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Picking your wedding colour code isn’t exactly the same as choosing your two favorite colors and making them the foundation for every wedding detail. Get started with these handy tips for choosing your wedding colours. 

1. Get Inspired by Your Setting

First things first: location. Have a color palette in mind as you start your venue search. Think about what colors you'd like to use, and whether you'd want to prioritize finding the perfect venue or having your perfect color palette. If you find a venue that you love, but it doesn't work with your colors, you'll want to switch up a shade or two so you don't stretch your budget on trying to cover up or distract people from the fact that it doesn't match.

Venues like converted warehouses, lofts and tents are all blank slates, meaning you can really add as much or as little as you want to carry out your plans for color and style. If you've already found the perfect venue, use the space to help you come up with your color scheme. The colors of your reception space and its surroundings, whether it's the vintage Persian rug in the middle of the room or the colour of the walls, can spark an idea. And that way, you won't have to work against a clashing color palette and your colors will enhance what you love about your venue.

2. Keep Your Priorities In Mind

While the venue is usually the biggest choice you have to make in your wedding planning, sometimes there are other details to consider that might come before choosing your colors too. If you've always dreamed of having your wedding overflowing with purple  wall decorations or flowers, then you should use that as a starting point for your colour palette, instead of trying to figure out a way to work it in later. You don't want to choose a color scheme only to find that a must-have decorative item, looks out of place or may get lost in the décor rather than standing out like you had planned.

3. Set the Mood

Your wedding colors can also help create a vibe for your wedding day. If you're going for a lot of drama, then a dark or jewel tone palette, like wine, red and black or emerald and gold, is a better choice than, say, light colours. Think about the style and atmosphere you want to have, whether it's relaxed, vintage, modern or nostalgic, and what colors put you in that mood.

4. Look to What You Love

The colors that inspire your home décor are ones you know you can live with for a long time . Open your closet: What color of clothes and accessories are you drawn to? Use that as a starting point for a guide in choosing your wedding colours.

5. Do Your Research

Magazines, art galleries and friends' or family weddings are all great sources of inspiration. While you wouldn't want to choose a color combination just because it's on trend, looking towards art and design may help you see colors you already love in a new way.

6. Consult the Color Wheel

You don't need a degree from Fashion and art school to pick your colour palette, but there are some basic principles to follow. Typically, colors that go well together are those ones that are almost complete opposites because they pair a cool and warm (examples include orange and sky blue and turquoise and coral). Other color pairings that work are what we refer to as “neighbors"—they are similar to each other and share a primary color (think:  yellow and melon orange or fuchsia and rose pink). A classic way to build your color palette is by pairing a bright, saturated color with a neutral, like violet and gray or blush and gold.

7. Don't Overthink It

It's easy to get caught up in the idea that you have to have a strict wedding color code

. If you're early in the planning process, you'll probably get asked, “What are your colors?" a lot by friends and family, and that can put pressure on you to pick the “right" colours. But color doesn't have to play the major role that it's sometimes made out to be. While your palette will inform a lot of your wedding decisions, like your flowers and your bridesmaid dresses, it should be like a guideline instead of a rule. Not every part of your wedding has to match perfectly, so don't stress on having every detail just right. Instead, think of your wedding planning in terms of style, formality, texture and mood, in addition to color.