You're engaged, you've got the venue and the date, and are so excited to get going on planning! Yet, you're stuck on what the wedding will actually look like. Envisioning the final event means you need to pick invitations, table linens, flowers, lighting, and all the assorted goodies that go with your big party. And of course you've got to start with a color or two (or a few!) that hopefully go together.
"But I like everything!" you say. Or maybe, "Our site has this weird carpet and I'm not sure what goes with it." Or possibly, "I don't want my wedding to look too matchy-matchy." How do you decide on a color scheme that, while not as lasting as a bedroom paint job, is still super-important and something you'll remember for years to come? Here are five tools and websites I like to use when I help clients formulate their color ideas.
1. The Perfect Palette This blog updates several times a week with wedding color palette ideas and an explanation of each. You can search the whole site by color family to find exactly what you want.
2. ColourLOVERS A bit broader in scope, ColourLOVERS covers not just weddings, but other design solutions such as graphic, print, and web; interior design; and fine art. Users are encouraged to get social by creating accounts, uploading patterns, and sharing with the community. (A side note: ColourLOVERS also has the great widget Themeleon, for creating Twitter screen backgrounds. It's where I got mine - look here.)
3. Adobe Color CC - Adobe Inc.'s Adobe Color CC tool makes it possible for you to take a photo of your site (or any photo, for that matter) and extrapolate a color scheme from it. Click on "Create" > "From an Image" and upload your photo and wow! You can also select different moods for the same picture. A great tool if you are feeling a bit stumped. You do need to create an account if you want to save your palettes.
4. Design Seeds Similar to The Perfect Palette, but not exclusively about weddings. This blogger takes hundreds of artful photos and applies her own aesthetic to draw out each custom color palette. A wonderful inspiration site.
5. You knew I would mention Pinterest. If you're following my boards already, you know how addicted I am and how you can be sure to see a 2am pin from me on your dashboard now and then. If you haven't had the pleasure of using this site, it is a sort of visual Twitter where you can "pin" just about any image on the Web to a virtual bulletin board, keeping all of your ideas in one place. You can create as many boards as you like and name them anything, from "Color Inspiration" to "Cute Pictures of Pugs". Most boards are public, (you have a limited number you can set to "Secret"), so you can search the site for your desired color scheme or idea and re-pin other folks' images to your boards. Also, all of the above-mentioned tools can be used in some way along with Pinterest.
Are there any other great color tools you're using to design your wedding? Please share with me in the comments as well.
Update: March 12, 2018: Another great post about color palettes for 2018 from Azazie.com, check it out!
A version of this post appeared on The Portland Wedding Coordinator blog in January 2012.
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