Why half wrap a gift?

Weddings are all I hear about lately when I call back home. Cousins and friends and the children of friends that I went to school with and worked on the fire department with are all talking about them. It seems like everyone is having a wedding or knows someone who is. I've looked at dozens of pictures of dresses that have been sent via email over the last couple of weeks and though there are subtle variances in style and shades of fabric the one thing that stands out is that there is so little fabric.

I've always thought of the wedding dress as the gift wrapping of the bride for the groom. It should be beautiful and elegant and carefully chosen to communicate the care that was taken to keep her pure for her groom. But that is not the case in the dresses I've seen! They all but stand up on their own and scream "soap opera hussy". I don't understand why any woman would want to openly display what is supposed to have been reserved for her husband. Why only partially wrap that gift you have so carefully prepared for him? You would never dream of walking down the aisle with your hair un-styled, or your makeup not done to perfection, so why so brazenly display half of your body?

Okay, now that I've got that off my chest I have emails to answer. Sorry for my little rant. It just bothers me! One of these gowns is really little more than a bikini with a nearly sheer layer over the legs and I had to let it out before I explode.