ColorUsing Color/Colour to Your Best AdvantageThe first and most important observation to make is that you should ENJOY color... whichever and whatever choice you make that appeals to YOU is the right one. A knowledge of a bit of basic color theory and the points to consider when choosing your decorative flowers can give you the confidence to make YOUR own choice... and overrule those who disagree with it. Choose your favorites... it is your flowers, and if it for your wedding flowers... IT IS YOUR DAY! The first important consideration is lighting! No, it doesn't really sound much... but different types of lighting affect different colors and spoil them totally. For example, white fluorescent lighting can enhance blues but make reds appear muddy brown. Of course, the best light for any color is natural daylight, but, if your flowers are for a special celebration... and you have chosen the venue, go there with a few flowers of the color and type you will be having and see what they look like under that particular lighting. Background Next, if as above, you know the venue... check out the colours of the furnishings and floor and walls. If this is all dark, you will need light hues and tints to show up against the dark background. And... it goes without saying... if you have all white walls, well, white flowers will not show up to advantage unless you can rig up a dark backing for them! Scale One further consideration which is only partly to do with color... is scale... tiny arrangements will look out of place in a large room, and vice versa. Remember though that paler colors appear larger. For weddings, another area where scale is important is the bouquet for the bride... both the flowers themselves, and the whole bouquet should compliment the bride. So a tiny bouquet for a tall bride is a no-no, as is an over-large bouquet for a diminutive bride. Color or Colour? For ease of use I am going to use the American spelling, though I may forget in places! The pigment theory of color is the one currently used by flower arrangers/florists. First we have three primary red, yellow, blue, and then neutrals black, white to which is added grey (black and white mixed). All other colors are obtained by mixing the above in one ratio or another. When white is added to any hue (the quality which differentiates one color from another, e.g. blue from green) it creates a tint. When grey is added to a hue it creates a tone. And when black is added to a hue it creates a shade. If you want to study the subject seriously, I would recommend a book which is featured on the Flower Arranging page and on the Flower Pictures and probably on many other pages, including the Books page. It is by Jean Taylor and was used as the main textbook for the City & Guilds courses in the 1980's... when I studied the subject. This book explains fully the various BASIC COLOUR SCHEMES and a lot more besides. There is Monochromatic which uses tints, tones, and shades of just one color. Adjacent, which uses 2, 3, or 4 colors which are next to one another on the color wheel. For example Yellow, Yellow Orange, Orange, and Red Orange. Complementary, using colors which lie opposite each other on the wheel. Triadic, using 3 colors which are of equal distance apart on the wheel. And Polychromatic, being the use of many colors together. Remember, in all these instances tints, tones, and shades of all the colours can be used... not just the basic hue. I still have my copy of the Jean Taylor book today, and use it for reference frequently. Other useful aids will be mentioned further down the page! Color AssociationsOn the Flower Meanings page, near the bottom of the page, you will find a very useful piece on Colour Associations.It deals with the three primary colors; these are the main colors that are obtained by mixing the primaries, which are... red with blue - violet, red with yellow - orange, and yellow with blue - green; and the neutrals. Color Wheel Pro - a unique software program that allows you to see color theory in action. With Color Wheel Pro, you can create harmonious color schemes and preview them on real-world examples. What a wonderfully simple way to enjoy your use of colours! One last link which may prove useful from our Color page to 'Wedding Flowers' page
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