How To Choose Your Wedding Colors

On the surface, it looks so easy.  Your wedding color is typically your favourite color.  If only it was that simple.  If you have ever painted a room, or tried to match two shades of fabric, you know that white actually comes in about 20 different shades (white, off white, eggshell, cream…) and each retailer has a different interpretation of it.  What is white at one store may be cream at another. 

If the color is a very big deal for you, spare yourself the frustration of driving all over town with a fabric swatch in your purse and find an all inclusive wedding store.  These types of stores typically have suppliers that have their own color schemes for wedding items.  Not only will you save time and money, you will also be able to perfectly match your dinner napkins to your cocktail ones.  

If the color is a breaking point for you, be prepared to have several different shades.  This effect, when properly done, is actually quite pretty.  You may have dark purple accent flowers on the slip covered chairs, light purple flowers in the table centerpiece and a pale purple appetizer plates.  It’s still purple, but varied.

 It is perfectly acceptable to uses several shades of a single color.  However, if you are using two or more colors, be very careful.  Yellow and red, while festive, are also typical colors for a hot dog stand.  Unless you and your fiancé are baseball fans with a sports themed wedding, you may want to rethink that one.  Pink and red tend to clash.  It can be done, but if not reigned in will resemble a Valentine’s Day party.  Well, if you are getting married on February 14, I guess that is not an issue! 

Give special consideration to the groom.  Pink may be your favorite color but if you expect him to wear a pink cummerbund and pocket square, you may want to discuss that with him first.  He may not be as enthusiastic about it as you are.

 Also consider your bridesmaids.  While you are free to pick whatever color you want their dress to be, you will be taking photos with these ladies that will serve as a lifetime reminder of your wedding day.  Choose photogenic colors that look good on a variety of skin tones.  A delicate pale yellow in outdoor photos may look washed out as well as making very fair skinned ladies look pasty.  

Above all, don’t get too hung up one particular color.  There are endless shades for you to choose from.  You don’t want to remember your wedding day as the day you were so sad because the mint green napkin rings didn’t match the spring green bows on the candles.

How To Pick A Wedding Song

You hear it on the radio and you tear up a little.  It has the number one spot on your Ipod.  You find yourself humming it as you do chores around the house and if you are going to belt out a tune in the shower, it is the one on your lips.  What is this masterpiece of music that you cannot get out of your head?  It is your wedding song!  Like your dress, venue, and vows, your wedding song is one of the most memorable parts of the occasion.  So just how do you go about choosing the song for your first dance (or in some cases, the song sung during your wedding ceremony)?

Well, it can be very simple.  If you and your fiancé have a love song that means a lot to you, then presto! You have a wedding song.  Please note that I said love song.  As we recently saw on an episode of Fox’s Glee, the Thong Song doesn’t count.

What if, however, you and your intended are not one of those couples that go, “awwwww, they are playing our song!” when a tune comes on the radio?  In that case, you need to consider the following:

1. Is this wedding song going to be sung in a church or used at the reception for your first dance?  Not all churches allow secular music in the sanctuary so be sure to check with your official ahead of time.  If it is going to be played at the reception, can you dance to it?  Make sure you give it a try first and sign up for dance lessons if you need to.  Good friends of mine, for example, choose the rollicking tune, “Let the Good Times Roll” for their first dance and stunned us all with a wild choreographed swing routine – which leads us the second point…
2. Does the song fit your personalities? My aforementioned friends both loved to swing dance and were easy going, laid back people who viewed their upcoming life together as a fun adventure.  Hence, Let the Good Times Roll, while not a traditional wedding song, was perfect for them.  You and your partner may need to compromise a bit here.  If he’s into old school hip hop and likes Baby Got Back (refer to Thong Song comments, please!) but she’s a romantic and wants to waltz around the floor to Everything I Do, I Do It For You, she’s not going to have fond memories of doing a rump shaking routine no matter how bootylicious she is.  Choose a song that appeals to both of you.  And speaking of appealing…
3. Is your song offensive to others?  Yes, it is your wedding, but you do need to consider the feelings of your guests.  If your recently divorced best friend is your maid of honor, choosing her wedding song as your own is not going to go over well.  The same goes for songs with questionable lyrics and offensive language.  For example, I Wanna Sex You Up is a lovely and yes, even romantic song under some circumstances, but you do not want your mother-in-law blushing and your father trying to crawl under the table as you and your new spouse grind on the dance floor.  Keep it family friendly!

You have millions of songs at your disposal.  Whether you want some thing fun or flirty, romantic or reminiscent, there is a song out there that you and the one you love will agree on.  So, go ahead and choose one that as Bon Jovi so eloquently sings it, will Make a Memory.  (Hey, Make a Memory! That’s a good wedding song too!)