Wedding colours and palettes

When you come to think about the overall 'theme' of your Big Day, wedding colours schemes are crucial to setting the tone.


How to Choose the Perfect Wedding Colours for your Special Day

When you come to think about the overall 'theme' of your Big Day, wedding colours schemes are crucial to setting the tone (pardon the pun) of the whole thing. It's not about dressing your bridesmaids in the 'latest' colour - it's about loving a colour so much that you just HAVE to have it at your wedding.
Wedding Colours The essential Wedding Colour Tool

Be inspired by your childhood

In the mood-board below, I've taken inspiration from a real Dessy wedding which dressed the bridesmaids in elegant Icelandic Dessy Collection 2896. I love the way the bride has teamed it with such vivacious, happy bouquets and it reminded me of those rhubarb and custard sweets I used to love so much as a kid. That pretty pink and yellow combo still makes me feel so good! And look how well it would go with the groom in his matte satin Buttercup Yellow cravat and waistcoat. You could even accessorise your ballet pumps or heels with a Flower Shoe Clip to bring the whole thing together.

Des Wedding Colours

Beautiful Icelandic Dessy dresses with complementary bouquets for a stunning impact, courtesy of Dessy Group #dessyrealweddings

You might want to go all purples and lilacs like Lily James in Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella in that divine ballgown, or, dare I say it, you might be inspired with celadon, mint, cyan and other glacial colours like Elsa in THAT film singing THAT song...

And although you might want your own dress to be ivory or white, there's nothing to stop you having fun with the flower girls and bridesmaids dresses. Of course, many of the best colour palettes are those found in nature and if you keep it seasonal, it will be so much cheaper (and far more beautiful) for sourcing your flowers.

Where to start

If you need a little help on where to start, take a look at the Dessy Pantone Wedding pages which have a collection of wedding colour planning tools.

Here are a few tips on the basics of colour planning:

Every colour can be described in terms of three main attributes:

  • hue - the colour family or name e.g. pink, purple or blue
  • saturation - a measure of purity of the colour, i.e. how sharp or dull it is
  • brightness - a tint is a lighter version of the colour, shade is a darker version of the colour

Like all great artists, it's best to limit your colours to four or fewer, relying on tints and shades to give you depth of choice.

Remember, monochromatic or analagous colour schemes are like relaxing in a comforting bathrobe - they make you feel all warm and cosy inside; complementary colour schemes are like standing in the rain in your bikini - they make you feel alive and buzzing!

Make them sigh at the romance of your colour choice

An analogous scheme is a group of colours close to each other on the colour wheel and can be used for a soft, delicate and gorgeously romantic look.

Dessy Bridesmaids

Choose analogous colours near each other on the colour wheel for a heavenly look

Wow your guests with complementary wedding colours

Complementary schemes use colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel; choose one or two vibrant colours to stand from the rest but use them sparingly for best effect.

Alfred Sung Dessy Bridesmaid Dresses Complementary flowers with these Appletini Alfred Sung bridesmaids dresses create a stunning look

What is the inspiration for your colour scheme?