Iconic celebrity wedding dresses down memory lane

When my spohszine Editor-in-Chief asked me to feature celebrity wedding dresses, my reaction was: No way! Wedding dresses and bridal gowns have always been crucial to a woman’s fashion evolution. And I will never critique a woman’s wedding dress simply because I believe that the wedding dress should always be about the bride, no one and nothing else, period!

We have seen lots of great wedding dresses. You see and read and watch lots of marital unions. And the bride in her wedding gown (or dress) is always the most-anticipated. There are beautiful intricate royal wedding dresses; and there are also those that are non-traditional and non-white. One thing is for sure: Each and every dress is memorable and worth a thousand sentimental values.

So instead, let me just bring you down memory lane (or aisle) for iconic – some beautiful, historical, unique, or unorthodox – dresses we have seen which made you dream your own wedding dress yourself. So here are a few to remind you of which dress or whose wedding inspired you.

Famed wedding dresses

The moment Kate Middleton arrived at Westminster Abbey, her Alexander McQueen wedding dress with a six-foot train became an instant classic. However, the Duchess of Cambridge’s Chantilly lace dress is just one of our favorites! From Gwen Stefani’s dip-dyed pink silk Dior creation to Grace Kelly’s timeless pearl-studded gown, we’ve rounded up our Most Iconic Celebrity Wedding Gowns.

Grace Kelly

In 1956, she played a princess onscreen in The Swan and then assumed the role in real life. Grace Kelly set the bridal standard when she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956 in a fairytale dress of pale pink taffeta and cream-colored Alencon lace, worn with kid gloves and a Juliet cap. The pearl-studded, long-sleeved gown she wore was a parting gift from Grace Kelly’s former studio, MGM. Conceived by costume designer Helen Rose — and constructed by three dozen seamstresses over six weeks — the elaborate silk faille, silk tulle, and rose point lace confection was pure Hollywood fantasy. –InStyle.com, glamourmagazine.co.uk

Grace Kelly wed Prince Rainier III of Monaco on April 19, 1956, in a lace, silk taffeta, and tulle gown with a fitted bodice and flared skirt created by Helen Rose, MGM's costume designer. Kelly gave up Hollywood, where she held the title of Oscar winner, to become Her Serene Highness the Princess of Monaco.—cnn.com, photo credit: Rex Features via glamourmagazine.co.uk

Kate Middleton

Over 2 billion people watched the royal wedding on April 29, 2011, and Kate Middleton didn’t disappoint. For her walk down the aisle, the new Duchess of Cambridge wore a gown designed by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen. “Miss Middleton worked closely with Sarah Burton in formulating the design of her dress,” the Clarence House said. The hand-cut English lace and French Chantilly lace dress – with English Cluny lace throughout the bodice, skirt and underskirt – was paired with matching Alexander McQueen shoes. Designed to emulate an opening flower, the dress had a nine-foot train.–InStyle.com, Photo credit: The Palace/Flynet Pictures via celebritybrideguide.com

Lady Diana Spencer

Yes, her puff-sleeved, ruffled, silk taffeta gown — decorated with lace, embroidery, sequins, and around 10,000 tiny pearls — wasn’t exactly understated. But then neither was anything else about Diana’s royal wedding to Prince Charles in 1981. When Princess Diana stepped out of her carriage, she was a modern-day Cinderella. With its 25-foot train, 10,000 pearls and silk taffeta skirt, her Emanuel gown started the ‘meringue’ trend of the ‘80s. –Photo credits: Lichfield/Getty Images and Rex Features via InStyle.com and glamourmagazine.co.uk

Jacqueline Bouvier

The future first lady (and fashion icon) wore a voluminous ivory silk taffeta gown by the designer Ann Lowe when she married John F. Kennedy in 1953. A portrait neckline and wide, embellished skirt emphasized Jackie’s small waist, and an heirloom lace veil, which originally belonged to her grandmother, completed the super-romantic ensemble. –InStyle.com, glamourmagazine.co.uk

Not quite eight years before she became the first lady, the onetime "debutante of the year" married Senator John F. Kennedy in Newport, Rhode Island, on September 12, 1953. Her dress, said to have required 50 yards of fabric, was ivory tissue silk; her wedding was indisputably the social event of the season. –cnn.com, photo credits: Bachrach/Getty Images and PA Photos via InStyle.com and glamourmagazine.co.uk

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden

The Swedish royal married her personal trainer Daniel Westling in a classic off-the-shoulder satin gown by Pär Engsheden, which featured a sixteen-and-a-half-foot train. Photo credits to ddp imgages/jpistudios.com and via InStyle.com, additional photo courtesy of blogs.sweden.se

Gwen Stefani

This Dior dip-dyed silk faille gown was created specifically for the singer’s 2002 marriage to rocker Gavin Rossdale, and it’s a triumph of personal style — equal parts girlie and punk, just like the pop star herself. –InStyle.com

California girl Stefani chose a French label (Christian Dior) headed by a Gibraltar-born designer (John Galliano) to create the gown for her September 14, 2002, wedding to a British rocker (Gavin Rossdale). Stefani recently donated the distinctively hued dress to the Victoria and Albert Design Museum in London.—cnn.com, photos courtesy of InStyle.com and celebritybrideguide.com

Chelsea Clinton

Surrounded by 400 friends and family, Chelsea Clinton wed longtime boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky in a lavish 2010 affair at Astor Courts in Rhinebeck, New York. As rumored, the bride wore a dress custom-made by Clinton family friend Vera Wang – a strapless silk organza gown of raw-edged laser cut swirling silk organza ball skirt and train with a diagonally draped silk tulle bodice and a crystal-embellished belt. For the reception, the new bride changed into another Vera Wang design: this time, a silk tulle Grecian gown with a criss-cross back and narrow grosgrain black belt. –InStyle.com

Introduced to America as a braces-wearing 12-year-old who memorably stood beside her father as he took the presidential oath of office, Clinton was pure elegance when she wed Wall Streeter Marc Mezvinsky in a crystal-belted ivory Vera Wang confection on July 31, 2010. –cnn.com, photo courtesy of The White House via celebritybrideguide.com

Victoria Adams

Trend-setting Posh Spice may very well have played a role in the subsequent ubiquity of the strapless wedding dress. On July 4th, 1999, Victoria Adams (a.k.a. Posh Spice) wed David Beckham (a.k.a. Becks). She wore a champagne colored strapless Vera Wang gown with a 20-foot train that, as you can see below, was simply unforgettable.

“Mr. Pearl (the London corset couturier) made the inside corset. He and I worked together. Victoria wanted her waist to be like Scarlet O’Hara’s in “Gone with the Wind” – she wanted something that was rock-queen bride. Slim Barrett made her crown. In order to make the waist that small, the bodice had to come back and forth from England to New York at least 6 times. That dress is what I call the “Transatlantic” dress,” Vera Wang stated. –verawang.com photo and InStyle.com photo

Ivanka Trump

Donald’s daughter was reportedly inspired by Grace Kelly’s classic gown: She converted to Judaism in order to marry Jared Kushner in 2009, and required a slightly more covered-up style. Vera Wang was happy to oblige. “I seized on the chance to do a dress that wasn’t naked,” the designer said at the time. The dress had three tiers of lace in different shades of ivory. –Instyle.com

Wearing a gown inspired by Grace Kelly's classic, Trump married businessman Jared Kushner in Bedminster, New Jersey, on October 25, 2009. The elegant custom-made design -- its creator, Vera Wang, described the dress as "royal" and "majestic" -- featured layers of hand-appliquéd lace and a sophisticated neckline and sleeves. –cnn.com, photo credit: Brian Marcus/Fred Marcus Photography for Getty Images via InStyle.com and celebritybrideguide.com photo

Kate Moss

John Galliano designed an ethereal vintage-inspired wedding dress for supermodel Kate Moss. The sheer slip dress was made of bias-cut silk and embroidered with gold sequins and beading. Photo: Flynet Pictures via celebritybrideguide.com + photo

Hilary Duff

Hilary Duff wore a strapless Vera Wang mermaid-style dress at her Montecito wedding to Mike Comrie. The blush-colored silk tulle and organza dress was adorned with giant blossoms.  Photo courtesy of HilaryDuff.com via celebritybrideguide.com + photo

Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys looked goddess-like in an ivory silk, Grecian-inspired Vera Wang gown when she married Swizz Beatz at their 2010 Mediterranean affair. –Photo credit: Stephanie Pistel for InStyle.com, additional photo courtesy of aliciakeyswedding.blogspot.com

Megan Fox

Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green escaped to a Hawaiian beach for their 2010 wedding. Fittingly, the bride wore a flowing silk chiffon Armani Prive gown and skipped shoes for her walk in the sand. Photo credit: GSI Media  via InStyle.com, additional photo courtesy of celebritybrideguide.com

Natalie Wood

When she wed Robert Wagner in 1957, Natalie Wood looked stunning and of-the-moment in a face-framing lace hood, white cocktail dress and ballet flats. Photo credit: Jack Albin/Getty Images for InStyle.com, additional photo courtesy of chicvintagebrides.com

Nicole Richie

Nicole Richie wore a long-sleeved high-necked lace Marchesa wedding dress inspired byGrace Kelly. The gown featured a ball-gown skirt crafted from more than 100 yards of hand-draped silk organza and tulle petals. –celebritybrideguide.com + photo

Elizabeth Taylor

Thousands of fans lined the streets outside the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills on May 6, 1950, to catch a glimpse of 18-year-old Taylor. In 1950, Liz Taylor took her first trip (of seven) down the aisle, marrying hotel heir Conrad “Nicky” Hilton in a Hollywood ceremony. Her silk, sweetheart-necked satin wedding basque-waisted gown cost a then-staggering $1,500 (almost $14,000 in today’s dollars) to make and was a gift from her studio, MGM. –InStyle.com + photo

Carolyn Bessette

Bessette asked close friend (and then-unknown designer) Narciso Rodriguez to design the gown she wore to marry John F. Kennedy Jr in 1996. The resulting simple $40,000 bias-cut pearl-colored silk crepe floor-length dress launched his career — and cemented her status as a new style icon. The dress was paired with a tulle silk veil, long silk gloves and beaded Manolo Blahnik satin sandals –InStyle.com, photos courtesy of (© AP)  via ndtv.com and InStyle.com

Audrey Hepburn

She played a water sprite in a 1954 Broadway production of Ondine, then chose a decidedly elfin tea-length, chiffon-sleeved Balmain for her wedding to co-star Mel Ferrer later that year. A wreath of fresh flowers completed the magical effect. Photo credit: Ernst Haas/Ernst Haas/Getty Images –Instyle.com + photo and access-fashion.com photo

Mia Farrow

At 21, she personified the adjective gamine: Her close-cropped hair perfectly complemented her delicate features. And the ensemble she wore to wed Frank Sinatra, then 50, in 1966 — a pale mini-dress paired with a short, boxy matching jacket — likewise balanced sweet with chic. Photo credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images via InStyle.com + photo and PA photos courtesy of vogue.co.uk

Marilyn Monroe

They seemed, to some, like a match made in heaven: the big-screen siren and the baseball star. Surprisingly Marilyn Monroe chose a demure dark brown suit for her low-key wedding to baseball star Joe DiMaggio at San Francisco City Hall. While Monroe’s marriage to Joe DiMaggio didn’t even last a year, the fur-collared brown wool suit she wore to their 1954 ceremony at San Francisco’s City Hall was utterly timeless. And the modest event didn’t escape the attention of the world’s press and over 100 paparazzi lurked outside waiting for the happy couple. –Photo courtesy of coralsbridal.com

There are still numerous memorable and iconic wedding dresses I would want to share you. Like Julianne Moore’s lavender dress, and Cindy Crawford’s beach wedding dress, or Elizabeth Taylor’s other wedding dresses. Maybe I could post a Part 2 of this article. For now, I hope you find this feature entertaining, informative and inspirational.