I Heart Colors

I'm currently a full-time grad student, but in the three years before this, I was a seventh grade English teacher. I don't know if you remember this from your own time as a seventh grader, but twelve-to-thirteen-year-olds are truly ridiculous creatures. Among the many (many, many) funny stories I have from those three years, one of my favorites involves the time all the girls in my third period decided to give each other, and me, nicknames. My new alias was Rainbow, based on the wide variety of brightly-colored shirts I wore to school; my wardrobe was, according to the girls' helpful analysis, especially heavy on red, pink, purple, and blue.

Point being? I really like bright colors, and when it came time to think about ideas for the wedding, my brain went straight towards vibrant shades. I checked with my groom, and to my non-surprise, this was a wedding issue where he had virtually no opinion. His only requests? "No pink and no pastels." No problem!

Now, a confession: in addition to my passion for the stronger shades of the spectrum, I am also a lifelong wedding enthusiast. I've been an eager consumer of wedding photos for as long as I can remember. Lots and lots has changed since my high school days of discussing fantasy weddings with my friends, but the one thing that has remained a constant through all these years is the idea of a dark red bridal bouquet. Something about the contrast with a white gown is just so dramatic and striking to me!

In fact, here's the first photo that really gave me the warm-and-fuzzies when I was starting to actually plan our wedding:


Mrs. Cookie's bouquet: YUMMMMMMM.

The fact that I fell into a swoon at the sight of red bouquets, combined with our wedding date being set for late September, made dark cranberry red an easy choice for the main color. Then, I set to figuring out how to accent that choice. Rather than continuing to talk about it, I'll just show you what I came up with.

Cranberry red...

Bouquet, centerpieces, cake, cranberries, and dress.

...jewel-toned shades of purple...


Wine, beads, plum, everything else.

...with liberal helpings of chocolate brown and gold.

Cake, necklace, reception room, champagne, candles, programs, and hot chocolate.

I'm going for a vibrant, rich, jewel-toned palette. Since these are such strong, dark colors, though, I feel like I may occasionally be walking a fine line between "cozy and rich" and "kinda goth and intense." Just something to check myself on, I guess!

What does everyone else think? Any suggestions?