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Article and flower arrangement contributed by Beth Foster Peterson, floral designer and owner of
Jardin.
One of the first questions you hear when you are planning a wedding is "What are your colors?"
You know you like peach, but does that mean everything from dresses to favors should be peach? If there are
peach dresses, should there be peach flowers? And what about the church with the carpet and the pews being
red? Won't that clash?
Being a floral designer, I am frequently asked to help in sorting out the color decisions for a wedding.
The best place to start is with your favorite colors, and then look at a color wheel while considering your
personality and style. Are you on the quiet side and partial to traditional styles? Look at the colors right
next to your favorite color on the color wheel. For example, if you like blue, right next to it you will find purple.
A harmonizing mix of blue, lavender, and periwinkle might be just the thing for you. Well, what if blue is your
favorite color, but you love drama? Look directly across from blue on the color wheel and you will find orange.
Dramatic, yes, but it can definitely work. One of the newest color trends is to artistically clash. This usually
includes breaking some of the deeply-held color rules like no mixing of hot and cool colors, creating combinations
like dark deep red with rich hot pink and vivid yellow, or tangerine paired with magenta.
If this all seems a bit much, don't forget about the neutrals. White, ivory, cream, silver, green, and celadon
(think green hydrangea here) are wonderful unifiers of any color scheme. Or you could be like some of my summer
brides who love all colors and flowers so much that we are mixing together every color under the rainbow in their
bouquets and carrying it off beautifully.
Some other recommendations on color choices:
- Don't worry about whether your color choices "go" with everything from the carpet in the church or
synagogue to the curtains in the ballroom. There isn't any way to match the world to your wedding. Also, once
there are people in your venues, colors that seemed overwhelming in an empty room are not nearly so obvious.
If it just makes you insane looking at a certain color that you can't change, remember focal points -- give them
all something so amazing to look at they will never notice the offending color!
- Nothing makes a color pop out and be more beautiful than being arranged with its opposite. It doesn't have to
be the pure color -- softened versions will work too. Consider an all lavender and periwinkle wedding. Lavender
hydrangeas, grape hyacinth, lavender tulips, and sweet peas are the flowers. Nothing will make the lavender stand
out better than swaths of soft butter-yellow (think dresses, tablecloths, men's vests, and some creamy soft yellow
roses mixed with the lavender flowers). The wedding will seem all the more lavender since the eye has some contrast.
This works with other colors combinations, too.
- A new trend that I find is working well for some brides is picking one color, but using it in all different shades
and tints. This gives great combinations such as navy blue, federal blue, and sky blue; very light apricot, ivory blushed
with peach, and tangerine; dark black red, blue red, and rich pink (which is just a tint of red). This makes for some very
sophisticated combinations and also makes it so much easier than trying to match "exactly" all dresses, flowers,
ribbons, and table cloths.
Considering the season of your wedding is a great source for color ideas. However, don't feel like you absolutely must
have the classical colors of the season if you don't like them.
Some of my favorite color combinations are
- Ivory, white, cream, and very light apricot. This combination makes great bridal bouquets.
- Dark plum, vivid orange, and dark deep red-black. This is fun for late fall and winter.
- Lavender, dusty pink, soft blue, and silver. This combination works well in early to mid summer
for a romantic, garden-loving bride.
Wedding-Club.com Resources For Flowers
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