(CNN) Instead of trying to fit a certain mold, Ariel Meadow Stallings cut up a limegreen prom dress she found on eBay, and paired it with an iridescent blue corset.
After all, it was her wedding day. She wanted to look and feel her best. "And that means wanting to wear the color you feel best compliments your skin tone and your hair," she said.
While most brides aren't ready to walk down the aisle in anything more colorful than ivory, bridal consultant Susan Rogers said the wedding industry is slowly changing its tune.
"In the last 10 to 15 years, everything went from white to ivory," Rogers said. "I think they figured out that everyone really didn't look good in white.
. Nobody orders white anymore. It's kind of a faux pas."
And though lime green dresses like Stallings probably won't be popping up in bridal boutiques this season, designers have begun playing with colors like blush, ice blue, gray, latte a member of the beige family and even red.
"People are starting to open up their minds a bit," Rogers said. "It takes a certain bride usually a second wedding. They've already done the white, traditional gown. They don't want to feel like a firsttime bride."
Susie Collins wore a royal blue dress the second time around. Collins was 21 when she married the first time. "My mother planned it. . It wasn't me. I was just going along with tradition," she said. "A lot of people get caught up in that . and then it's not a happy day for them."
In the first half of 2010, the average cost of a wedding increased 21.9 percent to $23,867, according to WE TV's wedding report.
Some of that money goes for the traditional wedding style.
"Being here in the South, people are still very, very traditional," said Rogers, who works at the Atlanta, Georgia, boutique, Impressions. "There's huge pressure in what mom says."
But a lot of young brides "are just looking for something nontraditional," she said.
One bride who didn't see herself in "cookiecutterland" is Carolyn Gerin. In fact, Gerin saw herself as the "antibride," which also happens to be the name of her book series and website about "tying the knot outside of the box."
"[White] is universally hard to wear for so many body and skin types," she said. "And the average American bride is older now. . The whole 'I'm a virgin and I'm wearing white' [thing] is kind of silly now."
Gerin, who paired a silk and chiffon, midnight blue wedding dress with a black coat, said being an antibride isn't "just about dressing up and being different. It's about channeling your lifestyle. . And if you really want a supertraditional kind of wedding it's all about you."
Of course, there's no rule that says a wedding needs to fit into one category or the other. "A lot of people like to embrace tradition to an extent because people are comfortable with it, but they want to make it theirs."
Bradley said one bride reached that happy medium by wearing a white dress during the ceremony and changing into a red dress for the reception.
There are other options for brides who don't have the means to purchase more than one gown.
BreeAnn Gale of Pink Blossom Events said she's had clients who've chosen to add color to their wedding gowns in the form of sashes or bows.
"You see it more with the bolder brides who want to stand out more," she said.
But for Stallings, who was inspired to write a book "Offbeat Bride" and launch a website after saying, "I do" on her own terms, it's all about staying true to oneself. Even if it means wearing a limegreen wedding dress, she said.
"It's less of a rejection of tradition, and more an embracing wanting to have your wedding reflect who you are," she said. "That can involve wearing colors."
Bulky slips are a matter of choice, depending on the cut and the amount of flare in the dress. If the bride chooses the more formal gown, perhaps she may want the layers of a full bridal slip. Otherwise she may want to go with something much lighter.
