When it comes to the aesthetics of your wedding day, the first decision you really need to make is what your color scheme is going to be. This can drive all kinds of decisions, including even early ones like invitation stationery, so you want to start thinking about it nice and early, so anything you pick up for the wedding between making your decision and the big day will be in keeping with the eventual color theme.
Getting Started in Picking Your Palette
Most of the time, deciding on the palette starts with deciding on a color for the dress. You may do this long before picking an actual dress, and it isn’t usually that hard – traditionally you will want white or ivory (and it is important to decide which as they both play differently with other colors), and if you don’t want a traditional color, then you probably already know what color you want to wear, whether it is red, purple, black or green! For the purposes of this article, we’re going to assume you’ve chosen white or ivory for simplicity, but the steps are essentially the same whatever you want to wear – the bridal gown (or outfit) color is your first step!
Accent Color Themes
Once you have decided on your key dress color, it is time to start thinking about an accent color. This will generally be reflected in things like your wedding party’s clothes, your flowers, and decorations at your venue, as well as any favors you want to give out to guests. It is here that you will want to be creative. If you have a favorite color you absolutely know will need to be part of your wedding, then this bit is easy, otherwise, there are lots of places to draw inspiration from. You can look at the fashion colors for the season when your wedding will be, you can choose a color that your favorite flowers come in, or you can even ask your bridesmaids what they would like to wear. If you are having trouble even beginning to decide, then start with picking whether you want a color that is pastel, dark or bright, and go from there.
Supplementary Colors
A wedding dress color and a color accent don’t, on their own, make up a whole palette. It is also a good idea to choose a neutral that works with your chosen accent color, for example gray, cream, or beige, or a metallic like silver, copper or gold. You may also want to choose a dark color that works with your palette (for example a dark shade of your accent or neutral color) to use for things that need to be read, such as place names at your reception venue, invitations and thank you cards.