Wedding Colors :: So Many to Choose From

I have to thank blogging for keeping me on track with my wedding planning. While I consider the planning process fun and something I look forward to, I still have had weeks where life gets crazy and I don't do much thinking about the wedding. All of a sudden I realize the week has flown by and I have done nothing. I think it's good to have those weeks - we shouldn't let planning completely consume us, but at the same time, we have to stay on track and a weekly check-in, even if it's just taking a few moments to think where you are and what is next to do, seems to be just the right amount. The colors/theme/feel was one thing I felt a little stuck on and without knowing that piece, I was having trouble envisioning everything. For me it was more than just picking two or three colors I liked together, I want everything to complement the venue, not compete with it. Even when I envisioned colors I like together, I didn't see how that translated into the wedding party, the table settings, etc. So, this past week, I didn't book any vendors or try on any wedding dresses, but I did do a lot of thinking...and internet searching. A couple nights ago my fiance and I sat down, each with a laptop, and talked about COLORS! We did a lot of searching and saying what we liked and didn't. Here's how we started - I listed the colors already at our venue. It's an outside setting, so most are the typical natural colors. They were: greens, blues, browns, white, tan, and grey/silver. To see pictures of our venue click here.

After about 30 minutes of searching, I was a little overwhelmed...so many amazing colors, so many ways to coordinate it all. This wasn't the first time I had thought about the wedding colors, but when I actually sat down to try to make some decisions, it was hard. Chris's main focus was what the guys would be wearing, but thankfully he was patient enough to listen to me think out loud about everything else and give his opinion. Dozens of searches later, we knew there were things we liked and others we could rule out, but we still weren't sure how it all came together. I liked the idea of having more of a 'color scheme' or 'palette' rather than having everything be two-three colors. When we stepped away from the computers and let everything sink in a little is when we finally figured it out. What we ended up liking the most and agreeing on is similar to the images below - neutrals, greys, pops of a bright poppy/orange and light blue accents.  Here's how I envision it playing out...

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Bridal party: guys in grey, ladies in light.

Source: Groomsmen, Bridesmaids

I love the bright flowers and the pale blue glass.

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Here was our thought process behind the colors. It started with the wedding party attire. We knew we didn't want black suits because of the time of year (hot, mid-July) and the fact that we wanted more of a casual feel. We were thinking tans or greys and Chris preferred the grey. Easy! For the bridesmaid dresses, I was originally thinking a navy, but then I was having trouble imagining everything. Once I saw the wedding images above, I liked the lighter, more neutral look with the pops of bright colors. This was a harder decision for me. As far as silver vs. gold, we will go with silvers because our venue already has silver accents - the roof of the barn, the dance floor is a cement grey, etc. The flower and accent color inspiration comes from my infatuation with poppies. My mom's love of the Wizard of Oz rubbed off on me at an early age and I will never forget the fields of poppies. Over the past few years Chris and I have been going on runs through the Golden Gate Park and I would spot the state flower in the gardens of the Conservatory. I've heard the actual poppy flower doesn't hold up very well once it's cut, so I may have to go with other flowers, but the color is what I will be going for. The pale blue glass...I don't know where that came from. I just love the look of it with the bright colors!

Now that I picked the color scheme, I can envision everything coming together. What a good feeling!

How did you pick your wedding colors? Did it come easily for you? 

A little shout out to my dear friends, Serena and Kevin, who used the neutral colors as a base for bright color accents. It worked so well with their Mexico location.  Check out their feature on Style Me Pretty here.

Real Wedding by Colin Michael

Today's wedding comes from Colin Michael Photography. There were so many little details in this wedding and I love the way she pulled them all together. My favorite part would have to be her use of wildflowers! They are just stunning.

Everyone needs an amazingly gorgeous ring pic.

I'm loving the simple ceremony setting.

It's hard to pick a favorite shot in this bunch, but I have to say that I am a sucker for twirling dresses, so this one might just take the cake as my favorite pic of the bunch!

Not often do we see pictures of the food, but these pieces happen to be a work of art in themselves.

There are those wildflowers I was raving about earlier! Just darling :)

Thanks again to Colin Michael Photography for this super fun wedding feature! I just love it!

Real Wedding with Fall Colors

Remember this amazing wedding I featured a few weeks back? Her dress just pulled me right in and I had to see more of the wedding! After talking with J Andrew, the photographer, and the bride, I am now able to show you all the rest of the wedding as well. I have included helpful tips from the bride as well!

On The Budget: I had a moderate size budget, and being that the dress was more expensive than I wanted to spend, I decided to cut my guest list down in order to save money in another area. I found cutting the guest list down was the best way to cut costs.  I also used the theknot.com's budgeter tool, which really helped me put things into perspective.  I am a very money conscious person, so this tool very helpful to me, and made planning a lot easier!

I think it’s a good idea for the bride to prioritize things and decide from the very beginning  what is most important to her and what she is willing to cut out of the budget. For me it was the dress.

On The Colors: I have two very creative sisters and being that I love deep fall colors, they helped me decide that a burnt orange and wine color would be amazing together and add a little uniqueness to my wedding.

My sister went to a local home improvement store and picked out paint samples. We compared different color combinations until we made the final decision on the wine and burnt orange.

Jewelry: My sister Ashley makes jewelry, SweetSouthernSorbet. She made all of the bridesmaid necklaces for me with vintage jewels and beads.  Each was unique and beautiful.  All of the girls were so excited to have a piece of her jewelry.

On The Vendors:

  • J Andrew Photography did my photography and he did an amazing job as well!  The pictures are unique and have such vibrant colors, I could not be happier!
  • Flowers: I used House of Flowers here in Bakersfield, CA, and wow, they did an amazing job.  I had a few print outs with some flowers I liked. I brought them the pictures and they just made everything so beautiful and amazing.
  • Cake : Sweet Creations Custom Cakes in Bakersfield made my delicious red velvet wedding cake!  She is very creative and makes the best tasting cakes.
  • DJ: Free Style Entertainment provided my DJ services. The DJ made a time frame schedule for the reception which helped out so much! I had some great vendors who all pulled through and far exceeded my expectations.
  • Event Planner: I did not have an event planner, but thanks so much to my Mom Phyllis, and my two sisters Ashley and Megan, I did not need one!

The Orange Extraordinaire Continues

I happen to have a pretty big obsession with lanterns, so these shots just made me fall in love.

The gorgeous reception details are pretty amazing. Love the food plates, birdcages, and tulips. The bride left no detail out and incorporated everything she wanted and made it all look cohesive!

Here is the major dance party I was talking about in the earlier post. I definitely want to be a part of that! They look like they are having so much fun.

Thanks again to Kristy from Volatile Photography for this lovely wedding!