Question 3: I’m getting married in a small church in central London at the end of April (Charles Dickens’ parents were married there!), and we’re having the reception on a boat on the Thames. My dress is ivory with a black sash, and as the upholstery on the boat is a dark pewter gray I thought a good colour scheme would be black/white/gray with accents of warm yellow and lots of sparkle. The problem is that my other half doesn’t like it! He thinks that Spring is a great time for colour – for greens, pinks and a riot of flowers… What would you suggest?? Is there another way to use gray and black that’s less funereal (his words!)?
I have a feeling I know what some of your answers are going to be, but I know that this bride would love all of the input that she can get! What do you think? Yellow as an accent color or should they go another direction?
OH, and if you’ve sent me a question in the last few months that you really want to see up here today, shoot me a reminder email and I’ll do my best to get it up!
Answer 3: I think that so many of you are right…it totally depends on the mood you are going for. In my opinion, black/gray/white combination can be utterly chic and gorgeous. Adding sparkle would be the icing on the already lovely cake. But, it’s true…if you are going to go for understated, muted colors, you have to do it right. Common Spring colors like pinks, peaches, greens are a little bit easier to pull off.
Okay, with that said, I was playing around on the GORGEOUS new Bastian + Skoog site today when I stumbled upon this image:
I thought that it just might be the perfect inspiration for this particular question…a very French, girly approach to a muted color palette. So from this image, I came up with this…
dress by Vera Wang on Brides.com, flowers by Bastian + Skoog, Bridesmaid dress by JCrew, Rosemary image by Artfool
Keeping the palette muted and bringing in feminine, wispy flowers, herbs and such would be a nice way to embrace the natural surroundings while still seeming to be light and Springy. I loooooooove the idea of adding a bold stripe into the mix, to really make things pop, either in yellow or slate. Perhaps in the napkins or favor packaging?
Bottom line…if you decide to go with the muted palette, keep things simple and clean. Then, add one big pop of pattern to liven up the look. It could be spectacular if done right. If you decide to embrace a more Spring-like palette, the world is your oyster!