Deciding on Wedding Colors

One of the first things that brides often decide upon is the wedding colors.  Many couples will choose to go with their favorite colors, while others look to a color wheel (and color meanings) and plan very methodically.

Picture from: http://www.rewaj.com/fashion/understand-colors-with-color-wheel.html

For some brides, this may look intimidating, but I think I have a solution for you on how to pick colors that you love and still be happy with them.  Picking the colors that my fiance and I would use was easy for us.  We both share a similar favorite color that we knew we wanted included in the colors.  The slightly more difficult part was deciding on how to pick companion colors (and I knew, unfortunately, that pink was out, so this took a little research on my half).  Since I was planning on picking up bridesmaid dresses from David's Bridal, I started doing some looking on their website for the colors they had available.

Picture is cropped from: http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Strapless-Ruched-Satin-Ball-Gown-F13974_Bridal-Party-Bridesmaids-Long-Bridesmaid-Dresses

While their 44 color selection was a little intimidating, I used a bit of my graphic designer background to pair colors together.  We knew we wanted Clover included, but other than that, we were open to suggestions.  I "print-screened" the image and went to work in Photoshop.  Using the eyedropper, I selected the color I wanted to use and created a large square on another page to give myself enough space to see what other colors would match.  Picking red was an easy decision, but it came down to what shade we wanted to use so that it wouldn't look like Christmas (our wedding is in September, and that would have been a bad idea).  I finally decided on Apple, but then we needed a new color.  Pink was still out, so I started looking towards the blues.  It came down to two:  Marine and Horizon.  This final decision wasn't made until I went to see my bridesmaids at David's Bridal.  I knew that one of the bridesmaids was for sure wearing blue, so I made certain to see her in both colors.  The decision was made on Marine, since the color provided some nice muting to the other colors that we liked and it looked the best with the skin tone of my maid of honor.
I don't necessarily recommend this method for most couples (this took a lot of trust on behalf of my fiance), it was effective and worked.
If you find that you can't include your favorites in the main palette, don't forget that you can include them in the  bouquets and as accent colors.  That is ultimately what we had decided on the Clover color.  The Apple and Marine worked very well together, and we wanted only light touches of Clover.  This allowed us to be able to wear accents of the Clover (I'll have a Clover belt and shoes, and he'll have a Clover vest) without overwhelming everyone with the color.

Photography

When picking a photographer, there are plenty of things that you should look for.  The first thing that many brides look for is price.  I would say that this shouldn't be the first thing you want to look at because there are plenty of times that you're getting only what you pay for (this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but we'll go over that later).  Another thing that brides look for is the package details.  This is important, because this details what you're paying for.  There is also the possibility that your photographer won't include a copy of your pictures on a DVD in the lowest package (this isn't common, but it can happen) without paying a fee first.  You will definitely want to find out how many photographers you're going to have on your wedding day.  Multiple photographers means different angles at the ceremony, pictures of the bride AND the groom getting ready (this is especially nice if you're getting ready in separate locations--for a wedding at a hotel, I recommend the groom and groomsmen getting ready in a room at the hotel so that the photographer(s) have an easier time getting pictures of both of you), and two people putting their creative spins on your pictures.
What I'm doing for my wedding is using an amateur photographer.  While there are people who will say that this is a risk, there are plenty of benefits for myself and my photographer.  The benefits to me include  my own creative direction will be taken into account, I'm saving TONS of money, and I know the photographer personally (and we both know what kind of photography the other does).  For the photographer, the biggest benefits are exposure and a direct payment.  This photographer also did my engagement photos, so I know what kind of pictures he takes.

Photo by Alexander King

Perhaps the biggest piece of advice I hope you take away from this is that you need to weigh the risks, decide what you would like to do and how much you would like to spend.  While it is easy to just have someone take pictures with your own digital camera, invest in some sort of photographer, be it professional or amateur.  You don't want to regret the pictures that you have when you look back years later.