Summer Wedding Colors

By Lisa Marie

summer bouquet — Carry a bouquet with beautiful summer colors.

Summer colors for a wedding are easy to choose. Flowers, foods, naturescapes, and summer activities offer inspiration from the season's brilliant spectrum of colors.

Seven Summer Wedding Color Inspirations

There are hundreds of unique color combinations you can choose from for your summer wedding. Use these color ideas for inspiration:

Poolside

Even if your wedding isn't near the water, get inspired from this summer staple with color combos like:

Turquoise and white
Blue and white
Yellow and blue
Various shades of blue

Summer Citrus

The taste of fresh lemonade also evokes thoughts summertime. Use this to inspire bold, citrus colors for your wedding, including combinations like:

Various shades of yellow
Hot pink and lime green
Bright orange and red

Summer Sunset

Little can be as beautiful as a sunset in summer, especially against a lovely natural backdrop such as a beach. Summer colors stemming from sunsets include:

Yellow, orange and red
Pink and orange
Dusky grays and sky blues
Sandy colors paired with pinks and oranges

Go Green

Summer abounds with green plant life, from floral foliage to growing gardens. There are many green colors appropriate for summer. Consider:

Various green hues
Green paired with bright colors like pink, yellow or purple
Pale green paired with pretty lavender, pink or white
Tropical deep greens, evoking a rich rainforest

Pretty Pastels

While pastel colors like baby pink, pale blue, and lavender are most popular for spring weddings, they are also perfectly acceptable for summer ceremonies. Consider the following:

Shades of pale yellow and white
Lavender and pale blue
Rose and cream
Sage and lilac
Pale coral and mocha
Peach and pink

Rainbow Colors

Summer lends itself well to using assorted colors, especially when they are bright. You may want to consider a rainbow color scheme that incorporates a variety of colors, such as:

Bright pink, yellow, orange and green
Aqua, lime, and yellow
Purple, yellow, blue and green
Red, pink and orange
Purple, pink and yellow

Natural Neutrals

Neutral colors look fresh and beautiful for summer. You may consider:

White and silver
Shades of cream and white
Khaki or sand and white
Beige and sand

More Color Ideas

Favorite combinations that will look beautiful at any summer wedding include:

Green combined with
- Purple
- Coral
- Orange
Brown with blue
Bright pink with orange
Deep orange with cranberry red
Royal blue with bright yellow
Turquoise blue with beige
Navy blue with silver

Other aspects to consider when selecting your wedding color scheme is the time of day your wedding will be and if you will be inside or outdoors. If you are having an outside wedding, consider the surroundings and find colors that will complement what is around you. For example, a wedding at a botanical garden will look best with a color palette in the same colors as the flowers in the garden.

Using a Color Wheel

A color wheel can be very helpful when you are choosing a color scheme for your summer wedding. A handy tool is the Color Scheme Designer. Simply click on a color and select if you want monochromatic, contrast, triad, tetrad or analogic. You will then be able to see the colors that will go best with your original selection.

beautiful decorated table — Summer table decorations

Color Families

These terms will help you choose a summer color scheme:

Monochromatic: A monochromatic color scheme is an assortment of shades of the same color. For example, if you choose purple as you color you might also use lavender, grape purple, violet purple, etc. Monochromatic colors will be next to each other on the color wheel.

Contrast: Colors that contrast are found at opposite sides of the color wheel. If you use purple as you example again, its contrasting color would be yellow. Another way to use contrast is to choose your secondary colors from each side of that color on the wheel. So if yellow is your secondary color, you would choose a shade darker and a shade lighter than the true yellow. These still contrast with purple and will look beautiful together.

Triad: Triad colors are equidistant on the color wheel, meaning they form a triangle. If you have decided to use purple and yellow, you would add fuchsia as your third color. Remember, one color will be your primary color. The others will be used as accent colors.

Tetrad: This scheme will consist of four colors that are equally spaced on the color wheel. An example would be purple, red, yellow and green. In a wedding bouquet your biggest, main flowers would be purple with smaller, accent flowers in red and yellow. Green would be in the foliage added to your bouquet. This would make a stunning arrangement.

Analogic: These are three colors that are side-by-side on the wheel; pale yellow, sun yellow and goldenrod, for example. Then, as an accent you will add one contrasting color - purple in this example.

Using the colors in your color palette will give your wedding a polished look. Keep in mind, if you select a dominant color that looks great on you and build from that, you will be assured that your wedding will make you glow. After all, everything around you will complement your own skin tone.

Choosing Your Colors

With so many different summer color palettes to choose from, finding the right types of summer wedding colors can be difficult. This is why experimenting with different color combinations until you find the right selection of colors is a good idea. No matter what theme you are going for at your summer wedding, you can rest assured that picking a bright palette of summer colors will bring your entire wedding together and make your day even more memorable.