YOUR wedding day - traditionally one of the most important days of a woman's life and, naturally, you want to wear the frock of your dreams.

Today wedding dresses are, for the most part, white or cream and (thankfully) those ones shaped like meringues seem to have been a short, sharp blast of bad taste, confined to the 1980s.

But this hasn't always been the case.

Now an exhibition of wedding dresses through the ages is being staged in Winchester Cathedral Close as part of a string of events organised to commemorate the marriage between Queen Mary Tudor and Prince Philip of Spain 450 years ago.

An accurate re-creation of the dress worn by the regal bride in 1554 is on show, the work of historical costume interpreter Tanya Elliott.

She said the queen ordered three dresses just before her wedding, two of which were worn for initial meetings with Philip while a luxurious purple number was kept for the big day itself.

"Mary always wore very fancy clothing and a French gown for important events," she said.

"It's said the silver in the skirt glistened as she walked up the aisle."

Also among the other dresses on display is a 1740-style wedding dress worn by the actress Geraldine Somerville when she played Lady Emily Lennox in the hit television series Aristocrats.

There's the outfit worn by Isabella Norman for her cathedral marriage to Timothy Knatchbull, grandson of Lord Mountbatten of Burma.

And there are two, modern creations, designed by students from the fashion department of Winchester School of Art.

Winchester Cathedral's wedding dress exhibition at The Education Centre, 10 The Cathedral Close, runs until August 31. Opening times: Mon-Sat 10am-4.30pm, Sun 12.30-4.30pm. Entry £2.50.