Ombre Obsession - A Wedding Inspiration Board

Ombre, from a French word meaning "shading," is our new favorite way to make a colorful statement in your wedding. The idea behind this look is creating a color palette consisting of graduating shades similar to those created by dip dying fabric. You can use any color you wish or even a group of colors, like red, orange, and yellow or shades of blue and purple. We chose to use pink for our inspiration board because it is the color we see most often in ombre. This trend seems to also go hand in hand with lovely ruffles everything from cakes to dresses to decor. Ombre ruffling creates such a fun, romantic look and we knew we had to share it with all our spring and summer brides.

Here are few simple tips for brides using an ombre theme...

1. Tone down your color palette by choosing a neutral color that will be used on the majority of your decor. Shades of grey are on trend right now, as are shades of pure white and creamier tones of ivory. If you want a more dramatic look, go for black or brown as your backdrop. This will keep your ombre from being too overwhelming.

2. Dip dyed bridesmaids dresses aren't every girl's style. Instead, dress your bridesmaids in solid colors that are one shade darker than the girl's dress on her right. When they all stand together in a row, the ombre effect will be stunningly subtle. Your groomsmen can wear whatever neutral shade you have chosen with ties or boutonnieres that coordinate with the shades used in the bridesmaid dresses.

3. Check out paint swatches at your local hardware store for color inspiration. Usually the colors on these swatches already show perfectly graduating shades.

We hope you enjoy the inspiration board we've put together. For more ideas, follow our Ombre Wedding Inspiration Board on Pinterest.

Image Sources: Rose Carpet from Martha Stewart Weddings, Feathers from Green Wedding Shoes, Dresses from Anna Elyse, Shoes from Shoes.com, LOVE Design from Wedding Chicks, Soda bottles from Jam and Toast, "Oat to Joy" Favors from Green Wedding Shoes, Ruffled Cake via Calligraphy by Jennifer, Ombre Cake Slice from Call Me Cupcake, Flower Box from Ruffled Blog

Apricot, Peach, and Blush - A Wedding Color Story

Spring and summer weddings will be full of romance and soft colors this year. One of our favorite palettes combines shades of apricot, peach, and beautiful blush. The warm tones in this color scheme are invitingly soft and delicate, yet manage to be subtly striking and breathtakingly gorgeous. We've seen these colors used most often in vintage and Victorian inspired themes, so we combined them here with hints of lace, English roses, and beautiful Victorian cameos. This look has everything a blushing bride could ask for, with a whisper of romance and a hint of hopeful spring blossoms.    

Image Credits: Peach and Lace Dress from Simply Bloom Photography, Burlap and Cameo invitations from Invitation Crush,  Cupcake Heart Photo from Ooh Pretty Shiny on Etsy, Pink Cupcakes from Martha Stewart, Cameo Cake from JL Designs, Roses and Lanterns from Lisa Lefkowitz via Snippet and Ink

The Perfect Match

One of my fondest memories from childhood is of my sister and I swinging our polka dot legging clad legs on the side of our bunk beds as she somberly explained to me the rules of matching. We all know them. Patterns are paired with solids. Colors must be paired with a neutral. And the list goes on and on. These may have been suitable rules for navigating color palettes at one time. Luckily for those who love to play with color, most of them are now obsolete or like most rules of thumb, do not have to be followed exactly. Unfortunately these rules have been ingrained in all of us and have had the sad side effect of making a lot of people afraid to use color and patterns at all.

This strict "matchy-matchy" frame of mind can actually make planning your wedding, event, or even your outfit more difficult than it really needs to be. I am happy to free you from your neutral prison and inform you that it is now possible to be trendily mismatched. You may now often hear the phrase, "It doesn't have to match, it just has to go." As in go together and have some sort of unifying theme. Take a look at these adorable tea tins from http://www.marthastewart.com/. The patterns and colors do not strictly match. Yet  they all have a vintage feel and use muted colors. Instead of clashing, they say "of course, we all belong together!"

Another way to ease a little stress in a wedding and go with the intentionally mismatched look, is to let your bridesmaids choose their own dresses. There are a couple ways to do this. You could specify a color, or a few colors for your bridesmaids to choose from and let them choose the dress style.  You could also choose a dress and allow them to choose from a selection of colors.

This photo by Jose Villa photography, courtesy of Plum Invitations,  shows how these bridemaids each wear a different dress, yet still coordinate. The key is to make it appear intentional, not thrown together. You do this easily by picking one characteristic that is uniform, like style, fabric, or pattern.

When choosing your colors don't be afraid to use color combinations that you would not usually see together. A good way to think about color is, if it exists in nature it can exist in your color scheme! Gain inspiration from flowers for bright color schemes. For example, yellow and purple are often thought of as clashing. Take a look at this painting by David Wagner. It is a perfect example of how well these colors do compliment one another.

Use your colors confidantly and creatively. Remember that as long as there are a few basic cohesive elements, you can tie virtually anything of your own interest together to create a unique theme.

~ Jenna