After a few weeks of engagement bliss passed, I started the wedding planning process. It started harmlessly with a few wedding magazines and wedding TV shows, but pretty soon I was spending hours every day perusing wedding websites and blogs. With so much information and inspiration I couldn’t help but get excited and maybe a little carried away. I had no idea you could have bird cake toppers, trees for centerpieces and gobos with your own design. Actually, I didn’t even know what a gobo was until I started planning our wedding.
A few weeks into wedding planning, my friend linked me to Nirali Magazine’s wedding section. I think it is one of the best sites for anyone planning a South Asian wedding in North America. I used their shopping guide when I was in India looking for bridal outfits, and was comforted reading their article highlighting interracial marriages. It was also Nirali that led me to my color scheme and invitation designer. I opened an article on invitation trends featuring Saima Khan’s work and was enthralled. (If Saima’s name sounds familiar it’s because she also happened to be Miss Jasmine’s invitation designer.)
One of Saima’s wedding suites:
After Saima and I talked about what I was going for (traditional Indian and Moroccan images presented in a modern way), she sent me a moodboard. A moodboard is a collection of materials that represents the ambience or theme of a design. When I saw the moodboard Saima created for me, I was immediately drawn to the plum and orange colors on the board. They represent classic colors in South Asian culture and combined together they evoked the unique and rich vibe that I was looking for.
The Moodboard:
The Lotus flowers:
The image that sold me on our color scheme:
So, long story short, that is how plum and orange (with ivory and copper accents) became our wedding color theme.
Up next, our wedding invitation suite…
All images courtesy of Saima Says Design
My colors were purple and orange too! I had orange, dark purple and lavender. The dark purple ended up being plummy too (rather than violet or blue-purple)! It worked out so well. Thus far I think it’s a fairly unusual combination in weddings (though when I started planning around it, I predicted that it would come into vogue - looks like I’m right!). When invitations went out (which were totally purple and orange), some people asked me, “so what’s with the purple and orange?” and I just said that they look awesome together, and orange is my favorite color.
We got a lot of compliments on how the colors at the wedding were bright and went together really well, and looking at pictures, I love how it all just pops off of the page. Can’t wait to see how you work with it!
Gorgeous!
Absolutely goregous!
Wow, purple and orange are my colors, too (along with gold). I had no idea it would become popular and kind of wish it would stay unusual 
Your moodboard looks amazing - can’t wait to see the invites!
Yay for Saima! I loved working with her and the mood board she created for you is gorgeous– that color combination is so unique and beautiful. I can’t wait to see your invites
Yea! Plum is my main color….with a little bit of pale pink!
stunning! I can’t wait to see the rest of the invites!
Unique and vibrant! I love, love the colors!
What are you going to do with the gobo? Monogram in your colors, lotus flower, a henna design or something else?
Oh my god those are SO pretty!
I never would have thought of those colors together but you have me sold. They look so rich together and I love the intricate designs!!!
I LOVE this color combination! I have red hair, so I think that I might end up actually clashing if those were my colors. I decided to go with a safe pink and green, even though I would love something bold like plum and orange.
I am not a purple person, but that is really pretty. She seems like a great designer! I want a mood board!
Thanks for the post. I’m sure your invites are going to be beautiful. I checked out the wedding section of the Nirali magazine and it’s great. I enjoy reading all those articles. I wonder if there’s a site like that for East Asian weddings.
wow—so dang gorgeous!!! i love the richness of your color combination
[...] I introduced my color scheme and invitation mood board in my last post. With my color scheme in mind, the first thing Saima designed was our save the dates. I didn’t [...]
[...] but pretty soon I was spending hours every day perusing wedding websites and blogs. With so muchttp://www.weddingbee.com/2008/06/24/how-the-color-plum-became-a-huge-part-of-my-life/Wedding Invitations, Bridal Shower Invitations, Wedding Announcements …Wedding invitations [...]
Love the color combo! My wedding is in September and I too am using these colors!! Plum is the main color and then I’m accenting with orange and gold. Any overall suggestions on how to tie everythign together? The b-maids dresses are plum and they are going to be carrying orange dailas as their bouquets. As far as making the tables pop at the reception do you think it’s ok to alternate colored napkins? i.e. plum and orange??
Miss Margarita, Boston/Los Angeles
Age and Occupation: 26, Healthcare Consultant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Doctor
Engagement Date: March 21, 2007
Wedding Date: August, 2008
Blogging Since: June 18, 2008
Venue: Saddlerock Ranch
About Me: I grew up in Southern California, moved to Boston for college, New York for grad school, back to Boston and now I travel the northeast every week for work. When I'm not on the go, I love to read, draw, shop, sleep and spend quality time with my fiancé, family and friends. We're long-distance planning for our "big fat brown wedding" in California and are excited to unite our Sri Lankan and Indian cultures and Buddhist and Hindu religions in a unique and modern way.
My first thought: um what is a gobo.
Second thought: ooohhhhh thanks Wiki!
I love plum and orange (and of course copper!) I cannot wait to see more of your details and invite suite