How to Choose Your Wedding Colors

Bright and modern or elegant and understated, find hues for your wedding decor that will take the cake.

Instructions

Step 1: Consider venue Consider the colors of the venue when planning your color scheme. Hot pink and lime may clash with the venue's navy walls and yellow rug.
Step 2: Take a cue from home Take a cue from your home decor. If your style leans toward modern, minimal, and monochromatic, look for neutral colors. If you have one red accent wall, mix in a few bold splashes of color.
Step 3: Create a seasonal mood Choose colors with a specific seasonal mood, such as white, ice blue, and silver for a winter wonderland or red, brown, pumpkin, and gold to evoke a fall harvest atmosphere.
Step 4: Make mood boards Take pictures out of magazines with color combinations you like and put them together in a collage. You may have just two colors as a theme or up to five. Narrow down to your six favorites.
TIP: Consider the mood you want to evoke. Beachy pastels take on a more formal look paired with a sophisticated metallic.
Step 5: Collect swatches Go to a fabric shop or paint store to get swatches in your prospective colors so you can choose and describe the hues accurately. Do you want sky blue, Caribbean blue, or lapis?
TIP: Choose hues from a Pantone color guide, which is used by many cake decorators and invitation designers.
Step 6: Mix it up Avoid matching everything from the centerpieces and cake to the invitations and bouquets. Use varying shades of a hue or more than one hue, especially in the bridesmaid dresses.
Step 7: Do the unexpected Incorporate your colors in unexpected ways. Use a colored font on the invitation and a theme-hued ribbon on the favors or add a colorful sash to the wedding gown and work in colorful cufflinks.
FACT: Blue was the color of purity in the Middle Ages. It's the origin of today's wedding rhyme with "something blue."