Fresh Color Palette Inspiration
/If you follow along on social media, you are probably well aware of my love for vibrant color. From the flowers that I grow on the farm to the bouquets that I design for weddings and elopements, I am all about color. Not to say that I don’t appreciate soft palettes of ivory and blush - I really truly do. Complex color palettes with blended shades, especially ones that highlight the tones of the seasons, those are the ones that inspire me and make me feel giddy when designing.
It is almost guaranteed that if you search for ‘wedding inspiration’ on Pinterest, pastels + whites with greenery will dominate Spring and burgundy, marsala + blush will dominate for Autumn. While these are indeed beautiful palettes and they are popular for good reason, there are so many other incredible combinations and palettes to make your wedding truly unique. If you want to try something a little different, here are a few palettes from this year that are a little outside the typical Pinterest box.
CORAL, MAUVE, DUSTY LAVENDER + BLUSH
Flowers include: coral charm peony, blush lisianthus, amnesia + quicksand roses & blush ranunculus
To be honest, I was not sure how this palette would come together until I had the flowers in front of me and started designing. The bride had her heart set on coral charm peonies, which was easy to accommodate because this was an early June wedding. We also wanted to include mauve, blush and pale lavender tones. Mauve can be a tough color to incorporate because everyone’s definition of mauve is a little different. So knowing that we wanted both pale pinks and purples, the amnesia and quicksand roses provided the perfect blending tones to soften the peonies and tie it all together.
PLUM, VIOLET, LAVENDER + OCHER
Flowers include: Lavender clematis, violet anemone, plum dahlia, lavender lisianthus & amnesia roses
I was looking forward to this wedding all year because the bride knew that she wanted bright shades of purple, plum, lavender and pops of ocher - how fun! Because this was a September wedding, I knew that plum dahlias would be our focal flower. The bride had her heart set on the violet anemones and my wholesaler was able to come through for us. Clematis was in season in California and I just knew that I had to include it. In my opinion, the lavender clematis with its slightly darker striations on the back of the petals put her bouquet over the top. I was hoping for Honey Dijon roses to provide the pop of ocher, but they were not available yet from my rose farmer friend in CA, so I settled for a standard Butterscotch rose (they were a little more yellow than a true earthy brown ocher, but staying flexible is crucial as a florist). I’ll be growing a handful of Honey Dijon on the farm next year and cannot wait!
TANGERINE, WATERMELON, BUTTERSCOTCH + BLUSH
Flowers include: Tangerine tulips + gladiolus, romantic antique garden roses, antique carnations, swamp lily & distant drums roses
When the bride described her color palette as tangerine, watermelon, butterscotch and olive with possible pops of dark pink, blue, ivory and the style as “a bohemian, country garden aesthetic with celtic, viking and hippie vibes,” I knew that we were meant to work together. Plus she wanted me to create a large floral installation along the tree branch to frame the ceremony site - dream client! With so many bold shades, I knew that I would need to blend and balance the tangerine and watermelon. I wanted the overall effect to be bold, without being obnoxious. My love for antique carnation varieties is quite strong and the taupe carnations and quicksand roses were the perfect backdrop for the tangerine tulips and romantic antique garden roses. The Distant Drums roses from Grace Rose Farm tied it all together more perfectly than I could ever hope. And I had to add in the swamp lilies just for fun.
WARM PEACH, WINE, BURGUNDY + CHOCOLATE
Flowers include: burgundy dahlia, cranberry cosmos, queen red lime zinnia, chocolate cosmos & peach ranunculus
This palette is a fun, fresh take on the ever-popular blush and burgundy. We decided to add in some warm summer tones for this late August wedding and the end result was so complex and lovely. Burgundy dahlias with Queen Lime zinnias is one of my favorite seasonal combinations. The peach ranunculus and romantic antique garden roses added the warm summer tones and the chocolate cosmos added a velvety chocolate pop. The cranberry cosmos added the perfect amount of whimsy and blended the peach and burgundy so nicely. The best part of being a farmer florist is walking through the fields to find the perfect handful of cosmos in the exact shades that I want for a bride’s bouquet. Nature really is remarkable.
I love taking cues from nature and including elements that really capture the beauty of the seasons. Copper beech leaves and bronze tipped eucalyptus in fall, vibrant green ferns and buds in spring and unripe berries in summer are some of my favorites. I would love to know if you have a favorite color palette, creative seasonal ingredient or are really inspired something you’ve seen recently. Feel free to comment and paste a link in the comments below!
xo Niki
