How to Choose Wedding Colors: Potent Personalities and Trendy Themes

With florists, cake designers and mothers all clamoring to know The Colors, brides are pretty eager to knock this off the list.

Some brides are fortunate — they have a hue or two that's so dear to the heart, they wouldn't dream of choosing another (a lot of pink brides fall into this category). Or their fiancé does. Or they both went to the same college and want to honor their alma mater's colors. That's nice for them, isn't it?

But a lot of brides don't have it so easy. In this case, it helps to take one of four different tacks.

Most brides start out self-classifying into the pastels or brights group. And don't let these tiny words deceive you, because there's a world of associations beneath them.

Pastel Pretty
The pastel bride is attracted to romantic classics when it comes to picking colors: pastel blues, lavenders, baby-chick yellows, pale mint greens. If this is you, then most likely, your look and feel will follow suit: you'll employ traditional calligraphers, hold yourself to an "old wedding etiquette" standard, definitely want a veil, and probably draw a lot on classical building blocks like narrow satin ribbon and tulle. In other words, your Sex and the City character is Charlotte.

Bold and Bright
Then there's the brights bride. (Sorry, we don't know who your character is. If you figure it out, scribble a note in the guestbook below.)

Depending on your druthers, you might have been overheard telling associates you have an allergy to tulle. Chances are, you're fond of contemporary fonts, which you tend to use in lowercase. You might plan to have an actual wedding logo designed by a pro, you might mix up the handwriting of all your friends to create cool, mismatched table cards, and "stylish" much more than "sentimental" is probably the overall feel you're going for.

We're guessing your favorite TV show's something like "The Office," "Entourage," or maybe "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

Congratulations -- now you know which type of bride you are. If only going from here to a color scheme you can stick with 'til T-minus-zero was that easy. So what now?

I say, take the Lazy Woman's way. Which is actually a couple of ways.

The venue is something you have to get. Right. Now. Seriously, if you haven't gotten the venue, stop reading. Ignore the dog; skip the kickboxing class. Go get the venue, and only then proceed to GO.

Got it? Great. Now take a good, hard look. What type the venue is it? A barn or lodge? A city museum? A garden or beach? A ballroom? What you chose will have a big say in the colors you use to decorate it, unless it's a school gym.

Ballrooms are designed to be on the neutral side, but even then, some schemes will suit a room better than others. Look at the colors of the chairs, the molding, the carpet. Ask about what linens or centerpieces they might throw in for free, especially if the budget's tight.

While you're at it, think about your bridesmaids. If five out of six are redheads, you might want to avoid making pink your main color.

Another Lazy Woman's Way to settle on colors: check out the major items that are readily available.

For example, if there's one or two cost-effective linen rental services in town, see what they offer. If you're sending your bridesmaids to David's Bridal and want to give each bridesmaid free rein to choose her dress, see what colors your local store offers in a range of styles.

Or, glance at the various favors and accessories and see what color combinations crop up a lot. For example, these mint tins amount to a mini-Encyclopedia of popular contemporary color schemes.

Of course, some would say that starting with colors is a serious case of putting the cart before the horse. And a lot of wedding planners would nod their heads vigorously.

What really matters, they'd say, is picking a theme for your wedding, something with lots of personal meaning. The colors are almost incidental. And besides, once you have a theme firmly in mind, the colors practically choose themselves.

Still, you say, I want to know what colors are trendy! Fresh! Fashion-forward! Okay, okay.

Chocolate brown continues to rage on and on and on. Even the chocolate brown and pink have been the color equivalents of prom royalty for years now, their popularity shows no signs of flagging ... to the distinct ire of some designers who'd rather see them go!

Our collective love for them has caused the whole chocolate brown/pink thing to morph into whole new motifs, such as the cherry blossom theme that's rocking home accessories and weddings alike.

Still, brides who are a little tired of brown and pink (or blue) are trying brown with fresh new color combinations, such as coral, purple, lime green and even yellow.

Then, Reds, bricks and scarlets continue to rule certain parts of the country, like the northeast, where bridal parties attired in anything else can amount to a rarity.

Tiffany blue is still hot-hot-hot, especially in its traditional pairings of pink, platinum and (of course) chocolate brown, but now we're seeing it show up with sophisticated black. Orange is beloved too, but most often appears with pink, or less often, aqua.

Predictions for chocolate brown's successor for 2008 and beyond? Pantone and other industry watchers vote for steel gray, which looks fabulous paired with acid blues, purples and greens, and extremely urban when twinned with a pale heather.

One of the fun ways to look at colors that are fresh, but not so avant-garde your guests will arch an eyebrow: high-fashion shoe boxes, or upscale gift packaging.

Wild at Heart
Walk on the wild side? Try these wild, emerging color combos:

- Steel gray and yellow
- Teal and royal blue
- Red and coral