Color palette confusion

Pretty early in the wedding planning process, you need to nail down a color palette.  True, this decision won't necessarily have an impact on the other big-ticket decisions (like date or ceremony/reception venue), it shows up in almost every other decision you'll make.  You can't pick bridesmaids' dresses, table linens, boutonnieres, "mother of" attire, or centerpieces without knowing what colors you're working with.  Well, I guess you could pick all of your details without picking a specific color palette first, if you don't mind have your wedding kind of resemble rainbow throw-up.

 

Image via Gizmodo

To each their own, but I'm trying to avoid having anyone compare the look of my wedding to vomit.  So, a well-defined color palette decision, it is!

As I launched into planning our wedding, I figured Mr. Snow Cone would be the typical backseat groom that I've always seen in movies and TV shows about weddings -- you know the type, pretty much a magic 8-ball of supportive but nonchalant answers like "sounds good" and "whatever you want, honey."  I expected he'd want to be highly-involved in certain aspects of the day, like picking and sampling the menu, making bar selections, and other "dude-ly" tasks.  I also expected that he'd be more than OK with me taking the driver's seat with more of the detail-oriented, visual stuff, like color palettes.  I made the assumption that I would pick a color palette, tell him what I picked, and keep the ball rolling.  Simple as that.  When I started trying to envision what I wanted our wedding to look like, my brain immediately went to my favorite color combination of navy blue and sunny yellow. I had visions of this type of cheery, fun wedding:

Collage made by me.  Sources, clockwise from top left
Roses: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Lace/Hanky Photography / Bouquet by Flora Studio
Pomander: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Red Fly Photography / Pomander by Blue Parrot Playa del Carmen
Bridesmaids' bouquets: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Victoria Souza Photography / Bouquets by Hana Floral Design
Cake: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Heather Hughes Photography / Cake by Emily Uperti-Patti of Patti Cakes, Inc.
Invitation: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Invitation by Kenzie Kate
Bouquet: Image via TheKnot / Phot by Antonis Achilleos / Bouquet by Beautiful Blooms
Favor: Image via TheKnot / Photo by DVB Photographers / Favor by Savannah Bee Company
Lanterns: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Evrim Icoz Photography 

I was a little worried people would think we were having a Notre Dame and/or Pitt themed wedding, since coincidentally both schools' colors are navy and gold/yellow; but, at the same time, I kept telling myself that having a wedding that just happened to be in our schools' colors would be a reflection of us as a couple, which is what you strive for in wedding planning.  It turns out that Mr. Snow Cone had the same concern, plus he was plus-minus on the blue and minus-minus on the yellow.  Not quite the reaction I was going for.

Attempt #2: I refused to give up on my beloved yellow.  I thought if I masked it with another bright, strong color, he might be more of a fan.  So, I tried purple and yellow.  Not necessarily one of the first color combinations that comes to mind when you think of "awesome colors that go together, especially for weddings" (at least not for me), but I was pleasantly surprised about how the color inspiration board turned out -- dramatic but still upbeat and fun.

 

 Collage made by me.  Sources, clockwise from top left

Escort cards: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Ann Hamilton Photographer 

Flowers: Image via TheKnot / Photo by L'amour de Vie / Flowers by DesignWorks by Dave and Mike

Chairs: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Halberg Photographers / Rentals by Fusion Linens

Favors: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Missy Photography / Favors by The Knot Wedding Shop

Program: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Nelson Photography / Program by Paper & Inklings

Program: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Borrowed Blue Photography 

Cake: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Ian Johnson 

Flowers: Image via TheKnot / Photo by VUE Photography / Flowers by Twigs

Mr. Snow Cone's response?  He really liked the purple, but didn't fall for my attempts to sneak yellow into the palette.  To him, this color combination looked like a Minnesota Vikings-themed wedding, and I couldn't really disagree with him on that.

Image via Chris Snider Design

Purple and yellow?  Officially a no-go.

Attempt #3: Peacock-inspired color palette.  No feathers would necessarily have to be included, since it wouldn't be a peacock-themed wedding, but if they wriggled their way in there, so be it.  I mostly was envisioning pretty shades of purple, teal, apple green, navy, and the like:

Collage made by me.  Sources, clockwise from top left
Boutonniere: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Captivated Images / Boutonniere by Carol Gary at Dayspring Designs
Flowers: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Phase 3 Photography / Flowers by The Urban Blossom Floral 
Necktie: Image via Price Inspector 
Invitation: Image via Formal-Invitations
Program: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Melissa Grimes-Guy Photography / Program by More Than Words Fine Paper
Escort Cards: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Melissa Grimes-Guy Photography / Program by More Than Words Fine Paper
Lighting: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Goen South 
Cake: Image via TheKnot / Photo by Therese Marie Wagner Photography / Cake by Carlo's Bakery

His response: a hesitant "As long as there are no feathers involved...".  Once again, not quite what I was hoping to hear.  Adios, peacock-colors!

Synopsis: After creating these inspiration boards, we managed to give yellow the axe and agree that purple was probably a good choice, but we definitely weren't anywhere close to picking any sort of accent colors.  I was surprised at how active and opinionated Mr. Snow Cone was during this color-selection process.  Apparently pop culture was off-base as it conditioned me for 22 years to expect to pick my favorite colors and be done with it; it was kind of a hard day for me to realize that my countless hours of vegging out in front of the TV may not have been the best preparation for the real world.  Although we didn't land on an exact palette the first, second, or third try, we were honing in on a winner.  Fortunately for us, a lucky Google search gave us the answers we were looking for... to be continued!

Did you have an active groom-to-be in the decision-making process?  How did that impact your planning progress?