Choosing a colour scheme (PANTONE SMART 16-0906X)

When choosing your colour scheme there are a few things to be aware of, firstly try and match the colour to your personalities, certain people are naturally "pink" people you will know at least one of these people, quite happy to be seen wearing bright pinks, usually feminate and outgoing.
This is not to say I don't like pink it just gets you in the mind set, if you think about your friends and family, think of their homes and the accessories and wall coverings you see in their homes you could probably pick the perfect wedding colour for them just from their tastes and tollerence levels.
Often people may buck this trend and suprise you with a colour scheme that nobody was expecting, however most of the time you will hear the phrase "it's a very them/her colour" this indicates that the chosen colour matches the style and personality expected.

The second thing to be aware of is colours are subjective, unfortunatley our eyes are all different and colours are seen differently by many different people depending on the light conditions and material the colour is being applied to, I often get reminded of a conversation about suits, a brown or grey suit, i can't remember what colour it was supposed to be but 3 people all had differing opinions on the colour and when it was viewed in natural day light this became even worse.

The only real consistent guide to colour is Pantone Chart, these colours act as a universal reference for colour and can be used to comunicate colour shades when you choose a non standard colour.

As you have probably guessed by now we have chosen a non-standard colour, neither of us are "pink" people and having attended a few weddings in the last few years we have seen an array of colours however agreed that none of them where really "us"

Our home is neutrally decorated with hints of colour in a couple of rooms however mainly neutral earth tones, this has definatley influenced the decision of our colour.

When describing our colour we have come to use the word "Taupe" this is then followed up by "a mushroomy latte type colour" as nobody understands the word taupe !

The closest colour is Pantone Smart 16-0906X

However we have variations of this colour keeping the same tone and having various degrees of shade. When we ordered our Save the date magnets (i'll come to that later) we had to upload a digital image which was then printed on a white magnetic surface, as you can imagine this developed a varying shade of our original colour and was not exaclty what we had envisaged, however we decided to keep them anyway and have now sent most of them out.

In summary dont be put off by being a little daring, don't pick a colour you don't like and certainly don't get drawn in by the "wedding colours" if they really do not suit your personality.

Our wedding colour is perfect and i think everything will look awesome on the day, and that's the most important thing, that we like it and we like the look on the day.

Wedding (un)fair

When it comes to wedding fairs we are somewhat professionals, we actually begun attending wedding fairs before actually setting a date for the wedding.
Some would call this preperatation, others may describe it as an obsession however we never really thought of it as anything other than part of the planning process.
As things stand (8 months until wedding date) we have attended over 20 wedding fairs and registered with just about every wedding company in the north east who host these events.
However i would not change a thing, although they can be tedious, they are also invaluable for finding suppliers for your wedding.
I would say speaking with suppliers and getting a feel for the people and the service they supply is the best way to introduce you to their work, however i also think research is just as vital.
Having attended so many wedding fairs i have compiled this check list to help you on your search and hopefully make the experience a little more pleasurable (tolerable).

Dont go for a browse - If you just go for a look round that's exactly what you will get, go with a purpose and this will help focus your attention.

Make A List - although not always practical try and use each fair to look for one item from your list, if your looking for just photographers you will be more focused on comparing the prices and services they offer rather than mixing your thoughts with cakes and dresses etc.

Dont buy on the day - never get suckered in with "fair offers" or "today only" deals, these are a myth and companies will match the price you saw at the fair even if booking a later date (they want your business after all)

Do your research - once you have a selection of companies to compare go home and do your research, look through their work, view their website and compare the pro's and con's of each supplier.

Never Settle - your wedding day will be the most expensive day of your life (in most cases) never settle for second best, if you are not happy ask the supplier if they can change the way they do something or if you can be quoted for a service not on their website. You are the customer and should get exactly what you want, not a one for all package you should fit in to.

Pick up the free magazines - for the cost of your details you can receive various glossy magazines, these often contain discount vouchers or special offers which should not be sniffed at or often just inspire you for other ideas for your day.

Get in the mood - if you dont fancy wandering round a hall or marquee full of people asking you "when your date is?" or if you have "picked your dress yet?" then don't you wont make any decisions or like anything you see if you genrally are not in the mood, if you dont want to go then dont, wait until the next fair and you will find a lot more you like.

We have become so regular at many fairs in the region Craig Maddison of Darlington Weddings (an old school friend) now just asks "are you not married yet?"

Please visit Darlington weddings website for some brilliant information and be sure to pick up a copy of their glossy magazine well worth a read :-)

www.darlingtonweddings.co.uk