Bridal Wear

Roman brides wore a white dress, flame-colored veil, a belt tied in the "knot of Hercules" (to be untied by the groom later, and the origin of our phrase "tying the knot" (http://www.roman-colosseum.info/roman-clothing/roman-wedding-clothing.htm )) and shoes to match the veil (http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/ancientweddings7.html). Brides also had to wear their hair in elaborate braids (on some occasions, parted with iron spearheads) and a wreath of flowers over the veil (http://www.roman-colosseum.info/roman-clothing/roman-wedding-clothing.htm; http://rome.mrdonn.org/weddings.html).
I've decided to compare Roman weddings (particularly how the brides dressed) to the customs of other cultures.
Although many aspects of the Roman wedding have been adopted by the West (the veil, the exchange of vows, and the engagement ring among them) Western brides used to wear just about any color; for reasons I'm not quite sure about, black wedding dresses were popular in Scandinavia. In general, brides wore the best dresses they could afford when they got married, depending on their social status. Queen Victoria popularized the white wedding dress. Contrary to popular belief, white does not represent the virginal purity of the bride; blue (as in the blue part of the Virgin Mary's attire) was the color of virginity. Indeed, Mary, Queen of Scots, wore a white wedding dress because her favorite color was white; however, white was a color of mourning in the royal court of France.
In India and other parts of the world that wear saris, the bride traditionally wears a sari. The sari is traditionaly red, the color of good luck, with gold embroidery and gold jewelry. In fact, many eastern cultures traditionally have their brides wear red, since red was an auspicious color.
In Japan a bride may wear three or more kimonos. She wears a white one to represent that she is dead to her family, and then removes the white kimono to reveal a red one (symbolizing her rebirth in her husband's family). For better or worse, Western traditions are infiltrating traditional Eastern cultures and brides may wear white Western-style dresses, or at least white versions of their traditional garments (Wikipedia). On the other hand, I want to get married in a red sari (they're so much prettier than American white wedding dresses), so I guess the East can borrow from my culture if I want to borrow from theirs.
Feasting seems to be common in all cultures. I know feasting (or rather, extremely heavy snacking) are common features at weddings on my mom's side. The Romans had a priest sacrifice a cake to Jupiter. Alcohol seems to be consumed, except in cultures where consuming alcohol is forbidden (like in Islam and in the Southern-Baptist Church), in most cultures. Confusingly, the alcohol consumed at a Chinese wedding goes by the same name as the wedding feast itself. East Asian weddings include tea ceremonies (Wikipedia).