How to Choose Your Wedding Colors

Wedding planning involves various decisions, and your color palette is pivotal. After all, your choice will influence your event's decor, attire and overall appearance. Here are several tips to help you make the right pick for your special day.

1. Think of Your Favorites

Choosing your favorite wedding colors doesn’t have to be rocket science. Try to ask yourself what your and your fiance's favorite hues are. Look at your home decor and see what shades you gravitate toward.

You could also think of colors that have shown up throughout your relationship. If your love story started with a book, pull colors from the cover. Maybe you rode a blue boat together or they picked you up in a red car on the first date. That meaningful color will be a pretty sweet addition to your color palette.

2. Factor in the Season

The season may be your biggest source of inspiration. Here are a few suggestions for each season:

• Spring: Spring is a vibrant season with many lovely colors, from yellows to oranges to peaches and limes. Tan and brown also complement this palette perfectly.
• Summer: For summer, think about bright colors and anything inspired by nature. For a coastal vibe, go with blue, white and gold. If you don’t want a beachy theme, choose any vibrant color, like pink, yellow or purple, and pair it with greens, tans or other complementary hues.
• Autumn: Wedding season is pretty much every season, but there’s just something about autumn that many people love. About 43% of couples marry during the fall season, which may be partially due to the beautiful color inspiration. Warm yellows, orange, brown and red are timeless, warm and romantic.
• Winter: Make your wedding a winter wonderland with different shades of blue, from cobalt to sapphire to cerulean. You can also bring ruby red and emerald green to break the ice.

3. Read Up on Symbolism

Look up the symbolism of different colors and go from there. White is usually the frontrunner for weddings, representing purity, honesty, and beginnings. It’s also a nice neutral color that goes well with anything.

Some people also like to look at the cultural significance of colors. Red is popular in Chinese culture because it represents luck and happiness. It’s also iconic in Indian weddings as it symbolizes prosperity and passion.

Photo Credit: Stephanie Brazzle Photography 

4. Look at the Impact

Wedding colors can have cultural meaning, but it’s also worth considering how they make you feel. In color psychology, red, orange, and yellow can inspire energy and happiness, while blue, green, and purple elicit peace and calm.

Your experiences influence how color impacts your mood. If a particular shade rubs you the wrong way or brings unhappy memories, you can totally exclude it from your special day.

5. Consider the Theme

Themed weddings are a joy to plan out since you adapt the elements for the decor. You can also use it as a basis for your wedding color palette. Here are some suggestions:

• Old Hollywood: Combine vintage and glamor into one wedding venue. This theme may center on gold, black and pops of red. Think of a Great Gatsby-inspired ball complete with champagne and black and white decor.
• Fairytale: Look to your favorite fairy tales for inspiration. Make your event space more playful with pastel colors, from balloons to floral arches. Golden fairy lights tie the whole scene together.
• Celestial: The celestial aesthetic is elegant and dreamy all at once. Use a deep blue throughout the space to represent the night sky, then accessorize with silver elements.

6. Seek Inspiration

You can always look at Pinterest for inspiration on certain wedding colors. Those visual references help you decide whether you would love or hate its execution on your own special day.

There are also online color palette generators. Press randomize and take notes about what looks are appealing to you and your partner. You can mix and match colors from different combinations to create a unique palette.

7. Consider How You’ll Use Your Colors

If you’re torn between a few different color options, think about the specific ways you’ll incorporate them in your wedding. For example, research flowers in different colors and see which ones you like best. You may feel more inspired by photos of hydrangea bouquets than roses – or you’ll find a color you hadn’t even thought of.

You can also browse for bridesmaid dresses, table linens and other decor elements. Do you like blue bridesmaid dress options more than purple ones? If so, that can help you narrow it down.

8. Ask for Opinions

The final color palette is a choice you and your partner will make. However, you can also open up a poll to figure out what the people close to you think. Let your family and relatives weigh in. Your best friends also know you well, so they may have suggestions about what kind of hues would be suitable for your wedding day.

9. Check the Destination

 Your wedding destination influences your color palette. Especially with outdoor spaces, you have to work around those natural hues. Here are a couple of examples:

• Mountain: For a mountain wedding, embrace a natural color scheme. A base of green and brown with pops of wildflower colors will match your venue perfectly.
• Beach: A beach wedding is a classic, and for good reason. You have the blue of the ocean, the beige of the sand and gray from the rocks around you. Depending on the time of your ceremony, the sky could be all sorts of beautiful shades.
• Garden: Getting married in a garden is so romantic. You can add shades of green to match the current color scheme. Neutral colors like brown and white can balance out those stronger hues in your natural color palette.
• Castle: Thinking of getting married in a castle? Think about colors fit for royalty, like deep shades of purple, blue and red. Add metallic accents and greenery for a subtle medieval vibe.

Get Your Wedding Color Palette Down

There are so many possibilities for your wedding color palette. The best advice when deciding is to keep calm and avoid overanalyzing. Think about what you like and plan from there. You’ll know you’ve made the right choice when you look at your special day with pride and joy.

Author bio: Cora Gold is a wedding writer and editor of Revivalist magazine. She aims to inspire couples to achieve the wedding of their dreams. Connect with Cora on LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter.