At some point it has to happen, when planning a wedding sooner or
later you're going to have finalise a colour scheme and sometimes it's
the stationery that forces that decision especially if you're using Save
the Date cards. At other times it might be the flowers, bridesmaid
dresses, cake or other items that make you finally settle on one idea.
Perhaps the people who have it easiest are those who have a favourite colour that their partner either agrees or at least doesn't vehemently dislike or could be persuaded to. There's no doubt this is what they want to use and indecisive individuals such as me are very jealous as it avoids lots of pondering, reflection and second guessing. If this is the position you find yourself in you probably just have to decide if you want to use any other colours with your main colour. This can be very effective and should be considered but will be discussed in a later article. Though if you want information now Google things like complimentary colours, opposing colours and colour triads.
Seasonal Inspiration
The seasons or rather the alleged/supposed seasons as well we all know in the UK they have a habit of not really living up to their stereo types, especially when the hottest day of the year is in the Autumn. But the short comings of British weather aside the seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter can be a very good basis for a wedding colour scheme. It's a little like chefs saying by what's in season - although from an environmental point of view your colour choices are far less likely to be of any consequence over buying something grown locally or that's flown in from far away.
Spring
Spring is about freshness and new life. You have a lot of light natural colours but they're not full on or primary as life although on the up is probably delicate and still on the edge while the mornings can see the odd frost and misty mornings are still quite common. So pastel greens, blues, pinks, yellows are very good and appropriate. You could also base your decisions on flowers that typically flower at this time, especially for a very natural feeling wedding.
Summer
Summer in many ways is the pinnacle of the year, when life is at its fullest and most vital. The weather should in theory be sunny, flowers should abound and the sky should mostly blue and not grey. It is the time of year when you can be most full on with colours and wield primary greens, blues, pinks, oranges, and yellows. So it's basically like spring without needing to be so muted - although there's nothing wrong if you do want to tone them down a bit and use more pastel versions.
Autumn
Autumn is really a time of change which to my mind is quite transient and short lived as summer can last until October really and when that's the case you can go from 30 degree sunshine to 0 degrees at night really quickly and I often think that Autumn is really just the time between when it's definitely Summer and when it's definitely Winter oh and in some places the leaves fall off the tree and it's quite pretty! It's the leaves falling off the tree which forms the basis for many an autumn colour scheme. So we're talking oranges, reds, yellows and browns, not quite primary and maybe a bit darker. You also have berries coming in season at this time to.
Winter
This is perhaps the best time of year to get married from the point of view from choice of seasonal colour schemes. Christmas being at this time of year adds another lot of choices if your wedding is in December or late November. Ignoring Christmas briefly you have two ways of going. Essentially outside or inside - if that doesn't make sense I shall explain. Outside, as in outside the home it's of course a very cold time of year - we'll ignore that it's normally mild, wet and grey. So frosty colours do well, like very pale blues or even white for snow. Inside though it's a time of fire and warmth and wrapping up. Dark reds or firey colours can come to the fore. If you add in xmas suddenly you can choose really rich colours like purples, reds like the colour of mulled wine, gold and silver being a decadent time of the wear.
What you like
As a designer sometimes I like a challenge and you might want to base your colour scheme on what you and your partner both like. Think about something you have in common and the colours that might be associated with it. When I mention a challenge the challenge with this is to take an idea not really based on colour and find a way to bring it to life as colours for your weddings. An easy example would be the sea. You have a multitude of blues and bluey greens, greys and white from breaking waves. If you decide beaches, it's blues, yellows and any colour that you think sand or pebbles can be and maybe palm trees if you're thinking of tropical beaches. Or what if your into diving - colours from coral reefs. There's so much that can be done! Like starting with a favourite drink like wine, white, rose or red. There's chocolate or even hot chocolate. I quite like the idea of creamy browns and marshmallowy pinks or whites.
Look around
If you're not keen on a favourite colour or don't have one. Don't want to base it on the seasons and you haven't come with anything appealing by thinking about what you like without resorting to very geeky methods in the next section then essentially you need to keep your eyes open. Look for inspiration anywhere, in gardens or the high street, wedding magazines and blogs, well in fact any magazines and blogs. Websites also often have carefully thought out colour schemes where someone else has done the hard work.
Perhaps the people who have it easiest are those who have a favourite colour that their partner either agrees or at least doesn't vehemently dislike or could be persuaded to. There's no doubt this is what they want to use and indecisive individuals such as me are very jealous as it avoids lots of pondering, reflection and second guessing. If this is the position you find yourself in you probably just have to decide if you want to use any other colours with your main colour. This can be very effective and should be considered but will be discussed in a later article. Though if you want information now Google things like complimentary colours, opposing colours and colour triads.
The seasons or rather the alleged/supposed seasons as well we all know in the UK they have a habit of not really living up to their stereo types, especially when the hottest day of the year is in the Autumn. But the short comings of British weather aside the seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter can be a very good basis for a wedding colour scheme. It's a little like chefs saying by what's in season - although from an environmental point of view your colour choices are far less likely to be of any consequence over buying something grown locally or that's flown in from far away.
Spring
Spring is about freshness and new life. You have a lot of light natural colours but they're not full on or primary as life although on the up is probably delicate and still on the edge while the mornings can see the odd frost and misty mornings are still quite common. So pastel greens, blues, pinks, yellows are very good and appropriate. You could also base your decisions on flowers that typically flower at this time, especially for a very natural feeling wedding.
Summer
Summer in many ways is the pinnacle of the year, when life is at its fullest and most vital. The weather should in theory be sunny, flowers should abound and the sky should mostly blue and not grey. It is the time of year when you can be most full on with colours and wield primary greens, blues, pinks, oranges, and yellows. So it's basically like spring without needing to be so muted - although there's nothing wrong if you do want to tone them down a bit and use more pastel versions.
Autumn
Autumn is really a time of change which to my mind is quite transient and short lived as summer can last until October really and when that's the case you can go from 30 degree sunshine to 0 degrees at night really quickly and I often think that Autumn is really just the time between when it's definitely Summer and when it's definitely Winter oh and in some places the leaves fall off the tree and it's quite pretty! It's the leaves falling off the tree which forms the basis for many an autumn colour scheme. So we're talking oranges, reds, yellows and browns, not quite primary and maybe a bit darker. You also have berries coming in season at this time to.
Winter
This is perhaps the best time of year to get married from the point of view from choice of seasonal colour schemes. Christmas being at this time of year adds another lot of choices if your wedding is in December or late November. Ignoring Christmas briefly you have two ways of going. Essentially outside or inside - if that doesn't make sense I shall explain. Outside, as in outside the home it's of course a very cold time of year - we'll ignore that it's normally mild, wet and grey. So frosty colours do well, like very pale blues or even white for snow. Inside though it's a time of fire and warmth and wrapping up. Dark reds or firey colours can come to the fore. If you add in xmas suddenly you can choose really rich colours like purples, reds like the colour of mulled wine, gold and silver being a decadent time of the wear.
What you like
As a designer sometimes I like a challenge and you might want to base your colour scheme on what you and your partner both like. Think about something you have in common and the colours that might be associated with it. When I mention a challenge the challenge with this is to take an idea not really based on colour and find a way to bring it to life as colours for your weddings. An easy example would be the sea. You have a multitude of blues and bluey greens, greys and white from breaking waves. If you decide beaches, it's blues, yellows and any colour that you think sand or pebbles can be and maybe palm trees if you're thinking of tropical beaches. Or what if your into diving - colours from coral reefs. There's so much that can be done! Like starting with a favourite drink like wine, white, rose or red. There's chocolate or even hot chocolate. I quite like the idea of creamy browns and marshmallowy pinks or whites.
Look around
If you're not keen on a favourite colour or don't have one. Don't want to base it on the seasons and you haven't come with anything appealing by thinking about what you like without resorting to very geeky methods in the next section then essentially you need to keep your eyes open. Look for inspiration anywhere, in gardens or the high street, wedding magazines and blogs, well in fact any magazines and blogs. Websites also often have carefully thought out colour schemes where someone else has done the hard work.
Nathan
Gardiner is a founder of Artemis Stationery which specialises in
bespoke stationery for special occasions including weddings as well as
canvas prints. A wide range of designs are available from Artemis
Stationery including vintage, modern, funky classic and floral designs.
To see Nathan's work, buy wedding stationery or find other wedding
stationery resources visit http://www.fannybrides.com/
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