Usually coming up with a color scheme for your wedding décor and attire isn’t difficult – just pick your favorite colors, and go! It should be fun, right?
But sometimes your favorite colors just don’t work well together, or they give off the wrong vibe you want for your wedding.
The following are the top 6 color palette mistakes and how to fix them.
Mistake 1: Choosing Too Many Colors
Using too many colors can end up looking confusing and messy. Nothing stands out so a focal point (like your ceremony altar area, or your head table) just fades away into the mix.
Ideally pick one main color and one, two, or three secondary colors. You can also add more visual interest by using varying shades and tints of your main color.
Mistake 2: Choosing Only Two Colors
Where too many colors is information overload, using only two colors can end up looking blah and uninteresting.
When you limit your color palette to just two colors everything ends up matching (we’ll talk more about matching in rule number 6).
To pull off having just two colors but still end up with an elegant look, incorporate monochromatic (colors are all the colors, tints, tones, and shades of a single hue) color elements into your palette.
You’ll still have your two colors, but the varying shades and tints will be more visually pleasing. (And show up better in your photos!)
Mistake 3: Choosing Colors Because They are the Current Trend
Having wedding inspiration immediately at our fingertips (with magazines, wedding sites, and pinterest), is both a blessing and a curse.
A blessing because it doesn’t take much time to find things to look at. A curse because this can sometimes limit our thinking of what is possible. If we see it on the pages or on the screen, then it must be “right,” right?
Well, not necessarily.
Your wedding choices, including your color palette, should reflect you and your fiancé, not what someone has deemed to be the current trend.
Pick colors that are “you.” Look at your home decor. Look in your closet. Now look closer at the items (decor and clothing) that are your favorites. What colors do you see there? These are the colors that resonate with you, bring you joy and make you happy. For your wedding palette, why not choose colors that you love?
After all, in 10 years, while looking at your wedding photos, “What was I thinking when I chose those colors?” is not what you want going through your mind.
Mistake 4: Avoiding Certain Color Combos
Some color combinations are automatically associated with certain images or events. What do you think of when you hear ‘red and green?’ How about ‘red, white, and blue?’
You don’t have to avoid these color combos entirely. Instead, change up the shades a bit.
Instead of a bright Christmas-y red and green, try marsala (this seasons Pantone Color of the Year) with a muted green such as fern or emerald for a sophisticated look.
Or magenta and teal blue with white accents for a less patriotic feel.
Mistake 5: Choosing “Seasonal” Colors
Just as certain events/holidays are typically represented by specific color combos, so are the seasons.
But . .
You don’t have to choose a color, or color combination just because it happens to be equated with a particular season.
If you’re getting married in October, you don’t have to choose orange and brown. If you’re getting married in December, you don’t have to choose red and green, or winter-y colors like white and ice blue. (Unless you really love those colors and would pick them regardless of what your wedding date is).
True seasonal colors are more than the ones that immediately come to mind. Sure, the thought of Fall conjures up oranges and browns – but during that lovely season you’ll also see deep greens, purples, golds, and reds.
Easter pastels often come to mind for Spring. But also think softer versions of most colors, such as violet, jade, coral, and poppy.
Mistake 6: Trying to Match Colors
Color will be incorporated into everything at your wedding – centerpieces, bouquets, bridesmaids dresses, table linens, groomsmen’s vests, and so on.
Of course you’ll want everything to look good together, but don’t try to “match” colors.
The same color will look different on different fabrics and materials. So if your order the bridesmaids dresses, the men’s vests and ties, and the table linens in the same color, instead of complementing each other they will look a little bit “off.”
I always say that the only time the word “match” belongs in wedding planning is in regards to the happy couple – they are a perfect match for each other. When it comes to decor (flowers, linens, lighting, etc.) the word “match” should be thrown out the window, and replaced with “coordinates.”
The key here is to choose colors that coordinate and compliment each other.
Hearts, Joy, Love!
Jean
Weddings From The Heart is a wedding planning, coordinating, and design company based in Dayton, Ohio, also serving southwest Ohio and surrounding areas.
Elegant – Stylish – Fun – Creative – Magical
Whatever your wedding vision, we can bring it to life! Contact me today contact me at [email protected], at 937-581-3647 so we can chat!
Photo Credits:
(RGB Color Palette): Ben and Kaz Askins via photopin
(Red and Green): Allegra Ricci via photopin
(Fall Leaves): Manish Vohra via photopin
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