One of my favourite parts of planning my wedding has been putting together a colour scheme to best show off our big day, but for some couples this can be really stressful. To help you out I’ve come up with a few points to consider that can help guide you and your partner towards a beautifully cohesive wedding look.

The Basics

Most wedding colour schemes can be broken down to one or two main colours, a white/ivory/champagne (usually to match the tone of your dress), and a metallic. Choosing that main colour is going to be influenced by a few factors, including season, venue, the wedding party, and your personal taste.

Season

Time of year is a great way to help narrow down your palette. This doesn’t mean you have to go with the season’s trending colours, but it can help influence which colours will best suit the backdrop each season provides and the flowers that are available. For example, darker jewel tones are a gorgeous way to go in the Fall because they will pop against the colourful leaves. Alternatively softer blushes, blues and greys tend to be more popular in the Spring as many of the flowers available have a softer aesthetic.

Venue

Your venue is also a great deciding factor for colours. Is your ceremony in a church with a red aisle? If you want pink bridesmaids bear that red in mind when considering which shade of pink you go for. Does your reception venue feature industrial brickwork? Consider colours that will pop against it. Are you in an urban swanky restaurant? This is great opportunity for richer colours to play to that sleek factor. Alternatively, the rustic barn look lends itself beautifully to earthier greens, soft smoky blues or more antiquey blushes and taupes.

Bridal Party

Consider the complexions and colouring of the members of your bridal party. Not every colour compliments every skin tone, so if you really want to celebrate the people you chose to stand with you make sure to choose colours they can rock. Remember, your bridal party consists of people, not props, and the better they feel the bigger they’ll smile in those photos. You also don’t have to have every bridesmaid in the same colour either. It’s becoming more and more popular for wedding parties to have alternating colours that compliment one another. One of my favourite parties I’ve helped recently chose two different shades of earthy greens because two of the bridesmaids better suit a darker shade while the other two look great in lighter tones. Together this makes for a gorgeous textured look that all falls within the bride’s overall vision.

Your Vision

At the end of the day it’s your day, your photos to remember it by, and your wedding is a celebration of who each of you are, so don’t be scared to choose colours that reflect that. Maybe you are both space nerds but don’t necessarily want a full-on themed wedding. You can choose some deep purples and blues for your colours with a great silver as an accent to play off a galaxy-esque palette without ever needing a Star Wars cake (though you can also totally have a Stars Wars cake if you want one)! Don’t have a shared interest in common to guide you? Have a little chat to reminisce about your happiest moments together. What colours stand out in those memories? What colours make you feel good? It’s okay to have an opinion. You’re going to be seeing a whole lot of these colours over the course of planning so make sure they’re ones you enjoy!

Piecing It Together

So you have some general colours in mind. If you need help visualizing here are two ways to piece everything together and choose those extra details.

Mix & Match: Start off by going to a local paint/home reno shop and grab some paint colour cards in all the colours you’re considering. Have fun playing mix and match with the cards to see what colour best makes your main colour pop. This is going to be your accent colour. Lastly you can go for a dig through your jewelry box (or even your kitchen!) to look for pieces in different kinds of metal. Again, play mix and match with these, putting them on/next to your colour cards to see what looks best and what most suits your vision. Once you have your favourites take a picture to help you remember or keep each of these things in a little bag or envelope for future reference.

Inspiration/Mood Board: This can be done by physically cutting out and collaging images or you can create a board on Pinterest. Look for images that are not from weddings. Instead what you are looking for are home interiors, art pieces, designs that emulate the tone you want to go for with your wedding. For example, one the images that helped confirm my colours is a photograph of an armchair against beautiful wall art with a great mirror. The armchair was my main colour, the wall art had the colours of our flowers and the mirror frame was our metallic. I found that by looking at non-wedding images it freed me from trying to copy someone else’s look and look purely at what colours were cohesive and brought me joy. Once you have your images keep them handy somehow because they can help guide your appointments for bridesmaids, cake, flowers, etc.

If you’re still really struggling, especially if it’s between two different options and you’re having trouble committing to one, remember that your guests will not know what the other option was and therefore will not judge you for going for choosing sienna rose instead of deco blush. They just want to see you happy, eat some great food and dance the night away to celebrate your love. So have some fun picking your colours, and don’t sweat it! Your wedding day will still be special no matter what!