- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee Blog
When we first got engaged, I thought I knew for sure our colors would be blue and white. I’ve always liked the color blue, and white meant we could sprinkle big poofy hydrangeas everywhere. Then a few months later, we picked our date! We decided on a fall wedding in PA, when the trees will be changing colors, and would be oh-so-beautiful. But blue in the fall? I know for some, blue does mean fall, but for me, when I see fall I see browns, reds, and gold. Unfortunately, Mr. Sunbeam was not into making our guys wear brown, which totally threw off that color scheme for me. Ahhk! Of course, with every new color combination that popped into my head, I got online and requested free swatches from every possible source. Welcome to my swatch pile:
The saddest part?
There were more on the way when I took this picture!! And we all know some sites limit the number of swatches they will send you. I’m not sure if the limit is per request, or per person, so I’ve been getting creative with my name (Misssun Beam.. Miss Sunbeam.. S Beam…) and address (putting my apartment number in line one… then in line two… and then using my work address…) all out of fear that they will cut me off!! I can’t help myself.
Some advice I can give is this: Unless you are dead set on colors right out of the gate, take the time to pick your date, venue, and consider any must-have details that may restrict your color choice, then start ordering your swatches!
How big did your swatch pile get? Did you know your color scheme right away, or did you keep changing your mind like I did?
Miss sunbeam, I hear you on the swatches! I actually couldn’t find enough (including sending copies to my BMs), so I cut them into pieces - and then I glued all my swatches onto drawing paper. I have artwork of our swatches!
lol. my swatch pile is pretty small. two to be exact, in the shades of blue and green that i wanted. i found them randomly while looking for ribbon for a sash i was making for my friend’s wedding.
I picked up a MS paint chip from Lowe’s, stopped by DB for a swatch of “apple,” they matched, I was done. I’m either really efficient or really lazy. Probably a little of both.
You’re brilliant! I never thought to order fabric samples! I was going to take paint chips to my baker for icing colors, but fabric never dawned on me!
We picked out colours right away…sometimes I think about having different colours when I see amazing inspiration boards…but we’re going with yellow, cream and smokey grey. The walls of our venue are grey stone, so it fits perfectly 
I kept changing my mind on our color scheme. Like you, I was originally wanting to go with blue and white–but then I decided I wanted an ivory dress with a champagne sash AND chose black for BM dresses. I thought about incorporating all 4 colors, but couldn’t find a shade of blue that I liked. In the end, I went with black, ivory and gold/champagne which worked out.
Instead of fabric swatches, I ended up using paint chips to work on my designs. This was a cheap way to get started (paint chips are free and you can take as many as you want) and THEN I found linens/paper products to match. And the bonus–now I have some paint chips to help me redecorate. 
I did paint chips too Jessie! I wasn’t patient enough to wait for swatches to get mailed, so I just visited every paint store in the county
haha I was so set on my colors and theme that I had purchased some decorations and whatnot before reserving a venue.
of course nothing I had chosen before went with the venue we ended up with!!!
I definitely changed my color scheme (I think about eight times!). I think blue and white could be beautiful for a fall wedding. Can’t wait to see what you decide.
TOO FUNNY! I never ordered swatches, MAN ALIVE I wish I had now. I just kept making inspiration boards out of any and all pics online. I probably have 40 of them in all fall colors. We’re september, so we originally went with burgundy, burnt orange and brown, but like you FH didnt want the guys in brown. Even more funny than that, he DESPISES brown and black together, so brown BM dresses with black tux was out of the question. Now we’re navy and white with yellow accents.
oh, if my digital collection turned fabric swatches, Id need another room…so Im with ya!
@jesnjr2009 I got the majority from jcrew and simple silhouettes!
@pvaulter718 & Sarah, paint chips are a great idea, especially if they had cut me off, but I kinda wanted to also get a feel for the finishes and textures of the fabrics.. hehe.
No swatches for me, I knew our colors almost immediately, and we’re getting married in October and blue is one of our colors. Its always been my favorite color and since we won’t be outside, it won’t compete with the fall colors
I’ve always gone with the paint chips…but I would love to get some fabric swatches too. What are some of your favorite sites that have free swatches?
Miss Sunbeam, You are going to have a lovely fall wedding… My dining room has a watercolor of lovely Harbison chapel in the fall… with scarlet leaves in the background… that was painted on campus just a couple of years ago! With the yellow sandstone of the chapel and the red leaves… it’s going to be fabulous!
I swim in fabric samples on a daily basis, so I LOVE your stash!
Have you thought of having the boys wear khaki suits? It would go beautifully with your pallette!
We are getting married on my parent’s 34th anniversary so we are doing their color scheme with a twist-navy, gold and yellow instead of navy, gold and red they had for their 1976 bi-centennial themed wedding! I was torn between navy with blues and purples, pinks or yellows but decided on yellow because it is my favorite color on my fiance and he wore a yellow shirt on our first date.
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Mrs. Sunbeam, San Francisco/Grove City, PA Age and Occupation: 26, Grad Student & Office Manager Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Motion Designer Engagement Date: May 10, 2008 Wedding Date: September 2009 Venue: Harbison Chapel & The Maple Lane Farm About Me: Mr. Sunbeam and I are high school sweethearts. We both come from a small town in PA but are growing to love the California lifestyle. He loves wine and I love cheese... the perfect combination! When I'm not drooling over wedding blogs, I'm attending grad school, out being a foodie, or attempting to "walk" our cat at the park. Two things guaranteed to excite me are wedding cakes and breaking out my suitcase to travel. Mr. Sunbeam and I are personalizing our hometown wedding to celebrate our high school sweetheart status and PA roots with a few CA touches. After ten years of dating we couldn't be more excited to call each other husband and wife!
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | 30 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
Latest Gallery Pics