please help us with colour scheme!

bubble96

ok, so basic colour scheme is purple and ivory, and if i had to say a type of purple i wanted then cadburys. However things are not going to plan, there seems to be so many different colour purples out there that i am finding it hard to match things, and as a result i now have 2 different bridesmaids dresses for my sister.

i cant put links to pics as there arent any, so descriptions will have to do.

first dress i bought earlier in the year, cadburys purple, but brighter - probably like this though really its a slightly different hue but cant explain!

http://www.monsoon.co.uk/invt/65201375&bklist=icat,5,shop,women,dresses,eveningdresses

and similar but without sleeves and not funny shape at bottom!

the other dress is a deep purple, was in the m and s sale, strapless type, very much like this colour

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://z.about.com/d/petite/1/0/b/8/-/-/84247173.jpg&imgrefurl=http://petite.about.com/od/photogalleries/ig/Golden-Globes-2009/Hayden-Panetiere.htm&usg=__hNKfNp1EhsrQ-L5leryBiX3ofuo=&h=594&w=409&sz=41&hl=en&start=13&tbnid=WB7C-zfspcMJyM:&tbnh=135&tbnw=93&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddeep%2Bpurple%2Bstrappless%2Bdress%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

anyway, both dresses are gorgeous, knee length, gowns and both will look good as bm dress and i dont mind which we use. My two nieces are then wearing ivory dresses from next, which had an ivory belt that i plan on changing to purple.

men are wearing normal suits, but not sure on shirts etc yet as think h2b wants to wearsomething other than a white shirt, and definately just having ties - not cravats.

he likes this tie

http://i30.twenga.com/fashion/ties/thomas-nash-purple-bengal-tp_5727897612279739976.png

my question is, how on earth am i going to bring this all together! as cant seem to match anything. the only idea i have is instead of getting purple sashes for nieces to match sisters dress to use a different purple - maybe a lilac? and have the same colour sash around sisters dress (was originally going to have ivory) then have men wear same colour shirts as sashes with the tie above?

what would you do? if you had to add another colour what would it be? what colour other than purple could i add maybe? and what would you do about men to tie it in? Am going mad, have been thinking about it all night!

thanks in advance

just remembered my other idea was men to have silver waistcoats and have silver sashes?

chelbel1981

What flowers are you having??? That's where you could bring more colours in if you wanted to like lilacs, blues, greens

I like the sound of lilac sashes on both dress :T

joolesw1972

We started off with a colour scheme of lilac and light blue but we've expanded this to any shade of purple and blue!! This is mainly because I fell in love with a pair of deep purple shoes and we found some lovely flower girl dresses in electric blue!! But we had already bought other things such as balloons in pale blue and lilac.I'm not too bothered about everything being the same colour, so I guess some of it boils down to if it bothers you or not? I'm sure if you ask most wedding guests they won't remember what colours the details were or notice if they all tie in-if that helps? I think silver looks lovely with purple so it could be an option for waistcoats etc if it helps to tie it all in?

shellylovesshopping

How about sister in purple dress with ivory sash and ivory flowers

Smaller bridesmaids in ivory dresses with cadbury purple sashes http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-PURPLE-SATIN-Wedding-Party-Fancy-Dress-Belt-Tie-Sash_W0QQitemZ290383562622QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Wedding_Clothing?hash=item439c35877e
HTB in ivory shirt with http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-x-RUCHE-CRAVAT-TIE-CADBURY-PURPLE-SATIN-SCRUNCH-GROOM_W0QQitemZ180447591810QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Wedding_Clothing?hash=item2a0383bd82 or http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Men-Light-Purple-Lilac-Scrunchy-Cravat-Hanky-Wedding_W0QQitemZ130354184946QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Wedding_Clothing?hash=item1e59b702f2

lindaatno9

Sometimes you can try to be too co ordinated and this is when it all comes unstuck. I'm currently looking at some different info on this as it is such a good question to ask which affects a lot of ladies.

lindaatno9

bubble96 wrote: »

the only idea i have is instead of getting purple sashes for nieces to match sisters dress to use a different purple - maybe a lilac? and have the same colour sash around sisters dress (was originally going to have ivory) then have men wear same colour shirts as sashes with the tie above?

Don't bring a lilac into the mix by way of fabrics. If it were me, I'd leave the nieces sashes in ivory.chelbel1981 hit the nail on the head with the flower suggestion. You will more than likely have green foliage. Maybe consider flowers such as lilac (the actula flower) Hyacynth freesias etc. Have a chat with the florist and see what she suggests.
Many of the ladies here use the mood boards which are wonderful. You need to start imagining the look as a whole and not different areas such as sashes for the smaller girls. It's surprising how everything looks when you pull it together.

The Elements of Style

Attire Your gown doesn't have to be solid white, especially since color accents are increasingly more available. A blue or red sash around the waist is striking and still very bridal. The groom and his guys can also sport color in their ties or on their cuff links. But color will be most prominently displayed throughout the day in the bridesmaid dresses. Some fervent folks might want to match the dresses to the invitation ribbons, the favor tags, and the bouquets but this isn't the only way to define a style. Mixing and matching dresses in varying shades -- pink and orange, or pale green and yellow -- can sometimes make a statement stronger than uniformity.

New Ways to Use Color

We should point out that overdoing it with a matchy-match look is entirely possible. (You don't want your guests thinking, Um, yeah, lavender...we get it.) Begin with the five essential wedding elements (attire, invitations, flowers, cake, and favors) and see where you can -- or should -- add more color. Then consider details, such as napkins, candles, signature drinks, your ring pillow, or your guest book, made from the same fabric and in the same color as the bridesmaid dresses.




I know this is navy but look how the theme isn't in your face.

bigmomma051204

Hiya - i made a great mood board which really helped me to see the colours together..... http://www.dessy.com/styleboard/ Its really good as if you already have pics of your own/things u have already bought you can upload these too and add them to the board. MUCH easier than any other application i have used!!! Here is mine, just to show how it may look completed!

http://www.dessy.com/shareboard/?user=moodboardguest&password=6935

floss2

I would second Linda & suggest a soft leaf green....green sashes for BM's and mens' cravats, with waistcoats with a fine purple & green pattern? (sounds wierd but I can see what I mean in my head IYKWIM!!)

bubble96

hello all, thank you so much for all your replies, you have given me lots of different opinions which has helped me to see that really it doesnt matter so long as i like how it looks.

A couple of things, flowers: was originally going to just have purple tulips and ivory roses, but now think this is too restricted and will look better if i have some other flowers too like blue curiosa roses and fresias to vary the purples a bit, so am hoping this will help bring it together as mentioned.

A few of you have said about not being too coordinated which i do understand, but my biggest thing is that as im only having one adult bridesmaid, i want to make sure she looks like she is part of it iykwim, as where the little ones are wearing ivory, and her dress is shop bought, i feel she could easily end up just looking like one of the guests, so i feel she has to tie in with the men and young bridesmaids in someway, hence the idea of doing so with sashes. I was going to originally have small bms with purple sashes and sis with ivory, but i feel i am making life difficult for myself by needing to then try and match their sashes to the colour of the dress.

My biggest thing is that i photographed a wedding earlier this year whose colour scheme was lilac, but when i saw it all together it wasnt - men wore lilac cravats and ivory waistcoats with lilac swirls. Bride wore white and carried a bouquet of a mixture of purples. BMs wore more of a pinky purple dress with deep purple sash, and youngest BM wore a lilac bhs dress which just looked strange against the other bridesmaids. each group looked great on their own but next to each other it looked a bit of a mish mash, oh and the bridesmaids carried pink flowers. each to their own, and all that but for me i think it looks nice to be co-ordinated, but just not to the extent i had originally planned.

the more i think about it the more i like the idea of silver or another purple for the sashes and linking this with the ties or waistcoats. But am now also thinking, what about blues of some kind? what type of blue would you put with each of these dresses?

liked the idea of green and had been thinking a lime green would look especially nice with the deeper purple, but i dont think H2b would like it, and as soon as we got engaged he completely refused to allow pink to be included in any way!!!

Anyone have any other colour ideas?

bubble96

shellylovesshopping wrote: »

How about sister in purple dress with ivory sash and ivory flowers

Smaller bridesmaids in ivory dresses with cadbury purple sashes http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-PURPLE-SATIN-Wedding-Party-Fancy-Dress-Belt-Tie-Sash_W0QQitemZ290383562622QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Wedding_Clothing?hash=item439c35877e
HTB in ivory shirt with http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-x-RUCHE-CRAVAT-TIE-CADBURY-PURPLE-SATIN-SCRUNCH-GROOM_W0QQitemZ180447591810QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Wedding_Clothing?hash=item2a0383bd82 or http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Men-Light-Purple-Lilac-Scrunchy-Cravat-Hanky-Wedding_W0QQitemZ130354184946QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Wedding_Clothing?hash=item1e59b702f2

thanks for this, i did get them to send me swatches, but the colours are really different to the bm dress, however, if i use the darker one then i may go for this for all bms.

Am thinking though that i would have a better choice if i went to a fabric shop and tried to make them myself. not done much sewing, but think i could just about manage sashes!

jenhug

Ivory and silver with purple accents would probably be much easier to coordinate!