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Color Coordination
How to select the right tones to set the right tone for your wedding
By Nola Sarkisian-Miller
CTW Features
It was hard not to laugh during the movie, “Steel Magnolias,” when Shelby (played by Julia Roberts) said her wedding colors were “blush and bashful.” For most brides-to-be, selecting the right weddings colors is no laughing matter. Fortunately for couples today, personalization is key, and choosing Pepto-Bismol pink or purple and yellow in honor of their beloved Los Angeles Lakers team may not be the norm but is still less likely to raise eyebrows compared to a decade ago.
“Couples aren’t being timid,” says Marla Lackey, owner of Cheers To You! Events, a wedding planning firm based in Laguna Niguel, Calif. “We used to see only jewel tones for the fall. Now anything goes, anytime. Pink in the winter. Chocolate in the summer.”
One way to narrow your multitudinous options is to narrow the color palette. With the help of your old friend, ROY G. BIV, the color wheel, you can see how red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet look and which colors combine well together. A vibrant color is a great match with a muted one such as the ongoing trend of chocolate and turquoise or chocolate and coral. Colors adjacent to each other on the wheel strike visual harmony, such as a wedding filled with citrus hues like orange, lemon and lime. A new trend (or not so new, thanks to “Steel Magnolias”) is using various shades of one base color for a monochromatic scheme, such as having one’s pink paradise of a wedding using bright fuchsia, dusty rose and light strawberry.
“I have a wedding this week using every shade of red – about four to five varieties – and it looks really pretty,” Lackey says.
Couples can look to nature for inspiration, taking their cues from the seasons. Summer may conjure up nautical themes for a royal blue and sun yellow wedding, says Cheryl Gabiola Galvez, founder of Bliss! Weddings, an online wedding resource. Red and aqua is another bold, sophisticated option and for winter, black and white strikes a formal tone that goes well with New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Wedding experts say to consider the environment of the ceremony and reception when making those final color decisions. If both events occur in different locales, say a church and reception hall, brides can play up the stronger color in the simpler venue and tone it down in the more ornate site.
Color typically comes into play in weddings through the flowers, linens and bridesmaid dresses. Brides will often throw on a splash of color with a hair ornament or on their own dress with the use of a sash. Occasionally, they’ll even wear a dress that’s not white, such as red.
Whatever their decision, what brides say usually goes, unless they are open to suggestions. Red and green that evokes Christmas or red and white that mirrors a Valentine’s Day card aren’t always the best options, say wedding planners.
“We’ll steer them away from baby shower colors or colors that really clash,” Lackey says. “They’re usually receptive, but a few times they want to try things that just don’t work.”
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