds him of the moment he chose you— not just for a season, but for a lifetime. All of these things are undeniably associated with a husband’s bride wearing white, the one color that does not distract from the inherent beauty of the bride, but accentuates it.

What Valentine’s Day Has Come to Mean to Me

The point of Valentine’s Day is to celebrate love, and celebrating one’s marriage is exactly what this Valentine’s Day should be all about, regardless of the season of life you’re currently in. 

This Saturday, you may be in a beautiful cotton dress at lunch, accessorized with ruby earrings. Or you may be dressed to the nines in a fancy white dress and red satin shoes, heading out on the town as a newlywed couple.

You may be at home in your favorite white sweats, pregnant with your first child, eating take-out beside your husband— a soon-to-be father. Or you may be wearing a white sweater and a classic skirt, sitting across from your high-school sweetheart at Burger King because you’re sentimental, and that’s all you could afford on your first date fifty-six years ago.

From the evening dinner to the late-night lingerie change, simply wearing white becomes a sweet reminder of the beginning of your long line of love.

Whether you are a newlywed, or seasoned bride…

Of course, the color you choose to wear on Valentine’s Day is not the glue in your relationship with your spouse. Whether or not wives wear white on Valentine’s Day will not make or break one’s marriage. This idea is simply meant to excite wives about the prospect of tailoring one’s outfit to the color surrounding a holiday celebrating love, and give husbands a subtle, yet meaningful reminder of the beginning of your married life.

For me, wearing white this Valentine’s Day feels less like a statement and more like a quiet remembering— of beginnings, of vows, of choosing one another again. Whether you’re celebrating your first Valentine’s Day as a wife or your fiftieth, you may find, as I have, that wearing white becomes a gentle way to honor the covenant you share under God.

In the vast scheme of time, you’re still a newlywed. You deserve to dress like it.

Isabella Lamon Turner is a second-year law student at the University of Tennessee, serving as Vice President of the Federalist Society and Christian Legal Society, and a business graduate of Lipscomb University, where she led Turning Point USA. She loves Jesus, her husband, and America; you can find her on Instagram @bellalamon.