Wedding Dress Trends from Spring 2020 Bridal Fashion Week

There's more to Bridal Fashion Week than meets the eye: Season after season, designers debut new wedding dresses that not only delight the modern-day bride-to-be, but also indicate how bridal fashion is changing. Our best marker of this shift? Bridal trends, which showcase the styles that every bride should bookmark as she shops for her future big day. We have some good news for women just starting their search. If the following common threads are any indication, brides getting hitched in 2020 and beyond have so many unique, romantic options to choose from.

Ahead, you'll find the five most noteworthy trends to take away from Spring 2020 Bridal Fashion Week. It's impossible for us to choose a favorite (we'll leave that to you!), but it's safe to say that the following styles speak to the many facets of the contemporary woman—someone who is bold, but romantic, refined, but natural. From half-skirt overlays (these bring dramatic ball gown vibes to slinky sheaths) and gowns with green motifs (perfect for garden weddings!) to ballet-inspired silhouettes and t-shirt shirt bodices (we're loving the idea of casual elegance), these trends are definitely new to the wedding scene; we haven't seen dresses quite like this before. There is, however, one notable style that's better defined as a comeback: the drop waist. We saw this unique cut in nearly every new collection, indicating that this tried-and-true silhouette is back at the forefront of couture—and here to stay.

Though they're all vastly different, the following trends share this key attribute: They don't feel trendy or fleeting at all. In fact, they feel so distinctly bridal that we expect to see them reimagined season after season, ingrained in the new age bridal oeuvre.

Good news for brides searching for subtle drama: The half-skirt, which dominated runways this season, offers both the volume of a ball gown and the slinkiness of a sheath. Most commonly seen as a sheer overlay, the half-skirt encircles the back half of a shift, simultaneously defining the waist and adding another layer of visual intrigue to the gown. The best part about these accents? They're often removable—which makes transitioning your wedding dress from ceremony to reception a breeze (no second garment needed).

Wedding dress by Oscar de la Renta

Wedding dress by Mira Zwillinger

Wedding dress by Gala by Galia Lahav

Wedding dress by Lazaro

Wedding dress by Amsale

Wedding dress by Isabelle Armstrong

Wedding dress by Morilee by Madeline Gardner

Wedding dress by Lee Petra Grebenau

Wedding dress by Romona Keveza Collection

When you think about, weddings have plenty in common with the ballet—they're beautiful, carefully orchestrated productions that require lots of planning and skill. It makes sense, then, that your big-day attire could model a ballerina's. More and more designers integrated this connection into their Spring 2020 bridal collections—and we're loving their translations: Gowns with leotard underlays and full, tutu-inspired tulle skirts were definite focal points this season. Slip into one of the ahead numbers and you'll be ready for your pas de deux in no time.

Wedding dress by Naeem Khan

Wedding dress by Vera Wang

Wedding dress by Leanne Marshall

Wedding dress by Mira Zwillinger

Wedding dress by Lazaro

Wedding dress by Reem Acra

If your favorite white t-shirt is part of your daily uniform, you're in luck—t-shirt-inspired bodices defined many a silhouette this season, which means you can now integrate the very best parts of this beloved staple into your bridal look. We noticed both short- and long-sleeved options across multiple designers' new series—but were more intrigued by the way each creative rendered the trend. While some, including Amsale, offered actual t-shirt-like garments (re: separate lace pieces that go underneath a gown), others, like Jenny Packham and Naeem Khan, kept the piece's structure in mind when reimaging traditional bodices. We're loving the results of both approaches: Casual, comfortable elegance.

Wedding dress by Jenny Packham

Wedding dress by Carolina Herrera

Wedding dress by Nouvelle Amsale

Wedding dress by Lihi Hod

Wedding dress by Reem Acra

Wedding dress by Naeem Khan

Wedding dress by Amsale

Wedding dress by Gracy Accad

If we had to choose the most popular silhouette from Spring 2020 Bridal Fashion Week, we'd stand by drop waist. The unexpected cut is back in a big way—with a contemporary twist, of course. Designers didn't just lower waistlines—they wrapped them with gauzy tulle, added flattering curves, and even made them sexy (Jenny Packham and Galia Lahav's numbers are proof that the often-demure cut looks incredible when paired with a sheer skirt). Versatility is arguably the best part of this trend—a drop waist number can feel either shockingly bold or impossibly classic, depending on the rest of the ensemble.

Wedding dress by Lela Rose

Wedding dress by Ines di Santo

Wedding dress by Danielle Frankel

Wedding dress by Steven Birnbaum

Wedding dress by Oscar de la Renta

Wedding dress by Gracy Accad

Wedding dress by Jenny Packham

Wedding dress by Amsale

Wedding dress by Galia Lahav

Wedding dress by Carolina Herrera

We saw green this Bridal Fashion Week, but in the best way possible. The signature color of the season, green is undoubtedly here to stay. And for good reason: Green-and-white color palettes have dominated the modern-day wedding sphere—bridal gowns are now following suit. Intrigued? Consider one of the following ensembles, which featured lush verdant motifs. Both printed and embellished vine details (we're looking at you, Monique Lhuillier!), hand-painted jade florals, and green 3D rose accents added bold statements to these numbers.

Wedding dress by Monique Lhuillier

Wedding dress by Vera Wang

Wedding dress by Isabelle Armstrong

Wedding dress by Monique Lhuillier

Wedding dress by Vera Wang