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“They’re very classic styles and very dignified styles,” said Scott Wells of Romantic Gowns By Bridal Online Store. “They’ve become popular with our other brides as well.”

Romantic Gowns By Bridal Online Store, owned by Wells and partners Jill Aldineh and Al Short, received many inquiries about dresses that met LDS temple specifications. Though the business is not LDS-run, the partners decided to create a temple-ready line to accommodate these brides.

But the temple-ready line has been popular among the non-LDS community, too.

“Our core market for that line is the LDS bride, but surprisingly those aisles are quite popular in other segments of the population as well,” said Wells. “[For] a bride who just wants a modest look, they’ve been very popular.”

But many people buy modest wedding dresses for reasons other than religious ones. General fashion is moving in a more modest direction, as LDS Living reported earlier this year. This trend supports [the] belief that fashion is cyclical, and that the current cycle is pointing to more modest-style gowns.

The new styles in wedding dresses include sleeves, higher necklines, more neck details, simple embellishments, and more attention on the bodice. This is good news for companies such as Romantic Gowns By Bridal Online Store... who already carry modest wedding dresses.

Ultimately, though, people buy wedding dresses because they are beautiful, and modest dresses appeal to the taste of many women.

“They’re not looking for that exact specification, but they look at it and think ‘that’s a beautiful gown,’” said Wells. “They don’t know where it really came from, but they just see it as a beautiful gown and go with it.”

So is modesty back in style? It looks like it's on its way. And whether it is or not, the modest wedding dress will always be appealing for their classic and simple beauty.

“It’s the classic styles that really stick around,” said Wells.

Excerpts from article published on the LDSLiving Magazine website on June 30, 2009.