Colors for Holiday Weddings
Building a wedding around a holiday theme starts with color. Thanksgiving, Christmas and Chanukah come with established color schemes. But, assuming you are not looking for a turkey or Santa motif, you will want to see what you can pull together in terms of bridesmaids gowns, flowers and reception decor.
Nowhere is it written that you have to choose orange and browns around Thanksgiving. No law requires you to pick red and green for Christmas or blue and white for Chanukah. On the other hand, tradition has assigned pastels to spring and summer and darker hues for evening ceremonies. As David Tutera wrote for Bridal Guide, “Color is actually an extension of you, as a bride, and the hues you choose will affect everything — from the ink and paper choices of your invitations to your bridesmaids’ dresses to your bouquets and floral centerpieces to your tablecloths, your specialty cocktails and even your favors. And oh, yes, the cake!”
- Why not pick your favorite color? That base color choice may be a flower color, something you saw in a fabric pattern, or a color that you know flatters your skin or hair.
- Choose a color palette online at sites like The Perfect Palette or Brides Color Studio.
- Invite your wedding party to share their ideas about bridesmaid dresses they would find comfortable, attractive and affordable. Offer your base color choice and the palette to start the conversation. And, introduce them to custom bridesmaid dresses by Azazie where you can browse through colors as well as styles, length, neckline, fabric and price.
- You might add the mother of the bride and the fiance to the team because, in addition to custom bridesmaid dresses, the site offers a selection of mother of the bride outfits and groomsmen accessories like ties in matching colors. If the team wants to wear individual styles and colors, make sure the varied colors remain within the palette.
- Choose a source for you stationery, invitations and other paper goods and have them work with your palette. Recommendations advise selection of muted neutrals that complement your core color choice.
- Do the same for the bridesmaid flowers and reception decorations. The bridesmaid flowers might contrast with their dress color, but the contrast should remain within the palette. Centerpieces, linens and dishware should not match slavishly, but their variance should stay with the spectrum you have selected.
- Decorating the cake is best done subtly, a muted hue for the fondant decorated modestly with flowers in your prominent base color or colors mimicking the bridesmaids bouquets.
- Finally, the wedding venue can make a difference. If the wedding is outdoors among the fall leaves, you will want to play to that natural color range. If the setting is formal at a locale already filled with decorated Christmas trees, you don’t want to violate that setting.
The Knot notes, “While your palette will inform a lot of your wedding decisions, like your flowers and your bridesmaid dresses, you should use it as a guideline instead of a rule.” It makes more sense to think in terms of mood or atmosphere, texture and variety, so that the palette unites elements subtly because it is present on all the pieces.
Article by Wendy Dessler
This article was written by the guest author listed at the end of the article.