From Good Housekeeping ©getty images - Getty Images and Oh So Delightful Ruched Fabric While ornate details and expensive fabrics weren’t common during this time, ruching was striking, letting brides make a stylish statement without overspending. Dresses were pretty plain and usually didn’t have embroidery or embellishments – they did sometimes have ruching though.

From Good Housekeeping ©whitemay - Getty Images and Brides Magazine Telegrams Rather than mailing formal invites, many brides relied on telegrams—a quick, inexpensive and practical way to get the word out. Brides were encouraged to send telegrams instead of formal invites, which served as a quick way to communicate important news. It would have been considered proper etiquette to

From Good Housekeeping ©George Marks - Getty Images Parachute Fabric With silk being expensive, many brides made their dresses out of parachute fabric and other cost-effective materials for their weddings. After the war, silk parachutes were released for sale back to the public and quickly became the choice material for 1940s wedding dresses and lingerie, with many brides using the same parachute as her RAF beau.

From Good Housekeeping ©George Marks - Getty Images Pin-curls Pin-curls and side rolls were a popular and inexpensive way for brides to stand out on their big day.

From Good Housekeeping ©George Marks - Getty Images Arched Eyebrows They say the eyes are the windows to your soul and your eyebrows are the drapes. If that's the case, brides of this era wanted to highlight both. Many women opted for arched brows for their big day.

From Good Housekeeping ©Stockbyte - Getty Images and Oh So Delightful a Wedding Dresses Without Long Trains To save money and fabric, many brides skipped long trains and gravitated toward shorter, floor-length dresses for an elegant look. Dresses would usually have a sweetheart neckline and fitted bodice with sleeves that were gathered or puffed at the shoulder and fitted to the rest of the arm. From the waist, the full circle skirt would fall to the floor. Long trains were a

From Good Housekeeping ©George Marks - Getty Images Shoulder-length Hair Hair that skimmed the shoulders was a popular style for many women during this era. It provided a glamorous and feminine look that attracted brides to this style.

From Good Housekeeping ©Edward Olive - fine art photographer - Getty Images Brunch Wedding Receptions Food has always been a major part of weddings. However, during the 1940s, many couples decided to have their receptions during the daytime to cut costs on more expensive meals.

From Good Housekeeping ©Lisa-Blue - Getty Images and Oh So Delightful Grooms Wore Uniforms While grooms looked dapper donning their military attire, it wasn't always a fashion choice. "There are lots of examples of military nurses wearing their nursing uniforms to their own weddings," says Dunak. "During wartime, it wasn't unusual for a couple to marry while a man was on leave. So, couples made arrangements very quickly. The bride in her best suit/dress and the groom in unifo

We thought it would be interesting to turn back the calendar to years ago to see what traditions for weddings used to be. We're going to begin with the 1940's and suprisingly enough some of the traditions have come back now and then. We're going to start with a little make-up fact: Red Lipstick Not only was scarlet lip an eye-catching look for brides, women were often encouraged to paint their puckers red during this period to send romantic messages via letters stamped with