Introduction: Pick your color scheme early!

Hi, my name is Theresa and I was a crazed stressed out bride just a couple weeks ago! There were moments in my planning and preparation where I said to myself, "how are you ever gonna pull all of this off yourself?" I had so many idea's and many of these idea's I didn't even incorporate into my ceremony or reception. I did what was fitting for my vision of my wedding day.

I honestly must admit that I DIY'ed much more than we ever used in our wedding. It was fun, and fulfilling, I even made templates for wedding invitations, place cards, table cards, and programs, I made different monograms, I bought flowers and tried all sorts of arrangements, bouquets, and corsages, I bought tons of tulle and ribbon and made more bows than I will ever use in my lifetime. I wrote out programs of our reception, and what I wanted at which point of it. I tried updo's and other hairstyles that I may like. I read everything I could about all things wedding related--as I was obsessed to follow proper etiquette--I even stressed on all my bridesmaids the correct way to hold their bouquet and how to hold their champagne flute(which I DIY'd) for the toasts. It was fun. It was rewarding. I was a wedding planner! I loved it.

It may not seem very important right now--for all you brides-to-be that are just starting to plan your wedding day but all things to come stem from this decision : Pick out your color scheme early on. For our wedding that was one of my biggest obstacles. For the colors you pick will start to shape your event! The colors you pick will become your theme throughout your wedding planning...From your bridesmaids dresses to your bouquets, from your reception decorations to even your guest favors. Without picking the colors--how do you even start planning--a themed wedding, a formal reception, or even the colors of the Tuxedo's or your attendants attire? You need a clue as to what colors of the rainbow you want to see on your wedding day!

The formula I used for picking my color scheme was simple:
1. Pick your primary color? Primary colors would be your linens, your chair covers, your wedding dress for example. A primary color is the color that will outline the wedding, and you can always fall back on this color if you're unsure in any other aspects. I chose the color white.
2. Pick a color that influences you? Basically this is the color that will bring your wedding to life! This is the color that you will build your main theme around. Your main decorations, flowers, bridesmaid dresses, the vest and tie of the tuxedo's, overlay linens, your wedding cake or table decors, even lighting. Like I said above--a color that will bring your wedding to life. I chose the color red. A darker red to be exact.
3. Pick a color to use as an accent? For our wedding, it was a no brainer, I wanted silver accents to tie in to the other colors. Silver ribbons to decorate my favors, my bridesmaids shoes were even silver, lace adoration's on their dresses were silver, my tiara was silver with white pearls and lots of bling. We had silver bows on the guest table candles. My grooms vest and tie were silver. This color gave our wedding an extra flair, an added bonus.

Now of course the above is only MY formula. It worked for me though. I started a binder and on the first 3 pages--even before our budget I wrote--a page dedicated to each of these colors and what we'd use where and for what. Granted along the way, we changed this to that, and so forth, but in the long run(our wedding day) we seen our vision come to life in brilliant perfection.

Just for your information our wedding theme was formal. We wanted a well orchestrated, classic, and elegant wedding from start to finish, something that would stand out, something perfect, something that looked like we spent a fortune(we kept way under our budget all the way!!), we wanted our guests to feel as though they were royalty yet we wanted the reception to feel warm and be personable to our own tastes. It turned out to feel very inviting, it was crisp, clean, and comfortable in an elegant formal sort of way.

Not one guest realized just how much of this event I DIY'd!! Everyone complimented. We are so proud.

If we could do our wedding day over; the only thing I'd wish for is more time!!! I planned it for a year. Lol. But before I knew it, that year was gone, and I could only incorporate what was meant for us. So I have lot's of DIY help for brides. Stay tuned!!!