Weddings

How To Choose The Best Wedding Color Schemes

White is seen as the traditional wedding color but what if you want to break the mould or simply put your own mark on your special day?

Even if you want the white dress that doesn’t mean you can’t play with the other wedding color ideas. In fact, there are hundreds of different color combos you can choose from.

You may even be thinking that’s the real issue, with an abundance of color combos it can be overwhelming to attempt to just pick one color for your wedding.

Fortunately, we’ve got your back! Check out this guide to choosing the right wedding color, choose your own schemes and get another of your wedding decision resolved today.

Tips on Choosing a Wedding Color Scheme

Consider The Season

If you’re planning your wedding day then you’ve probably picked a date. That’s exciting and terrifying, in effect you’ve given a definite timescale to the wedding plans and to the end of your single days. 

Of course, the prospect of spending your life with the one you love is pretty exciting, you just need to start the rest of your life right, with the very best wedding color ideas!

Start Simple

The first step in choosing your wedding colors or your preferred themes is to consider a base color. Assuming you’ve chosen a white wedding dress then this base wedding color can be absolutely any color you want.

Think about the colors that appeal to you the most; you need to love the color in order to love your wedding color combos.

Of course, if you’re thinking about opting for a colored dress then you’re going to need to make sure your base color fits in with this. You already know red and pink tend to clash if you want a red wedding dress then skip the pink in the wedding. (Unless it’s the singer Pink).

If you’re still not sure about a base wedding color then consider the following points before you make your decision. You hopefully only have one wedding day, you want to get it right!

Know The Current Trends

Fashion conscious brides are going to want to choose a wedding color that is popular and trendy at the time you get married.

It’s worth looking at the current wedding color trends to inspire yourself. But, remember that your wedding day maybe a year or two in the future, these trends will have changed. That’s why it’s so important to choose colors that inspire you.

This year’s favorite color combos are:

Ivory & Burgundy

Violet & Marigold

Navy Blue & Slate Grey

Taupe & Red

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Emerald Green & Blue

As you can see, each of these color combos has a base color and a secondary color. You may want to choose an extra couple of colors to help with accessorizing.

Consider Your Venue

Spare a few moments to consider your venue and the time of year that you’re intending to have your wedding day.

If your wedding is at a formal venue you may want to stick to the classic black and white color combos. You can always add a distinctive splash with your stunning wedding bouquet.

But, if you’re looking at your wedding happening in one of the many alternative options that are becoming so popular, you’ll find that virtually any wedding color will do.

Consider your venue and think about applying the following logic to your wedding color choices:

Contemporary white building

You’ll want to choose bold colors to ensure you stand out from the walls!

Traditional Church

A traditional church will already have a color scheme in place. This will restrict your options as you don’t want to clash with what is there.

Pre-Decorated

If you’re using a restaurant or hotel then the existing decor will already be in place. You need to look at this in order to visualize the themes that they are using and which colors will work well with it.

Alternative

Choosing your own distinctive wedding venue is becoming very popular. Whether you look at an old barn, a marquee in the park, or perhaps a village hall; you’ll need to consider all the decoration yourself. This will give you the advantage of being able to choose any color scheme.

After you’ve considered your venue you should think about the time of year that you’re getting married. Although you can choose your own color combos, some colors simply work better at specific times of the year.

For example, if your wedding day is in the winter or cooler part of the year you’ll want to choose warmer tones, such as plum, navy blue, and even marsala red.

In contrast, a warm wedding day in the summer may fit better with bold and bright colors. A springtime wedding is generally associated with pastel colors, embracing the warming of the weather with the cooling off the winter.

Try It Out

The great thing about your wedding color or color combo is that you have time to decide which one suits you best.

The easiest way to do this is to get some samples of your preferred colors and put them in the wedding venue. This will help you to decide whether the color combos look as good as you think they did.

If you can find a color that is the same shade as your wedding dress or bridesmaid dresses you should bring them along, it will help you to decide which of the color combos really work.

Again, don’t forget this is your wedding day, your big moment to shine, the color combos you select must appeal to you first.

Try Something Different

We’ve spoken about the traditional approach with white or ivory dresses and a bright, contrasting, color. But, what if you want to go really different?

There is no reason why not. Your wedding color can be anything you want; it is your special day.

Consider some of these color combos or come up with your own:

Gold, Peach & Green

Merlot, Peach & Sage

Navy, Yellow & Blue

Cinnamon, Beige & Yellow

Black, White & Pale Green

If two or three colors go together then you have color combos that may actually work.

Opt For Themes

Everyone loves playing dress-up, why disappoint them on your wedding day? You can mix things up a little and make sure everyone feels part of your wedding day by introducing themes. There are two options with this approach, either choose specific schemes and themes, such as super-heroes or leave the themes as an open invite. Your guests can dress as they wish and it is unlikely to affect the color combos you‘ve picked because you’ve got a loose idea of what people will come dressed like.

  • Photo: Caca Santoro

Themes and schemes are a fantastic way of taking the pressure of choosing a color away from you while allowing you to dress however you like on your wedding day.

Wedding Color Meaning

You already know that white is the traditional wedding color as it is the symbol of purity. But, did you know that other colors can have a significant meaning:

  • White – innocence, a blank canvas to be created.
  • Ivory – warmer than white, calming, and great for all skin tones.
  • Red – warm and stimulating, a great color choice for people who want to be noticed.
  • Orange – shows independence and a positive personality. If you can’t be positive on your wedding day then when can you?
  • Yellow – creates serenity and calm although you’ll clearly have a creative streak.

Final Thoughts

Choosing the right wedding color is not an easy task, but one that you can do. All you need to do is consider the base color or colors you like and add your chosen themes/schemes.

Test out your wedding color combo, ideally in the place where you’re going to get married and have the reception. Providing you’re honest with what you like, you’ll find that it is much easier to choose your wedding color than you thought!

Also, download our free wedding planning checklist to ease your planning process.

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