Real wedding planning can only begin after picking out your wedding colors. Once you’ve chosen a color scheme, you’re free to start putting together your décor, choose your florals, and pick out bridesmaids’ dresses as well.
Yet narrowing down wedding colors can feel so daunting that you waste precious wedding planning time trying to decide—burnt orange, or sage?
For those who’d love some extra help, here’s a comprehensive all-encompassing guide to choosing your wedding color scheme.
What Colors Do You Like?
This may sound obvious, but we guarantee someone needs to hear it: Start with colors you like. Don’t open the floodgates to trends.
Gather paint swatches, and do a quick inventory of your nail polish, clothing, and home décor. Which colors dominate?
Are you drawn to rich saturated earth tones, or soft pastels?
Don’t forget nature—you can find some of the best colors and color combinations outdoors.
Get Inspo from your Venue
What colors compliment or contrast with your venue?
What pops of brightness could you add to make it seem more you?
If you’re tying the knot outdoors, decide if you want to add soft creamy tones, or if you’d like to contrast the space with bursts of bright fuchsia blooms and shiny metallic accents.
Use a Color Wheel
A color wheel is an excellent way to get a sneak peek into how well certain color combinations “play” together. As you mull over all the different options, you’ll see each combo has its own distinct vibe.
Monochromatic tones—different shades of the same color—offer a calm, minimal and modern feel.
Complimentary colors, which are colors that are vastly different from each other, boldly stand out when paired together.
And colors within the same color family blend together harmoniously.
You don’t want to choose the whole rainbow as your wedding color pallet. Stick to around two to three main colors, with one to two neutral accent colors.
Have fun with the color wheel, and test out different color combinations. Pay attention to how each makes you feel, and opt for the combo that best translates to the mood you’re going for on your wedding day.
Lucky Colors
Did you know that in China and Japan, red is considered a lucky color to have at your wedding, and according to some feng shui, certain color combinations bring better fortune than others?
Some even believe green and gold invite financial rewards—there are even lucky colors for each astrological sign.
Whether or not you adopt this mindset is beside the point; it can still be fun to play around with.
Consider Your Bridesmaids
What color Bella Bridesmaids dresses will your bridal party be wearing?
As you work to establish your wedding day colors, pay careful attention to the color of the bridesmaids dress.
You’ve probably heard of color analysis, where an expert determines the most flattering color on a person based on their skin tone. Obviously, this is not possible when you have a group of bridesmaids with varying skin tones. However: green, purple, true red, teal and blue look great on everyone.
The bridesmaid’s dresses are something all your guests will notice, thus they’re an excellent way to showcase your favorite hue.
Consider Your Theme and Vibe
If you want the wedding vibe to be passionately romantic, you’ll want lots of fiery tones and texture. Red roses with their soft velvet petals, and bright pops of terracotta are excellent colors to help infuse energy and passion.
An enchanted forest wedding vibe would incorporate cooler tones. Moss green, misty periwinkle, and cream are all gorgeous for that mysteriously calm and dreamy feel.
If you’ve got a theme for your wedding—an era or particular style—choose your colors based on which are synonymous with that time period or type of décor.
Don’t Forget Pattern
Pulling in pattern is a fresh eclectic way of creating a little more visual interest into your décor. Some people choose to do this through the bridesmaid’s dresses, selecting gowns in gorgeous floral prints.
Patterns can also be introduced through the groomsmen’s shirts or the tablecloths during the reception. Patterns are incredibly popular aspects for those choosing a maximalist vibe with their wedding décor.
The pattern you choose should still have a dominant color that’s part of your wedding day color scheme.
Conclusion:
If you think about your options from the perspectives we’ve provided, that should help you narrow down your ideal palette. Ultimately though, there are no “right” or “wrong” colors.
