A wedding-dress designer says brides are getting more creative with their gowns as a result of the pandemic

• Many couples had to give up parts of their weddings because of the pandemic.
• But the rise of minimonies and elopements allowed brides to experiment with their wedding dresses.
• Custom gowns and high-fashion dresses have become more popular than ever, according to an expert.

Like most things in life, weddings changed in the pandemic.

They were smaller, guests had to keep their distance from each other, and brides had to cover their faces to protect those around them.

These don't sound like the ideal circumstances for a celebration, but couples managed to make it work, creating beautiful minimonies and socially distant weddings over the past year.

And according to Sharon Sever, the head designer for Galia Lahav, the new forms of celebrating marriage actually had a positive effect on wedding fashion.

Some brides were able to invest more into their wedding dresses

Sever has worked with Galia Lahav for almost 25 years, so he's seen many evolutions in the wedding industry. He told Insider that from his perspective, the pandemic increased brides' focus on their wedding gowns.

"We started having smaller weddings, and then backyard weddings were becoming the big thing, and they became more and more lavish," Sever told Insider.

Couples still wanted their smaller weddings to feel celebratory and special, but they didn't have to spend as much money on food or a venue.

According to Sever, a lot of brides decided to use money left over in the budget to splurge on a more elaborate wedding dress.

Many Galia Lahav brides turned to custom dresses to create completely one-of-a-kind looks.

"We had a lot of custom requests," Sever told Insider. "Everything was meant to be unique and out of this world."

Sever also thinks brides were willing to spend more on their wedding gowns over the past year because it was a way they could memorialize the day for those who weren't able to physically attend their weddings.

"Brides finally realized that picture that you'll have from that day is all about the dress," he said. "It's the main focus."

Because many couples' loved ones were only able to see what their weddings were like through photos or videos, it made sense for brides to make sure their dresses - which are often symbolic of the whole day - stood out.

Others were willing to take more risks with their bridal looks

In addition to investing more in their wedding dresses, Sever also told Insider that many brides were willing to embrace styles they might not have been open to before the pandemic.

For instance, because travel wasn't an option, some brides turned to their dresses to bring in a sense of worldliness to their wedding days.

"There were a lot of exotic elements in the dresses," Sever said. "There was color and more embroidery, which did a lot of good."

The pandemic was also reflected in the shape of wedding dress designs, according to Sever.

"A lot of brides are asking for blushers in the veils because they want to cover up or have it act as sort of a replacement for a face mask," Sever gave as an example.

Sleeves, corsets, and sculptural silhouettes have also become popular, and Sever thinks that's because they give brides a sense of "coverage" and "security."

You can see more of Galia Lahav's bridal couture "Do Not Disturb" collection here, and its latest bridal GALA collection here.