Maybe you’re one of those humans who, when you were little, dreamed of every aspect of your wedding day and you’ll be following that plan down to the tiniest of details. Though when it comes to colors and overall aesthetics, depending on what decade you were born in, that might give your wedding a rather… retro feel ((ha)). Or you might be going into this with not ideas at all. So how do you go about choosing your wedding color scheme?
Your wedding aesthetic affects everything. From the font on your invites to your grooms tie to the cake and on and on. This is a big set of decisions but there are some guidelines you can follow and some questions you can ask to create a wedding that reflects you, your spouse-to-be, the time of year, and the venue.
Choosing your color scheme is a big deal and it can be fun or it can be stressful. Let’s try to make it fun.
Choosing your color scheme: How
Consider the date of your wedding
Of course, the season you’re getting married in determines a lot. Though your choice of wedding colors is very personal and there are no hard and fast rules, there are some general concepts around colors and seasons. For example, winter can be great for silvers and deep hues. Spring is often a season associated with pastels. Summer is often very bright.
Consider the formality of your wedding
You might not want to go uber bright if you’re having a super formal wedding, and you might not want to go too serious and dark with your color choices if you’re getting married barefoot and on the beach.
Take a look at your venue
If you’re getting married outside next to a big body of water (as some of us do in Erie) in the summer, the colors of the surroundings can be complimented or contrasted. Think about how you want your wedding interacting with or sticking out from your venue.
If you’re getting married in a beautiful old building, look at the colors already present in the interior design of that building. Can you pull something out of that when choosing your color scheme?
Check out the color photo in this post about the wedding venue, Pine Junction. You’ll see how they used the colors of the nature around them to create a harmonious feeling between outdoors and their formal wedding.
Think about the mood you want to create
Your wedding aesthetic will create a definite vibe for you and your guests. How do you want your wedding to feel? Fun? Playful? Serious? Romantic? Classic? All of these feelings have definite color associations. You can check that out here.
Look at your favorite stuff
Look around yourself. What does your home look and feel like? Open your closet and see if there’s a color palette that you gravitate toward. For some, this is super obvious, but for others, there might be a surprise realization awaiting you.
If you tend to wear a lot of black, is there a color or two that you love to accent with when it comes to scarves and accessories and jewelry?
Research what others have done
Pinterest is, yet again, your friend here. Get specific with your search terms. For example: “romantic July wedding next to a pond.” Or “unique color schemes for a late September wedding that is super playful.” Again, be as specific as you can be and keep changing the search terms. When you get it right, you’ll know. It’ll feel like Pinterest is suddenly full of your favorite things.
Check to see what flowers will be in season and available
Getting married in April and wanting peonies? That’s probably not going to happen ((your writer says with some bitterness…ha)). Some flowers are hothouse available year round but not all of them. If you have your heart set on a certain flower, check for availability and check in with the colors you’ll be able to get. This alone could really drive your color scheme choices (and even your date).
Consider your other decor
If you’re picking a color that is very specific and a bit off the usual color path, you might be limited in your decor choices. Look into what you can actually get in this color or these colors that you’ve fallen in love with. Can you easily find this color in dresses for your bridal party? Is it available in reception decor?
Be yourself
This is always our number one piece of advice. You don’t even have to get strict about your wedding aesthetic. When choosing your color scheme, you might just pick a range of colors and then, for example, tell your bridesmaids to get dresses somewhere in that range. There are people who are pretty laid back about these things and it still turns out beautiful and perfect. You don’t have to stress every detail (unless you want to).
Where to find inspiration
- Instead of a specific color, you can pick an idea like “pastels.” And allow the wedding party to pick from a palette of pastels. (Checking in with you, of course.) And then whenever there is a color choice to be made, you can simply stick to “pastels.”
- Do you have a favorite period piece movie? Or a favorite foreign film? Can you take the color schemes from those? Check out this and this for examples.
- Pick one color and just play with shades of that.
- Or use the opposite of the pastels and go all out with nothing but jewel tones.
- Pick one color and ombre it! (Yes, I just used that as a verb.)
The main point of this entire article really is that you can take your inspiration from anywhere and from anything when you’re choosing your wedding color scheme. Your chosen aesthetic could come from your favorite Disney princess, your favorite Bollywood film, your favorite beach, your most favorite private spot in the woods behind your childhood home.
The whole world really can be your inspiration.
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