Summer Color Palettes for a Fabulous Wedding Party
ARTICLE TOOLS
RELATED ARTICLES
Summer is a celebration of color! At this time of year, nature is just brimming with every hue under the sun (literally!). Which means we have a fabulous array of colors to choose from for our summer parties.
Here, we share with you four of our favorite palettes for outdoor events—whether these are held in full sunshine or on a sultry summer evening under the stars. Each set creates a mood of its own—hopefully providing inspiration for your own upcoming celebration!
Hawaiian Luau Celebration
Fuchsia + Pink + Foliage Green + Yellow + Naturals and Neutrals
Talk about a verdant tropical forest transplanted onto a luau party tablescape! A row of towering centerpieces brings in the green through lush foliage, while natural elements such as wood, bamboo, seashells, pebbles, and sand add the browns, beiges, and neutral tones. Bromeliad blooms in striking fuchsia and sunny yellow place cards in seashell holders provide splashes of color so typical of a tropical scene!
Floral tip: In place of bromeliads, you could also use fuchsia orchids or bougainvillea to go with the luau theme.
Havana Themed Garden Party
Aqua + Chocolate Brown + Green + Orange + Yellow
Heat things up Havana-style with an unexpected base color for this palette: aqua. Laying this out via the party table cloths makes sure it gets noticed and sets an upbeat mood for the occasion. Chocolate brown napkins (rolled up to mimic Cuban cigars!) and palm tree place cards add a rich, warm contrast. Then, nature steps in with touches of orange and green via bird-of-paradise blooms and fresh garden leaves.
Floral tip: If bird-of-paradise flowers aren’t available, bromeliads, carnations, parrot tulips, and calla lilies also come in bright orange.
Daisy-themed Summer Picnic
Lime Green + Orange + Cobalt Blue + Lilac + Ivory
What could be more summery than the bursts of color we know and love as gerbera daisies? In hot orange, they bring a cheerful vibrancy to fun outdoor occasions like a summer picnic or family cookout. Hints of freshness come in via mint green ribbons, fresh leaves, even decorative glass pebbles. And for a softer golden orange tone, how cute are live goldfish swimming around in globe-shaped bowls?
Floral tip: You can also substitute orange dahlias or carnations, or even whole citrus fruits to create the same cheery effect.
Palm Beach Seaside Soiree
Sky Blue + Fuchsia + Green + Sand + Ivory
This refined color palette channels the style and luxury of Palm Beach for a seaside celebration. A sky blue table cloth echoes the cloudless horizon on a perfect summer day. Then, that same serene mood is extended through crisp ivory place settings, surrounded by table decorations in muted neutrals—a sand-colored runner, seashell place frames, and candles on beds of beach sand. Finally, a burst of color comes courtesy of fuchsia bougainvillea centerpieces at mid-table.
Floral tip: To capture that same fuchsia hue, try orchids, azaleas, lilies, or dahlias in place of the bougainvillea.
You can certainly see why we love these palettes that capture the spirit of summer. Have you made your choice yet? What’s your favorite color palette? Tell us!
Finally decided on wedding colors or canary yellow Tiffany blue and silver. The groom will likely wear a gray suit…I wld like to if possible have a little touch of yellow w my white dress maybe a belt or something. Calla lilies I love. Really need help how to incorporate these colors into our wedding party etc??? Who or what shld have which color lol help plz
I’d love to have an orange color scheme with navy blue. The problem is how do I convince my mom that having orange bridesmaid dresses won’t look like a tacky Sunkist orange wedding!
Could you suggest what would be a better color combo? Navy blue and fuchsia or navy blue and pink? I’m torn between a hot pink and pastel one because pastel might not look age-appropriate when paired with navy blue.
Hi Kia — You chose a lovely wedding palette! For the touch of yellow on your dress, maybe you can consider having it on the handle wrap of your calla lily bouquet or in a floral accent in your hair.
Then, your bridesmaids would look so pretty in canary yellow dresses with touches of Tiffany blue in ivory bouquets — or the other way around, Tiffany blue dresses with yellow in their bouquets (depends on which would better suit your wedding location and time of day).
Finally, the gentlemen of the wedding party could all be in grey suits, but the groom in a different shade of grey perhaps to set him apart? Then, you could have all of them wear yellow ties with their suits, with just a touch of Tiffany blue in their boutonnieres. Hope this helps!
Hi Maria — Actually, a navy blue and orange combo is quite popular at weddings today. Maybe your mom just needs to warm up to the idea! Perhaps if you show her pictures from weddings with pretty orange bridesmaids’ dresses, she’ll be convinced.
Or if she really objects, you might try navy blue bridesmaids’ dresses with bright orange bouquets.
Hi Samantha — I personally think navy blue and fuchsia make a better combination for a wedding. Simply because navy is such a strong color that fuchsia seems to “hold its own” against it, being a bold color itself!
What you could do, though, to balance them out is to make one more dominant while the other is an accent. For instance, all navy suits for the gentlemen with fuchsia boutonnieres. Then, fuchsia dresses for the bridesmaids with ivory bouquets with navy handle wraps. Happy planning!
Hi! Thanks for taking my question. I was wondering if there’s any way at all to make ultramarine (that unbelievably deep blue that’s almost purple) look warm and inviting.
Hi Candice — Wow, ultramarine would be a great dramatic statement at a wedding! About how to make it look warm and inviting, I’m guessing you’re considering it as either the color for your bridesmaids’ dresses or your reception table linens?
Ultramarine dresses for the bridesmaids could be paired with bouquets of soft, creamy ivory flowers and muted greenery (like dusty miller). Then, for the reception, you could go really dramatic with ultramarine table cloths and then centerpieces similar to the bouquets. Or have all the tables with ivory settings and just ultramarine accents like the napkins, table numbers, place cards, chair decor and favor packaging. Hope this helps!
Hi! My mom wants to wear aqua blue on my wedding day.and I want my bouquet to be pink carnations, peony and tulips. I’m wondering what colors my entourage and my principal sponsors can be? Will pink gowns for the entourage and champagne for the principal sponsors goes well together? I’m having a hard time to think for my theme and colors.
Hi Lindy — With the choice of aqua for your mom and pink for your bouquet, I would suggest very soft pink for the bridesmaids’ gowns and maybe a slightly deeper pink for your principal sponsors. However, if the sponsors would prefer not to wear pink, your option of champagne would be a lovely neutral color for them. Happy planning!
My wedding colors are hot pink, orange, and green, with a white base. I was going to have my bridesmaids each in a diff color with the groomsmen vests matching. Their flowers would be white, while mine would be the mixture of the 3 colors. The tables would also have white base with a runner in the middle each table with a diff color if my 3. Do you think this is too much color? Do you think having 3 diff dress colors would make them look like highlighters?? It is an afternoon wedding in the summer and I want it to be bright and cheerful!
My fiance and I are getting married next spring. The reception site that we both like is on a military base and the carpet and much of the decor is navy blue and red. I don’t really want a military theme to our wedding and I would like to add a bright color to coordinate but not sure what a good match would be. We’re getting married outside and I want everything to flow well and go together.
Hi, i’m having my wedding next yr may 2013 in the Philippines with my color motif burgundy wine and Champagne, I was wondering if you have any images on bouquets and reception styling and any other suggestion to add for my color palette.
Our reception is a travel theme wedding mixed with our love story which in summary is high school sweethearts born in different parts of the world but was somehow brought together, but I don’t want the styling to be so literal, more of a romantic vintage feel to it, please help
Thanks
Irene
Is baby pink,baby blue and lavender are good combination,for a wedding?
Thank you.
Hi Rowena!
Those3 pastel colors are very pretty together. But to avoid a “little girl’s party” look at your wedding, I would suggest having elegant ivory as the base color and using these 3 in accents like the bridesmaids’ bouquets and the table centerpieces.
Or your bridesmaids could each wear a dress in baby pink, baby blue and lavender; then carry all-ivory bouquets. While your bouquet could be a combination of ivory and the 3 colors. Hope these suggestions help.
Hello!
I’m trying to choose our wedding colors and at first we thought red and white or cream, but I feel there needs to be another color in there, and I was thinking maybe tiffany blue? not a lot of it though, mostly red and cream…then little trims or detail being tiffany blue? Our wedding is in July 2013. I don’t want it to look too patriotic, and I couldn’t find any examples of these colors together. If you don’t think this looks good, then what else do you think would look nice with the cream and red?
Thank You
Amber
Hi Amber! Your choice of red and cream with touches of tiffany blue is a nice spin on your July wedding date. But since you did mention not wanting a too “patriotic” look, our suggestions for other color schemes would be: red-cream-camel, red-cream-matte gold (just little touches here and there); red-cream-butter yellow; red-cream-grey; or red-cream-black for something dramatic!
One resource we love when it comes to color choices is: http://www.theperfectpalette.com/p/color-palettes_17.html. Check it out!
Hi there!
Our wedding is on July 2013. We’re thinking of a garden wedding. But Im having difficulty on how to decorate the venue. How can I achieve a somewhat enchanted-garden wedding theme? I’d like to have it in the late afternoon so the reception will be in the evening. Do you have any suggestions? My favorite color is pink. How can I incorporate this color on the decors esp at the reception.. please help. Thanks!
Hi Elaine! Well, you’re in luck…your idea of a garden theme and your favorite color pink are a perfect fit!
If you can find a garden venue for both the ceremony and reception in one, that would be a huge savings right there. Plus the garden itself in summertime will likely be blooming with flowers (hopefully mostly pink!), so you can take advantage of these as the loveliest natural decorations! If you’d like more pink, you can add this via the table cloths and settings, the centerpieces and chair decor.
For the enchanted garden effect, the easiest and prettiest way to achieve this is to hang white “firefly” lights from the trees and among the garden plants. So come reception time in the evening, you simply switch these on and enjoy the magic!
dear liz, my wedding will be this coming december 2012. we plan to use the color sapphire blue with silver accent as our color motiff… would that be a fine combination? what then would be a perfect theme using such colors? by the way, my wedding will be in the Philippines. thanks!
MOTHER OF BRIDE WEARING LONG NAVY DRESS/MOTHR OF GROOM LONG LIME GREEN DRESS/ WILL THS COLORS BLEND WELL FOR PHOTOS/OR SHOULD I RETURN THE GREEN AND GET A DARK DRESS FOR THIS FALL WEDDING
Hello Emma — Hope this reply still reaches you in time for your December wedding! Sapphire blue and silver would make a very elegant combination.
In fact, the colors themselves could be your “theme” unless you have something specific in mind that is special to you and your groom (for example, you might try a “starry night” theme using the sapphire blue and silver, if it will be an evening wedding)..
Hello Karn — Since you mentioned that this will be a fall wedding, perhaps the lime green dress could be replaced with a sage green one more suited to the season. Or you could also opt for a navy blue long dress, but in a different style from that of the mother of the bride?
Hello, I’m getting married in April and have chosen a seamist green as the main color with silver as an accent. Can you suggest another color that will compliment the green? Thanks!
Hi,
My groom will be wearing navy (he wants to wear his dress uniform) and I’m trying to coordinate wedding colours with this. I think I’d like the groomsmen in grey. Any suggestions for a colour palette other than the traditional navy-silver-white?
Thanks!!!
Hi Vonda — We love seamist green, too! With silver as one accent color, the other we’d suggest would be a very pale peach or apricot — which could appear in the lovely bouquets and the gents’ boutonnieres.
what shade of the color blue works better with yellow or gold?
Hello, Ernie — A lot depends on what theme you’re planning and what the wedding location will be. I personally favor the softer blues (like Tiffany blue, duck egg blue, or even a dusty powder blue) which all go well with yellow or gold. But if you want something more vibrant and dramatic, navy blue, midnight blue, or teal would also look fabulous!
Hope these options help.
hi.. would it be possible to combine tangerine, olive green and powder blue as color motif?
Hi! my colour scheme is emerald green, cream and silver, should i add any other color to that to make it perfect? what colours should i use with emerald green?
Hi Fiona — Three main colors for your wedding palette is actually a wise way to go. More than that might make the look too ‘busy’. I’m imagining, then, that your bridal bouquet will be basically cream flowers? If so, maybe a way to make your bouquet stand out from the rest would be to add touches of peach or coral blooms.
Then, at the reception, maybe you could repeat those touches in the table centerpieces, the cake, and the wedding favors. But keeping the main palette of emerald, cream, and silver.
All best wishes for your wedding!