Creating Your Wedding Palette: A Guide To Color Coordination

Planning a wedding is a labour of love, and one of the first and most vital steps in the process is choosing a colour palette. The colours you select will set the tone for your special day and will be one of the most memorable parts of your wedding. Your colour palette will influence almost every aspect of your wedding, from the invitations to the flowers, the table linens, the cake, and even your signature cocktails.

There are a few key things to consider when selecting your wedding colours. Firstly, think about the number of shades you want to include – a maximum of five colours is a good rule of thumb to ensure your palette remains cohesive. Secondly, consider the seasonality of your wedding and choose colours that reflect the time of year. Thirdly, take into account the style and atmosphere you want to create – do you want a fun and lively vibe or something more timeless and understated? Finally, look at your wedding venue for inspiration and choose colours that complement the space.

There are plenty of online tools and generators to help you create your perfect wedding colour palette, or you can consult a wedding planner for advice.

Choose colours that reflect your personality as a couple

When choosing a wedding colour palette, it's important to select colours that reflect the couple's personality and style. Here are some tips to help you choose colours that truly represent you and your partner:

• Consider your favourite colours and those of your future spouse. While it may be challenging to combine individual preferences, finding a balance through compromise is essential. You can settle on one colour you both love and use a colour wheel to choose complementary shades.
• Reflect on your personalities and shared interests. Is there a colour that speaks to both of you and captures the essence of your relationship? Perhaps there's a particular wedding style or activity you both enjoy that can inspire your colour choices.
• Draw inspiration from your wardrobe and home décor choices. These can provide insights into the colours and styles that resonate with you as a couple.
• Think about the mood and atmosphere you want to create. Different colours evoke different emotions and feelings. For example, vibrant pigments like yellow, bright pink, turquoise, and red exude a fun and lively vibe, while basics like black, white, and navy blue paired with metallic accents create a classic luxe feel.
• Consider cultural or symbolic meanings of colours. For instance, red is considered lucky in many Asian cultures and is often incorporated into wedding palettes.
• Look beyond the surface. While aesthetics are essential, try to choose colours that hold a deeper significance for you as a couple. These could be colours that symbolise love, purity, happiness, or any other values that are important to you.
• Be open to unexpected combinations. Sometimes, combining colours that seem unlikely to go together can result in a unique and captivating palette. Don't be afraid to experiment and bring your personalities into the mix.

Consider the seasonality of your wedding

When planning a wedding, it's important to consider the season in which it will take place. The time of year can greatly influence the colour palette you choose, creating a cohesive look that reflects the mood of the celebration.

For spring weddings, pastels are a popular choice, evoking a soft, romantic and ethereal atmosphere. Think blush, blue, cream, sage, pale pink, and gold. Spring is also a great time to embrace vibrant colours, with bright, bold, and airy palettes that celebrate the energy of the season.

Summer weddings often feature cheerful colours like orange, yellow, and blue. Navy blue is an elegant alternative to the typical soft blues, pairing well with pink, orange, red, and white for a preppy twist. Summer is also a wonderful time to incorporate vibrant pinks, greens, and blues, with natural wood and porcelain accents.

For autumn weddings, embrace the rich, rustic hues of the changing season. Deep reds, oranges, browns, and ambers create a cosy, moody atmosphere. Mauve, navy, maroon, and cream add warmth, while terracotta, cream, peach, and muted greens reflect the season's beautiful earth tones.

Winter weddings are a perfect opportunity for a clean, elegant, and simple palette. Black-and-white or all-white colour schemes create a sophisticated and classic look. For a festive touch, incorporate gold, silver, and deep green, reflecting the magic of the holiday season. Winter is also a great time to experiment with cool tones like lavender or purple, adding a unique twist to your palette.

No matter the season, your wedding colour palette should reflect your personal style and the overall mood you want to create. Don't be afraid to mix and match, adding depth and richness to your chosen colours.

Think about your wedding venue

When it comes to choosing your wedding colours, one of the best places to start is your wedding venue. The colours you choose will complement the venue's inherent palette, so it's important to consider the location, atmosphere, and decorative elements of the space.

If you're getting married outdoors, you might want to consider cheerful, vibrant tones that complement the natural environment. For example, a wedding by the ocean could be enhanced by blues that reflect the colour of the water and sky. If you're getting married in a rustic barn, you might draw inspiration from the rich browns and ambers of the wood.

For indoor weddings, ballrooms offer a blank slate for dramatic colours or timeless, elegant looks. A refurbished loft or warehouse can also serve as a blank canvas, allowing you to get creative and personalize the space. If your venue has preset decorative elements, such as a cafe or museum, these details can guide your colour choices. The type of lighting fixtures, the colour of the carpet, and the paint on the walls can all spark ideas for your palette.

The season of your wedding is another important consideration. Bright, bold, airy, or neutral colours are perfect for spring and summer weddings, while fall weddings lend themselves to moodier palettes or rustic colours like rich reds, oranges, browns, and ambers. Winter weddings can be an opportunity for a simple black-and-white palette or something that embraces the holiday season, like gold, silver, reds, and deep greens.

When choosing your wedding colours, it's essential to keep in mind the mood and atmosphere you want to create. Eye-catching colours like bright pink, turquoise, red, or yellow will add a fun, lively vibe to your celebration. For something timeless and understated, classic tones like navy blue, black, ivory, and metallic accents create an elegant, luxe event.

By considering the venue, season, and desired atmosphere, you can create a wedding colour palette that complements your chosen location and sets the perfect mood for your special day.

Consult the colour wheel

When creating your wedding palette, consulting the colour wheel can be a great way to find shades that complement each other. The basic colour wheel can be broken down into warm and cool colours. Warm colours include reds and yellows, while blues and greens are cool colours. Colours in the middle can go either way, depending on what you pair them with.

When it comes to wedding styling, it's best to avoid primary colours, as these can be difficult to pull off without looking like a "kindergarten class". Instead, you can use the colour wheel to create a monochromatic, complementary, analogous, split complementary, or triadic colour scheme.

A monochromatic colour scheme involves choosing a single colour and using its different tints, shades, and tones. For example, a green monochromatic palette can include white as a neutral.

A complementary colour scheme involves choosing a colour and finding its complementary colour on the opposite side of the colour wheel. For instance, pairing purple with yellow.

An analogous colour palette involves picking two to four colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel. A combination of sage, French blue, pale pink, gold, and cream is a romantic and classic choice.

A split complementary colour palette uses one colour and the two colours on either side of its complementary colour. For example, using red, blue-green, and yellow-green with white as a neutral.

A triadic colour scheme uses three colours that are evenly spaced around the colour wheel, such as yellow, blue, and red.

In addition to these schemes, you can also add a neutral colour like ivory, white, tan, brown, beige, or grey to your palette. You can also include metallic accents like gold or silver to add texture.

Look at your wardrobe and home decor choices

When it comes to choosing a wedding palette, a good place to start is by looking at your wardrobe and home decor choices. This can help you identify the colours that you and your partner love and gravitate towards.

Perhaps you both love the colour green. You can make this the primary colour of your wedding palette and consult a colour wheel to choose one or two complementary colours. For example, if you love sage green, you could pair it with cream and gold for a romantic, classic combination. Or, if you prefer a bolder look, you could combine emerald green with light blush and white.

You could also take inspiration from the colours in your wardrobe and home decor that you don't necessarily love, but that you are drawn to. These could be colours that you find exciting or intriguing, and they might be worth considering for an accent colour in your wedding palette.

If you're struggling to identify a colour that you and your partner both love, you could each choose one or two favourite colours and then consult a colour wheel to find complementary tones that bring your choices together. For example, if one of you loves purple and the other loves yellow, you could create a vibrant and whimsical palette with these two colours as the base and add in some neutrals like white or beige to complete the look.

Remember, your wedding palette doesn't have to be limited to just a few colours. You can include a range of shades and textures to create a unique and personalised look.

Frequently asked questions