Flower Colour Palettes: Choosing the Right Shades for Your Wedding
Choosing the perfect colour palette for your wedding flowers is an exciting part of wedding planning. Flowers are more than just decor; they bring life, beauty, and personality to your celebration.
With so many colour combinations and blooms to choose from, narrowing down the right palette can feel overwhelming. But don’t worry—this guide will walk you through everything you need to know to find a floral palette that complements the season, location, and, of course, your unique style as a couple.
In this post, we’ll explore factors like the season, venue, and style and how they affect flower colour choices, with additional insights on flower symbolism and flower preservation after the wedding.
So, whether you’re just beginning your planning journey or finalising your wedding day details, read on to find inspiration for your floral palette.
Why Flowers Are an Important Part of Your Wedding
Let’s start with the basics: why are wedding flowers such an integral part of your big day? Flowers help create the atmosphere and set the tone of the celebration. They’re a focal point in your photos, a sensory experience for your guests, and a personal expression of your love story. With their colours, scents, and textures, flowers add an irreplaceable layer of charm and romance to any wedding.
Flowers can also carry deep personal meaning. If you’ve been dreaming of incorporating specific blooms that hold sentimental value or represent special moments, your wedding is the perfect time to showcase them.
By carefully choosing your flower colours and varieties, you can bring even more significance to your celebration, creating memories that will last a lifetime.
Seasonal Colours: Choosing a Palette That Suits the Season
The season you get married in will naturally influence your flower palette. Each season has its own character, and certain colours will complement it beautifully. Here’s a breakdown of popular seasonal palettes:
Spring Weddings
Spring is synonymous with renewal and freshness, making it a season for soft pastels, delicate blooms, and lush greens. Think shades of blush pink, lilac, peach, and cream paired with plenty of fresh greenery. Spring weddings are perfect for romantic, feminine palettes that feel light and airy.
Spring Flower Suggestions: Peonies, tulips, daffodils, ranunculus, and sweet peas are all springtime favourites.
Summer Weddings
Summer is all about bold, vibrant colours that reflect the warmth and energy of the season. This is the time for vivid hues like coral, orange, fuchsia, and bright yellow. Summer weddings often feature flowers in eye-catching arrangements, making the most of the abundant sunshine.
Summer Flower Suggestions: Roses, sunflowers, dahlias, and marigolds bring out that summer brightness.
Autumn Weddings
Autumn weddings call for rich, warm colours inspired by nature’s changing palette. Deep reds, burnt oranges, and golden yellows fit perfectly with the season’s cozy atmosphere. These tones are ideal for rustic or bohemian-style weddings.
Autumn Flower Suggestions: Chrysanthemums, dahlias, marigolds, and autumn foliage add warmth and depth to autumn arrangements.
Winter Weddings
Winter weddings are often complemented by cool tones like icy blues, whites, and silvers, or by contrasting rich colours like burgundy, navy, and emerald. Winter palettes are perfect for creating a cozy, sophisticated feel with a hint of drama.
Winter Flower Suggestions: Anemones, amaryllis, hellebores, and white roses are excellent choices for winter weddings.
Tip: Incorporating seasonal flowers not only enhances the natural beauty of your setting but can also make your wedding more sustainable. Seasonal blooms are often more readily available and can reduce transportation impacts, too.
Venue and Location: Finding Colours That Match the Setting
Where you get married can also impact your flower palette. Whether you’re tying the knot in an outdoor garden, a historic estate, or a modern city venue, choosing flowers that complement the surroundings can make the day feel more cohesive and personalised.
Outdoor/Nature-inspired Venues
For garden weddings, rustic barns, or beachside ceremonies, look to nature for inspiration. Soft neutrals, earthy tones, and subtle pops of colour can work beautifully against outdoor backdrops. Coastal or garden venues often suit palettes of greens, blushes, and gentle pastels.
Indoor Venues
Indoor venues give you more control over lighting and aesthetics, which can open the door to bold and dramatic palettes. Historic estates may suit classic, refined shades like deep reds or royal blues, while modern venues might suit minimalist colour schemes, such as monochromatic whites or greens.
Destination Weddings
Destination weddings offer a chance to get creative. Think vibrant, tropical shades for beach destinations or muted, natural tones for desert or mountain settings. The location’s natural elements can inform your palette and give the wedding an authentic feel.
Tip: To make the most of your venue, think about how the colours of your flowers will interact with the setting’s architectural features, lighting, and decor.
Personal Style: Infusing Your Personality into the Palette
Your personal style as a couple is another important factor in choosing wedding flower colours. Do you prefer classic elegance, a modern aesthetic, or a touch of vintage charm? Here are some style-based colour ideas:
Classic/Traditional
Classic brides often lean towards timeless palettes with whites, greens, blush pinks, and soft peach tones. These shades create a romantic, elegant look that feels sophisticated and understated.
Modern/Minimalist
For a more contemporary feel, consider a monochromatic scheme or a minimalist palette with just two or three colours. All-white florals with lush greenery can look chic and modern, as can bold colour choices in simple arrangements.
Bold/Bohemian
Couples drawn to boho styles often opt for earthy, unconventional hues—think burnt orange, mustard, and rich purple. Wildflower-inspired bouquets with exotic, textured blooms add a unique flair.
Vintage/Romantic
For a nostalgic, vintage feel, muted tones like dusty rose, sage, and antique gold are ideal. These colours feel timeless and evoke a sense of romance that pairs well with vintage-inspired decor.
Tip: It’s okay to mix styles! Don’t be afraid to infuse your own personality into your palette, even if it means blending different colours or textures. After all, it’s your day.
Additional Considerations: Symbolism, Cultural Elements, and Family Preferences
There are a few other elements you may want to keep in mind when planning your palette:
Symbolism of Flowers
Did you know flowers carry special meanings? If you’re drawn to a particular bloom, it might be worth exploring its symbolism. For example, roses often represent love, lilies symbolize purity, and lavender signifies devotion. Incorporating symbolic flowers can add even more depth to your arrangements.
Cultural Influences
If you or your partner’s culture has a tradition of specific colours, consider incorporating them into your wedding. Colours like red, for example, are significant in many cultural wedding ceremonies and could be included in your palette in a way that’s meaningful to you.
Family Preferences
If you have colours or flowers that are important to family members, consider including them for a personal touch. Family heirlooms or preferences can bring added sentimentality to your day.
Preserving Your Flowers: A Lasting Keepsake
After putting so much thought into your flower palette, it’s only natural to want to preserve those blooms as a lasting keepsake of your wedding day. Flower preservation allows you to keep a piece of your wedding forever, capturing the beauty of your bouquet long after the day has passed.
Why Flower Preservation Matters
Preserving your wedding flowers can be a wonderful way to relive your special day each time you look at them. It can be especially meaningful to display them at home, where they’ll serve as a beautiful reminder of your celebration.
Methods of Preservation
One of the most timeless methods is pressing flowers, which allows you to keep the natural beauty of your bouquet in a delicate, flat arrangement. I offer bouquet pressing services with floating glass frames that retain the colours and elegance of your flowers. By working with a preservation artist, you can transform your bouquet into a lasting piece of art.
How to Prepare Your Flowers for Preservation
To keep your flowers looking their best, plan to have them preserved as soon as possible after the wedding. After your celebration, follow any instructions from your preservation artist to ensure that your bouquet is in perfect condition for pressing. If you’re curious about the preservation process or want to discuss your options, feel free to contact me.
Conclusion
Your wedding flowers are more than just decor—they reflect the season, the location, your personal style, and the sentimentality of your big day. By carefully choosing a colour palette that reflects these elements, you’ll create an unforgettable, cohesive look that adds meaning to your celebration. And when the day is over, preserving your flowers offers a wonderful way to carry that beauty into the next chapter of your life.
Ready to start planning your bouquet’s preservation? Reach out to learn more about preserving your flowers with Lancaster Flower Press and create a keepsake that will last a lifetime.
