Avoiding a Floral Flop

You’ve chosen the colors for your wedding. You’ve picked out your gown and the bridesmaids’ dresses. Now you’re ready to choose the flowers for your bouquets.

In general, you can go one of three ways with your floral choices:

• Traditional all white- or all cream-colored blossoms

• Complementary hues that harmonize with the overall colors of your wedding

• Contrasting colors that add a stylish flair to your color scheme.

Choosing a monochromatic white/cream or complementary color plan is fairly straight-forward—and less complex. You simply work with your florist to identify the proper hues of flowers and then narrow it down to the specific blossoms that reflect your style, whether traditional or contemporary. (That may be oversimplifying, but you get the point.)

For the bride who prefers contrasting colors, however, the choices become more complicated. In general, contrasting colors are those on opposite sides of the color wheel. Such hues stand out boldly against the dramatic backdrop of your wedding parties’ attire, particularly with current preferences for darker colors. They also add oomph to wedding photographs. (White- and cream-colored bouquets tend to lose detail in photos due to their paleness.)

Popular Wedding Color Schemes

Following are some options for contrasting colors based on several of the most popular current wedding-color schemes: orange, green, purple, red and blue.

Orange

To ensure that this bold color doesn’t become garish, combine it with deep chocolate browns, purples or red. Accent with yellow or green foliage or blossoms. Such striking contrasts are particularly appropriate for autumn nuptials.

Green

Blend jade or forest green with white, pale pink or silver. If your main color is a more eclectic lime green, opt for contrasting colors of fuchsia, orange and cherry with lemon accents. Peacock greens work well with scarlet, pumpkin and yellow.

Purple

Gold is a popular hue to mix with this regal color. But if you prefer a more funky choice, mix it with magenta or tangerine.

Red

Green is the color opposite red on the color wheel. Unless you are getting married close to the holidays and want a Christmas-themed event, however, choose options such as blue, purple or lilac to contrast with your scarlet scheme.

Blue

When choosing deep shades of azure, you can opt for safe, traditional choices of gold or silver as your contrasting color. For brighter hues of blue, such as turquoise, choose equally bright colors—such as crimson, orange and yellow—to add boldness.

Check out this article for a list of flowers and their various available colours and meanings.

Florists pay close attention to current color trends and can provide insightful tips on how to make your bridal bouquets and decorative arrangements alluring additions to your wedding’s overall style. So rely on their professional advice. But make sure you clearly communicate your personal flair as the two of you consider all of your options.

Written by

Gina B. Kellogg

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