If there is one thing I’ve learnt during my whole wedding planning experience, it’s that I am incredibly indecisive. And obsessive! Nowhere is this more apparent than in my journey towards choosing my wedding colours.When the significant other and I finally set a date recently I knew without much doubt that my theme would be ocean-like hues of blue & green. Rather fitting for two Pisceans tying the knot. And it helped that both happened to be my favourite colours.
But after much web surfing & link hopping, I was less excited about what seemed to be a rather ‘safe’ colour combination. Inspiration boards were downloaded, colour combos analysed & still among the endless pastels, metallics & monochromes there wasn’t really anything that did it for me.
I toyed with greens, golds, purples & pinks with little satisfaction. Until I came across an inspiration board featuring bridesmaids’ dresses in a light blue, contrasted by bouquets of roses in a deep red.
I loved it instantly (and so did the best friend who was with me – thanks Nel!). The cool blue made the warmth of the red pop right out. I’d never really thought of combining the two unless it was for something with vague nautical inspiration.
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| Ice Blue & Red |
The next step was finding the perfect shades. And this is where things got a little more complicated.
Ice blue, I found, was pretty but wouldn’t show up as well in wedding pics.
Next option? Tiffany blue, which gets its name from the aqua coloured boxes that oh-so-gorgeous jewellery range is sold in. Also known as aqua or pool, it’s a couple shades more vibrant & looks great with red.
My wedding file thickened considerably with tear-outs of Tiffany ads and colour combos over the weeks. I thought I’d finally made up my mind.
But that was until I started thinking of an old turquoise dress that one of our family’s designer friends had made for me a while ago. Rich & bright, that particular shade of turquoise made Tiffany blue look a little like its less glam, far uglier sister.
And you know what happens when your mind settles on something? You start seeing it everywhere! Turquoise & red started popping out at me from movie scenes, ads, product packaging, strangers’ clothing choices in malls, you name it! This was it. But what about the red? I knew straight off that I didn’t want a candy red, but something deeper & more velvety to offset the turquoise. Easier bloody said than done!
After a prolonged flirtation with a deep berry shade which metamorphosed into burgundy, which in turn changed the combination from playful, retro & quirky to vintage sophistication (or at least that’s what I liked to believe!), I realised the bridesmaids’ shoes we’d bought in a panic months ago (in anticipation of winter boots hitting the stores & leaving no pretty heels to be seen), were in fact more RED than burgundy. And pictures taken of my wedding invite sample made the burgundy look a bit too brown.
So back to redder red I have gone.
Needless to say, when my invites arrived this week with their pretty turquoise & red ribbons, I couldn’t stop staring at them… for only I know the exhausting mental journey that has been my ongoing quest to find the ‘right’ shade of blue and the ‘perfect’ shade of red.
