How To Best Convey To Your Florist Your Chosen Wedding Color Scheme

So, you've picked out the perfect wedding dress. Although it took several trips to the bridal boutique and many emails and phone conversations with your bridesmaids, you have also amazingly found the perfect bridesmaid dresses. The tuxedos are ordered with the most perfect matching vests and everything seems to be falling into place. What's next? The flowers, of course.

What is the best way to convey what you envision to your wedding florist? Well, the best way to get an accurate match for your wedding flowers is to bring your florist a swatch from the bridesmaid dresses at the time of your consultation.

If an actual swatch of the material is impossible to get (and sometimes it is), then we resort to the next best thing. I would ask you bring in a piece of ribbon from a local craft store that is very close to the colors you are using for your wedding party. In other words, the best possible option is to have something in hand when you come to the consultation to convey what color, and shades of color, you wish to have for your flowers.

Clients frequently ask if they can bring me a silk flower to match the flowers to. While this is not the best option, it isn't completely out of the question. Silk flowers lose the vibrance of real flowers and are often made in non-realistic shades. I have brides bring in silk flowers and say to me, "This is EXACTLY what I want." I have to explain to them that there is almost NO chance of getting the exact same flower in the exact same shade. Simply put, real flowers look real, and silk flowers do not. It is a good tool to use, but you need to understand that real flowers will look different than silk flowers - every single time.

My least favorite tool for matching colors for a client's wedding is the use of internet sites showing flowers and colors. Don't get me wrong, I think the available internet sites are a great tool for showing clients the actual flowers (for example, what delphinium looks like), but in no way do I want to depend on the computer resoloution for shades of color. Just about every flower website you visit will have a caption at the bottom of the screen saying that they are not responsible for the accuracy of the shades of color that are presented on the screen. I have run into this many times when working with clients. I may suggest a Hot Princess rose, for example, and their first reaction is that they want to see a picture of what I'm talking about. I pull up the flower on a website only to be disappointed to find that the flower showing on the computer is not even remotely close to what I know a Hot Princess rose actually looks like.

The best way to communicate with your florist and make sure that you get the look you want is to show your florist something that is the same color as what you want your flowers to look like. Then, let your florist let you know if that color exists in the fresh flower world. Your floirst may not be able to show you a real life example of each and every flower type she chooses, but at some point you will need to trust the person you've chosen to be your florist.

Tiffany's Wedding

This was one of my favorite bouquets for the spring wedding season. Some might suggest that this is more of a holiday bouquet, but I wholeheartedly disagree! Although this bridal bouquet is red, green and white in color, the flowers themselves are definitely spring time selections. Made up of gerbera daisies, peonies, ranunculus, tulips, and freesia, I love the textures and variety this bouquet offers.

A Wedding WITHOUT Bridal Party Flowers!

I was intrigued when I met with a client about her upcoming wedding and she revealed to me that she would not like to have a bridal bouquet for her wedding! In ten years of meeting with brides, this was a new one for me! She proceeded to tell me that she would not be having any bridesmaids and, thus, would not need any bridesmaid bouquets. She went on to say no corsages, no boutonnieres, no flower girl, no ring bearer.

I put my pen down on the table absolutely amazed at what was taking place. As it turned out, this bride only needed flowers for the ceremony, reception, and guestbook table. BUT, she knew exactly what flowers she wanted: paperwhites and orchids.

Jennifer's wedding took place on Saturday, March 21 at the Ritz Carlton in downtown Atlanta. It was an intimate gathering of only about 40 guests attending. I designed this arrangement for the firelplace which incorporates white and green dendrobium orchids, cymbidium orchids, paperwhites, and lily grass. The vases had a flowing feel although they were actually three separate designs.

For the cockail hour, we kept the theme of the orchids and placed oversized votives on each table with a submerged cymbidium orchid surrounded by small river rocks. There was also a miniature version of the larger firelplace arrangment (above) done on a smaller fireplace in this room as well.

Jennifer loved the idea of having an Asian feel for her wedding with also a rustic and natural presence in her decor. For the reception centerpieces, she chose to maintain the continuity of using a glass container, but we filled it with polished river rocks. She wanted a very airy design of curly willow with just some blooms of dendrobium orchids in green and white. These were a great design which added a great amount of height to the room, but were airy enough for the guests to easily communicate with one another during the reception.

How To Choose the Right Color Scheme for Your Wedding

A very exciting part of planning your wedding is choosing your color scheme. There are so many beautiful color combinations, so how do you know which one is right for you? The colors you choose will set the tone for your entire event; so much consideration needs to be given in making this decision. Popular wedding color choices are always changing, but later in this article I will touch on most popular color choices for 2009.


Obviously, when trying to decide on a color scheme for your wedding you should first consider colors that you love. Your wedding should be a reflection of your tastes and your distinct style so choosing colors that you love will automatically start you off in the right direction. However, there are other tips and strategies for making the most of your wedding color scheme. First, I strongly recommend taking into consideration the venue you have chosen for your ceremony and reception. Consider the scenery that is already present. Look at the carpeting, décor, walls, etc. for ideas about what will coordinate well with the colors you love.Second, think about the mood and the atmosphere that you want to create. If your style is bold then I suggest colors that are also bold and vibrant. If you are a timeless romantic, softer colors set the mood for romance. Traditional wedding colors also work well to create romance.


Third, you may also want to consider the season in which you plan to marry. Spring and summer weddings ttend to have lighter colors while fall and winter weddings tend to lean more toward the darker shades. Some examples of spring and summer wedding color choices include pink, lavender, pale yellow, turquoise, and sage green. Popular color choices for fall and winter include red, orange, golden yellow, purple, brown, and black.Each year brings new trends, and there are new and exciting colors and combinations for 2009. The hot color choices for this spring and summer are aqua, platinum, rose pink, pale yellow, sage green and champagne. The most popular trends for fall and winter weddings are fuchsia, slate blue, purple, and taupe.

Regardless of what colors you choose, be sure to limit your wedding colors to two or three with maybe one accent color. Great accent colors are gold, silver, or copper. You can incorporate your accent color in your ceremony and reception décor with the use of containers, vases,
candelabras, etc.


Some of my favorite color combinations for weddings in 2009 include:
Coral and blue
Lavender and pink
Pink, blue, and brown
Pink and green
Red, green, and white


Typically, the colors you choose for your wedding will be reflected most often in the bridesmaid dresses, the flowers, and the reception tables. The reception tables are probably the easiest to ensure you will get the right color. There are many table linen companies that offer every color imaginable in many textures and styles.


Sometimes the most difficult decision regarding the colors for your wedding is the bridesmaid dresses. Choosing a color that will complement everyone can sometimes be extremely difficult. Generally, colors can be broken down into two types: warm colors and cool colors. Warm colors have a yellow base and cool colors have a blue base. Warm colors tend to look best on women who have that yellow undertone in their skin. And, you guessed it. Cool colors tend to look best on women who have a blue undertone. How can you tell? As a quick rule of thumb, ladies who tan easily tend to have blue undertones and will look best in cool colors and those that do not tan easily, or don't tan at all, typically have yellowish undertones and will look best in warm colors.


Lastly, the flowers. There are more flowers and varieties than one can imagine. Roses alone are available in a vast array of colors and many shades of each color. However, there are some colors that you may choose for your wedding that will be somewhat more challenging to find in flowers. Two that come to mind are blue and coral. Yes, there are blue and coral flowers, but there aren't many to choose from. Your florist should, however, be able to suggest ways to incorporate your color scheme in the flowers regardless. For example, your wedding florist may suggest ribbon, jewels, vases, containers, etc. to bring those colors into your floral designs whether it is the bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres, altar, reception, or cake flowers.


Be confident in the wedding color combination you choose. If you really love it, your friends, family and guests will too!