Weddingbee Blog

A good while back, I presented you all with this inspiration board.

[sources: cupcakes, pearls, pink/green bouquet, green shoe, couple, jewelry (my photo), men’s ring, courthouse, car, orange/green bouquet, green shoe, barrette.]

It’s pretty cool, right? It has some main themes to it (pale green, dusty orange, butter yellow). I was being practical with this inspiration board, expecting to scrounge for flower colors and styles on my day, and trying to keep it all simple. And actually, if you look at the colors above, they do a pretty good job of matching our beautiful venue (which I actually hadn’t even found when I made this board).

And yet, here’s what I ended up with:

[Sources: Shoes, bouquet, sash, and bout/tie photos - Shawna Noel. The rest are my own images.]

Don’t get me wrong. I loved my bouquet. I loved my sash. My shoes… they were alright, aside from the blister they gave me. But the thing is: I planned the wedding colors around those silly shoes. And I don’t even like copious amounts of green that much. I just wanted a pop of color, and the shoes I found were definitely sporting a decent pop. Given that I had this to work with:

[Shawna Noel Photography]

I instead chose to match everything to these. That, in retrospect, was kind of dumb.

The courtroom was so rich with vintage-y colors (they make me think of Shortcake’s colors). Muted, yet bold. Yet our main color was a rather limey-green, which clashed with that gorgeous turn-of-the-century venue. I definitely stood out… but was that a good thing? Many of my favorite portraits are black-and-whites, and I think it’s because I am ultimately a little unhappy that I didn’t take advantage of the dusty pinks, mustard yellows, rustic golds and minty greens that made our venue so special.

I think MIL Mary Jane was on to something when she suggested this paper and color scheme for our paper products.

Brown, dusty pink, mint green, a little muted blue. Why didn’t I catch on then? Our colors were bright, vivid and springy (for a September wedding, haha) instead of rich and vintage-y. While everything did turn out splendidly, in my opinion, I really missed ’the look’ I would have liked. Eh, oh well. If you don’t have any “if only…” moments after your own wedding, you’re probably one of the lucky few. We all spend months or even years planning these events, and ideas and preferences are bound to change over time. It was of course a wonderful day, and I am not interested in a do-over! You know what they say: hindsight is 20/20. I’ll leave you today, just for fun, with my ’hindsight’ (hint: clicking on it should enlarge it a little):

[Sources: Top Row: gumpaste roses, gold flat, cake, birdcage veil, roses, vintage dress; Middle: owl cameo, our courthouse, yellow mary jane, car; Bottom: man accents, bouquet, pink pumps, envelope, cupcakes.]

Are you considering matching your colors to your venue? Or, if your wedding day’s passed, are you happy with the colors you chose?