Planning a wedding is so much fun! You get to play with colours, styles, dresses, shoes, accessories, food, cake, drink and so much more. What’s not to love? The downside to all this is that there are so many decisions to be made and so many choices for each one. No wonder it takes so long to plan a wedding!

One of the fundamental decisions that needs to be made early on is the colour scheme. It will run through the entire wedding from dresses, bridesmaids, suits, wedding favours, the cake and more. So it’s a decision that needs to be made nice and early.

If that wasn’t enough, weddings are a life-stage as ancient as any tradition we have. They are full of ritual and meaning, much of which we don’t even know about. Colours though are one part of the wedding tradition that we do know. So if you’re trying to decide on a colour scheme for your big day, here’s what each colour “means.

White

A white wedding is about as traditional as it gets. White symbolises purity, virginity and innocence. It’s also a colour that can mean cleanliness, simplicity or a blank slate ready to join with another to create something new altogether. White is the most traditional of wedding colours, but can also be made to look very contemporary.

Gold

Gold is a very popular wedding colour as it symbolises wealth, elegance, luxury and warmth. It’s also a very traditional colour from when the Celts used to make lovely gold jewellery to trade and offer as gifts. Gold works best in autumn or winter.

Red

Despite many connotations, red is a very popular wedding colour indeed. Red symbolises strength, vitality, health, enthusiasm, bravery and confidence. It is also closely associated with love and passion which is why it’s so popular at weddings. It also works well with many other colours. Red works all year round but particular summer and winter.

Yellow

Yellow is a happy colour. A colour of wisdom, energy, optimism, adventure and humour. It’s also nice to look at, making it the ideal combination to use as a main or feature colour in a wedding. Yellow works best in spring and summer weddings.

Green

Green is another strong colour that has an energy. It symbolises growth, new life, positive energy, harmony and balance. Most shades of green are relaxed colours that hint at compassion. It’s another colour that works best in spring and summer weddings.

Blue

Blue is a spiritual colour full of peace and tranquillity. Depending on the shade, it can either be a serious colour or one full of life and fun. It’s a caring colour full of compassion and faithful service but can also be very conservative. Blue is also a colour comfortable being used all year round.

Grey

Despite its relative plainness, grey is a popular wedding colour. It’s a cautious colour that symbolises maturity and a willingness to compromise or mediate. Grey is another of those colours that can be traditional or be brought right up to date. It can also be used all year round.

Champagne/ivory

Another classic wedding colour, champagne or ivory is rich, elegant, sophisticated and traditional. Both can be made contemporary too offering a lot of flexibility. These colours play nicely with others too and can be comfortably used all year round.

Lilac

Lilac is a very feminine colour. It’s also soft, gentle, ladylike and has a real sense of the gentle about it. It’s also a colour that can be used in any theme, any setting and any context. It’s most at home in spring and summer weddings but would be comfortable anywhere at any time.

Pink

Depending on the shade, pink can be feminine and gentle or modern and daring. It can be a gentler shade of red or a rich, bold colour of its own. Pink symbolises happiness, love, affection and security. Pink in spring and summer weddings, but can be used all year round too.

Silver

Last, but not least is silver. Silver is a lower key gold that also symbolises elegance and luxury. It can be used in a traditional setting to mean antique and established or in a modern setting to mean contemporary. It’s a flexible colour that works well as a contrast colour or as the centre of attention.