When you start planning your wedding, we know your mind doesn’t immediately go to, “Well, what should my wedding color palette be?” But, we think it totally should! Your wedding color palette is the unifying force that will allow you to keep all other aspects of your wedding decor cohesive. From your florals to your cake, your decor, and even your bridesmaid dresses, almost all of the decisions you have to make while planning your wedding involve choosing things based on their color. The last thing you want is for your red cake to clash with your tangerine bridesmaid dresses on your wedding day, so why not choose a color palette for your wedding before you begin planning to avoid any mishaps?
This can sound like a big task. To some it may seem intimidating to have to predetermine the palette for your wedding. Where do you start? Will you be able to commit and stick with it for 9 months, 12 months, or however long it will take you to finish planning your wedding? We totally understand all of these concerns. That’s why we’ve put together this blog post–to help you choose a wedding color palette that will keep your wedding beautiful and cohesive.
How Do You Choose The Right Wedding Color Palette?
The hardest part is always getting started, isn’t it? Where do you start when you’re trying to come up with a color palette for an event that you may or may not even have the details for yet? Well, we suggest starting in your brain and THEN taking it to a moodboard. To start “in your brain,” so to speak, all you have to do is sit down and day dream. How have you always pictured your wedding? Don’t be afraid to go into detail. Close your eyes and explore your dream wedding. Walk around this daydream–touch the flowers, taste the food, sit at a reception table and appreciate the thought that went into the table settings. Now, what does everything look like? Is there a recurring theme, color, or vibe to this dream wedding?
Maybe your dream wedding is golden, with pampas grass and rattan decor, an outdoor reception, and a lacy dress. If so, your dream wedding theme may be boho. Maybe in your fantasy wedding, there’s babysbreath lining the aisle, you’re in the forest surrounded by trees and there are fairy lights hung above. If so, your desired theme may be a forest wedding, a forest elopement, or even a fairy themed wedding. The whole point of this exercise is coming up with keywords that help you describe the feel of your wedding. Once you have some of these words written down, it’s time to dive into your mood board. We highly recommend using Pinterest for this step!
Your Mood Board
Pinterest is the perfect place to start your mood board because it is the internet capital of aesthetic inspiration and ideas. You know those keywords we just asked you to write down? Now, you can take those into Pinterest and start searching. If there are several different wedding themes or aesthetics that you’re interested in, we recommend starting a different board for each. This will help you when you’re trying to finalize your wedding color palette because having too many options in one place can make finalizing your decision seem more daunting. Once you’ve pinned 30+ photos to your mood board, take a step back. Go make a coffee or take a walk. Let your eyes rest.
Once you’ve taken some time away from your mood board and you’re ready to come back, sit down with the sole intention of figuring out which colors recur on your mood board. Are you seeing a lot of pinks and red or are you noticing more of a neutral color palette? Whatever recurring colors you see, make note of those. They are a great place to start when trying to come up with your final wedding color palette.
Take these colors into canva and play around with different combinations. Once you land on one you love, save it and revisit it the next day. Do you still love it? If so, you may have your final color palette! Congrats!
Other Things to Consider When Finalizing Your Wedding Color Palette
Wedding Venue
There are a few other things that you may want to take into consideration when finalizing your wedding color palette. One important thing to consider is your venue. Have you already booked your venue or do you already know what type of venue you would like to book? Consider what types of weddings have previously been held at this venue. If your venue is a log cabin, bright summer colors may not fit well with the space. If you’re having an outdoor wedding, you may want to consider seasonal, earthy colors. Does your venue have a theme? If the venue details and fixtures are a bold color or a specific style, consider choosing a color palette that will compliment these aspects of your venue.
Your Partner
It’s so easy to get carried away with planning once you’ve started looking for inspiration and putting together a moodboard. However, it is important to consider your partner when making final decisions. We recommend checking in with your partner to make sure you’re on the same page. Do they have a vision for the wedding? How can you tie both of your visions together and meet in the middle? Don’t get too emotionally tied to your color palette before showing your partner. If they don’t love it, you’ll need to be able to compromise!
Your Wedding Details
Take into consideration how your color palette will look in action. You may love the color lime green, but will that color look good on your cake or bridesmaid dresses? Before you finalize your color palette, be sure to visualize how these colors will look in your florals, decorations, stationary, and other small details. You don’t want to get too wrapped up in a color palette only to realize that they don’t translate well into your actual wedding decor.
The Season
The last thing that you should consider when finalizing your wedding color palette is the date of your wedding. What season will your wedding take place in? Typically it is more affordable and sustainable to source seasonal florals for your wedding. If flowers will be a big part of your ceremony and the decor, consider choosing a palette that works with local, seasonal blooms in your area.
The season is also important to consider because colors themselves are seasonal. We tend to be drawn to deeper colors in the fall and winter and brighter colors in the spring and summer. It could be jarring to your guests to attend an outdoor fall wedding decorated to the nines with Easter pastels or bright summer colors. Fortunately, it’s easy to transition any color palette into a seasonally appropriate palette simply by deepening or lightening the colors. So, if you started planning for a winter wedding in the summer with bright colors in mind, don’t fret! Just go a shade darker with the colors in your palette and keep on planning!
We hope that this article helps you finalize your wedding color palette with ease! If you’re looking for more wedding planning advice, check out our Wedding Planning Starter Guide for the Couple to Be! If you’re still pinning to your mood board, be sure to follow us on Pinterest for more inspiration. And if you want to keep in touch, be sure to connect with us on Instagram and TikTok.
Congratulations & happy planning!
