Remember being in elementary school and you had to know
about primary and commentary colors?
Well, some of the best stuff we learn as children we tend to forget when
it really counts, like when needed to decorate for one of the most important
days of your life: Your wedding.
Being engaged is one of the
most exciting times and in the very early stages of wedding planning picking
out your color scheme can be very overwhelming to many couples. Many of my clients always want to know a way
to make their colors “pop.” This can be
achieved multiple ways, but one of the easiest ways is to utilize complementary
colors.
Complementary colors, when used together in
color schemes, are especially vibrant and pleasing to the eye at the same
time. The combinations of complementary
colors are dynamic together because they play up to each other’s
intensity. Think
of how a little bit of blue will really play up an orange invitation as the one
below shows from a former client.
A more expanded form of
complementary color wheel here also incorporates warm and cool color ideas:
Notice how this former
client utilized a more red fuchsia color to go with a mustard color below.
Now, to really expand your
thinking on the complementary colors is looking at the additive model of color:
The complements using this
wheel are green and magenta, red and cyan, and blue and yellow. I have had many clients use colors similar to
this scheme and this is also very popular for business logos--- think of IKEA
using blue and yellow. Not only does
this scheme complement each other, but also draws your eye to their logo.
Notice how this client uses just a little bit of yellow to really make their pattern stand out:
Or this one that does the exact opposite, using just a little bit of blue, to complement the yellow background and bow:
The possibilities are really endless when using complementary colors as different shades will complement different colors. And just when you thought you never really used anything from elementary school ever again!
