How to Choose Wedding Colors: Trends, Symbolism, and Personalized Combinations

Published Monday, Aug. 24th, 2026

Learn how to choose your wedding colors and create unique wedding color combinations using trends, color symbolism, cultural traditions, and more.

up close view of bridesmaids in light blue dresses holding bright colorful flowers — Four simple ways to choose your wedding colors, plus two expert bonus tips to personalize your choices based on your venue and personal vibe (Photo: AltairSe / iStock)

You already know that Pantone has a color of the year, and that Brides and Minted have a wedding color of the year. But when it's time to choose wedding colors for your own wedding, it’s not always the best idea to follow the trends – unless you happen to look really good in shades of chartreuse. So, let’s take a look at how to choose wedding colors based on what’s current, timeless symbolism, and personalized combos that actually match your vibe.

elegant wedding reception decor, white and green color scheme — (Photo: madisonwi / iStock)

How to Choose Wedding Colors: 4 Ways to Create a Personalized Palette

1. Mix & Match Trending Wedding Colors

You don’t have to follow wedding color trends closely to take inspiration from them. Recent wedding hues have been lively and vibrant – think lush pinks and warm reds, tender greens and saturated purples, soft golds and blushing oranges, and grounding, earthy browns. Many of these colors naturally go together, even if a specific combination hasn’t made it to Minted’s curated wedding color palettes yet.

Instead of picking an existing color scheme, bookmark your favorite photos from wedding blogs and magazines, then mix and match your top picks to create new and unexpected color combinations.

A beautiful wedding table, with flowers and dinner settings, peach, yellow, whites, cream, pinks, soft colors — (Photo: tonefotografia / iStock)

2. Get Inspired by the Timeless Symbolism of Colors

Colors have held symbolic meanings across cultures and faiths for thousands of years. Traditionally, people used color in their clothing and ceremonial objects in rituals to manifest or protect values like love, abundance, and good health.

If you want to bring specific blessings or values into your own marriage, consider choosing wedding colors that represent them! Symbolic colors can be included in your wedding attire, accessories and jewelry, table settings and decor, or the flowers you choose. You may even create a special wedding dress code to encourage guests to wear an item of clothing in one of your wedding colors.

The articles below are a great place to learn about color symbolism in weddings:

beautiful wedding ceremony and reception outdoors, arch with flowing fabrics, tables and chairs, dining set up — (Photo: Olena Kalinova / iStock)

Bonus Tip #1: Don’t forget about your venue’s existing decor

When choosing wedding colors, consider the existing decor at your chosen wedding venue that can’t be changed on the wedding day. Will your colors work well with these permanent fixtures and design elements?

For example, if your wedding venue has bright red walls, you might not want green to be the dominant color in your wedding decor (unless you're planning a Christmas themed wedding).

If you want your wedding colors to capture a specific aesthetic or cultivate an intentional atmosphere or feeling for you and your guests, it’s helpful to consider the venue's existing features before purchasing any decor.

two images of wedding venues with tables, chairs, flowers, one is a big open space with white walls, one is a darker space with dark wood walls — Consider the two venues and decor shown above. These two weddings use very similar colors for the table linens, chairs, and floral arrangements. However, the permanent features of each room - such as wall color, light fixtures, flooring, and square footage - combine with the decor to create two very distinct experiences. (Top:
Lucas T Photography ; Bottom: Max Titov / Unsplash)

3. Draw Inspiration From Cultural Influences

Create a colorful multicultural wedding ceremony by including the traditional wedding colors from you and your partner’s cultures. Many cultures have traditional wedding colors, often drawn from the color symbolism described above. A beautiful way to honor the blending of families on the wedding day is by blending these colors.

For example, red is a traditional wedding color in China, India, Vietnam, and other parts of East and South Asia. White is a traditional wedding color in Western cultures, while many Portuguese and Spanish brides traditionally wore black. Green is a popular color in traditional Algerian weddings, while blue is commonly worn by traditional Mongolian brides – and so on.

Research your culture’s wedding traditions for inspiration on which colors to bring into your celebration!

bride in colorful traditional kimona stands next to colorful wedding bouquet, orange, blue, pink, greens — (Photo: kokouu / iStock)

4. Use This Artist’s Technique to Choose Wedding Colors

When choosing a color palette for a painting or illustration, visual artists often pull color selections from real landscape photographs. This technique is also a great way to create unique wedding colors combinations that naturally go together, while matching your personal aesthetic.

Here’s how to make it work: Find a landscape photo that really captures your personal vibe – maybe a desert sunset, a sunny New England beach, a field of wildflowers, or a lush Pacific Northwest forest right after a rain. Open the photo on your computer, use an eyedropper tool or color-picker tool to select pixels from inside the photo, and write down the RGB or HEX code of your favorite hues to create a personalized wedding color scheme that captures the magic of the scene.

These personalized palettes will intuitively bring your ideal style, vibe, and mood into the wedding day!

Here's a demonstration of this technique using a common browser extension (You can use any tool you prefer to try this method):

Bonus Tip #2: How to Use the “60-30-10 Design Rule” with Wedding Colors

Once you’ve selected at least three colors, experiment with the “60-30-10 design rule” to fill in your palette. This “rule” is a helpful guideline used in interior decorating to avoid overstimulating designs and visual clutter, and works like this:

Take your three top colors. Pick one to be your “dominant” color, one to be your “secondary” color, and one to be an “accent” color. Then, arrange your decor using 60% of the dominant color, 30% of the secondary color, and 10% of the accent color (linens, napkins, florals, attire, etc.).

This method produces more possibilities than you might think! For example, using just three colors – deep blue, light blue, and light purple – it’s possible to create six unique feeling designs:

60% Dark Blue / 30% Light Blue / 10% Light Purple
60% Dark Blue / 30% Light Purple / 10% Light Blue
60% Light Blue / 30% Dark Blue / 10% Light Purple
60% Light Blue / 30% Light Purple / 10% Dark Blue
60% Light Purple / 30% Dark Blue / 10% Light Blue
60% Light Purple / 30% Light Blue / 10% Dark Blue

Notice how each combination has a different energy and vibe to it!

Within this framework, there are even more possibilities to get creative too. You might use a deep midnight blue, darkest winter blue, and rich ocean blue to create 60% of your design, a soft periwinkle blue and light robin’s egg blue to create 30% of your design, with a lilac purple as your 10% accent color. Now you have six wedding colors creating a harmonious design, instead of just three.

Which of these techniques will you use to choose your wedding colors?

No matter which option you choose, remember that there are no right or wrong wedding styles. The best wedding is the one that makes you and your partner feel comfortable, joyful, and deeply loved.

colorful wedding table with peach, purple, yellow, cream colors — (Photo: Konstantin Aksenov / iStock)

Explore Wedding Planning Tips from American Marriage Ministries

Have a Friend Officiate Your Wedding with Online Ordination Through AMM

Personalize your wedding ceremony by having a friend serve as your wedding officiant! Friends can officiate a wedding by getting ordained online with American Marriage Ministries. Our ordinations are free and it only takes a couple seconds to complete the online application to become a minister.

|* ordination-button *|

American Marriage Ministries is an inclusive nondenominational internet church that ordains and trains ministers to officiate marriage ceremonies. We are a recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit church, and help people from all backgrounds and beliefs become ordained ministers for weddings. Our online ordination is free, accessible, and never expires.

AMM Ministers can legally officiate weddings across the U.S. After getting ordained with AMM, you might need to register your ordination with your local county clerk’s office. Click the link above to get started!