A friend planning her wedding tells me, “I don’t need a theme…I just pick stuff I like.” Luckily, she has impeccable taste. For those of us who might be a little less coordinated…I love it when they try to be nice by calling it my “quirky” sense of fashion…a color theme can help us focus and pull together a beautiful event despite our natural inclination to mismatch.
If you feel okay taking suggestions from an admitted fashion victim, here are my top picks for unusual color combinations that work!
Popular combos:
- sky blue/light green – this combination works because we’re accustomed to seeing it; the blue sky meets a green field. It’s fresh and soothing. To give it a little more sophistication I would accent it with a second, darker shade of blue.
- poppy red/sky blue – red is such a bold color that many shy away from using it in their weddings but the sky blue softens it up and offers a great contrast that’s very modern and chic. The one caveat I have for using red is it doesn’t look great with other shades of red. Think dark red roses against candy-apple-red bridesmaid dresses…bad.
- blue iris/pale yellow – Pantone has announced that “blue iris” is 2008’s color of the year. Why not take the lead from Mother Nature and pair with a pale yellow to mimic irises? Bold and stunning. (image courtesy of pantone.com)
More daring combos:
- pumpkin/cornflower – orange and blue are complimentary colors but a bright orange and true blue can look very collegiate and…well…not good for your wedding. But if you dial down the shades, the combination can be quite smart.
- tumeric/light grey – okay, tumeric is just a deeper shade of yellow. Regular yellow can be a little overpowering and your bridesmaids may look like a row of ducklings. The light grey further subdues the yellow for a winning combination…and you can look directly at it without huring your eyes.
- fig/charcoal – this one is my favorite color combination of the moment. Green is an it color and fig is a warm, saturated shade that says to me, confident, individualistic and classy. The charcoal neutralizes it a bit while adding sophistication. You can also use a lighter grey for daytime.
If you’re not sold on these slightly off-the-wall color schemes or if you’re just a single color kinda gal, another look I love is accenting a soft pastel-y color with metallics. Blush pink with light gold is popular as is light blue and platinum. Since metallics are neutral, you can really pair with your favorite color whatever it may be.
So go on…choose some colors and plan your wedding. It’ll be fabulous.