Aisle Style: The Altura Studio Blog » Inspiration for Pacific Northwest brides by Altura Studio

It’s dramatic and simple to design a wedding color scheme around a single hue. Dana and Joel chose a rich red for their decor and flowers for their late summer wedding at the Shogren House in Portland.

Dana’s red satin shoes were a bright surprise under white full length dress. The bride’s bouquet and bridesmaid’s flowers included orangey-red gerberas, dark red dahlias and dark orange freesia. The groom’s boutonniere was a single, happy gerbera. The table cards were tied to a single long rudbeckia stem pushed into a shiny red apple. The tables themselves were designated by the couple’s favorite places around Portland. And when the evening grew cool, Dana had handy a yummy red pashmina—beautiful and striking.

To top it all off, at the end of the evening the couple drove off in the cutest bright red Mini Cooper.

While cruising though our photo archive, hunting for bright color story, I rediscovered Amanda and Alec’s cute-as-ever images from their wedding at Kruger’s. What struck me for this post, was not only how lovely the flowers were, but also that it might be possible for a crafty gal or guy to tackle something similar as a do-it-yourself project. Of course, that would come with a warning that you’d have to be insanely organized or a masochist to want to, but hey, you could.

I think the key to why these flowers are so lovely is that they don’t try too hard to be anything but simple. There’s nothing exotic or overly-constructed. Every flower pictured here is readily available in the Portland area in the summer, and based on the look, it wouldn’t matter if you had a particular bloom. For example, if you had more dahlias and fewer gerberas, it wouldn’t change to the whole look. The key, in my opinion, is keeping the color scheme tight–stick to a relatively narrow range of colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel.

I can see this working with a range of rosy colors, say soft pink through magenta and purple. Or white through cream all the way to pale yellow. Choosing your scheme this way insures that no matter what blossoms come your way at wedding time, you can surely find a pretty assortment without having to pay extra for a particular shade or shape.

One more plus: it’s easy to pick an accent color when your color scheme is analogous–for example here, Amanda used burgundy and yellow ribbons to tie her personal flowers, but nearly any soft color could have worked. Think about how well a soft, grayish blue would look with cream and white, or also be a great companion to a pinky purple scheme.

Brave? Try it.

This is a perfect palette for a late summer or early fall wedding. This couple, Ann & Brad, married on a warm October afternoon at the Viewpoint Inn in the gorge. While Portland’s weather in June and July can be unpredictable, late summer and fall are often the most consistently beautiful days of the entire year. If I wanted to marry outdoors, I would definitely plan an early fall celebration.

Since both Ann and Brad are graphic designers, they were probably better than most of us at using color creatively. The flowers they chose were especially fantastic. Check out the big pic of Brad’s boutonniere. It is a combination of chocolate cosmos, rosemary and, (I think) that is an oak leaf backing it all up. The colors compliment his tie and the whole thing looks manly and distinctive. Ann’s bouquet is an eye-popper, too. From the pics, it seems like her bouquet is composed of samon-color roses, dark red and yellow dahlias, more of the wonderful chocolate cosmos, and I think I spy some sunset colored callas in there too.

The geniuses at Blum created these flowers. You wouldn’t go wrong requesting something similar for your late summer wedding.

One of the interesting things about this wedding at the Viewpoint Inn was how wonderfully beautiful yet uncontrived it was. While some couples use a color scheme as a starting point and then choose flowers, decor and perhaps even clothing based on that decision, I had the feeling that Roger and Lynn were guided by simply chosing what they loved. Rather than strictly “matching”, the flowers, decor, cake and setting were all unified by being standout beautiful. The flower arrangements were mostly green and white with a tiny hint of pale pink. The junior bridesmaids wore vivid salmon, the cake was decked with pale pink, light green and chocolate brown. The the limpid green of the rolling lawns and the soft setting sunlight played a unifying role–bringing all those gorgeous colors together. 

So remember Lynn and Roger if you’re deciding on wedding details. You can’t go wrong if it makes you happy.

Certain colors like apricot, are real chameleons. This soft pale orange is one of the colors that can look soft or striking, classic or modern. It can “pow” or “meow” depending on how you use it.  I think in this case, the look is fantastic. It’s fresh and modern-looking even though the shapes are quite classic. My favorite part is how the stronger corals and salmons in the b-maids flowers look against the chocolate brown in the dresses and groomsmen’s vests.

Windy’s accessories were chunky glass beads and a feathered hair ornament, which both complemented the clean look of her a-line strapless dress. Dan’s richly brocaded tie looked scrumptious with the rusty bronze vests that he and the g-men were wearing. Oh, and their cake was super cool–very simple and rustic and perfect for this setting. (Check out the gallery below for a cake pic.)

Anyone can make a great looking wedding by combining apricot + green + almost any other color. Pink? Mocha? Periwinkle? Try it, you’ll see it nearly always looks fantastic.

Pale colors, the traditional standby of weddings, can sometimes look too plain or blah on their own. But by supporting  pale yellows and soft pinks with something stronger, like green or metallic gold, the effect is pure gorgeous. Blush Bridal Events helped Mary and August put together this yummy decor at their reception at Officer’s Row in Vancouver.

Mary carried a bouquet of mostly pale roses, with the slightest blush of pink at their centers. I can’t recall if the other flowers were sweetpeas, freesia or white lysanthia. August’s good-looking boutonniere was a single white rosebud with blueberry buds. The table decor was especially pretty: gold chargers accented white on white linens and floating candles in the centerpiece.

I think going pale is the perfect look for a more formal wedding. What do you think?

You would never know from looking at these photos that is was acually 105 degrees on Brian and Stephanie’s wedding day at the Waverly Golf Club. Everyone looks so fresh and unwilted. It’s a darn good thing there are not any pics of John and I, since we were both looking seriously wilted. The color scheme here, which is so soft and pretty, but not too girly, is based on the wonderful purpley-blue of summer hydrandeas. Besides being completely sturdy in the heat, these particular blossoms plays nicely with other colors, including acid green, pink, soft blue and true lavender. (Here’s a whoo-hoo to Geranium Lake Flowers for the pretty flowers)

Steph’s maids wore simple knee length black dresses (wouldn’t  a girlfriend appreciate that!) and the guys were outfitted in basic dark suits. It was classy, stylish, personal and sharp without being too tux-ey or too matchy.

Check out the great colors from this September wedding in Portland. All the warm colors were there: red, orange, yellow, tangerine. It was like all of summer’s vibrant palette in one big dose of fabulosity. The venue was the Sculpture Garden at the Portland Art Museum. We’ve shot events there before, but never had we seen the area tented off in such a cool manner. EJP events and The Prop Shop collaborated on this decor, including this billowing entryway, which effectively screened the celebrations from the street. Just inside the entrance is the area where the ceremony took place and then later was transformed into an outdoor cocktail lounge with ottomans, tables and outdoor heaters. Geranium Lake Flowers created the floral decor. That fantastic cake was from the now-defunct Joseph’s Dessert Company.
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Today I take a break from my budget wedding posts and have a little fun with pure color. Here’s a great example where a single color, acid green, unified elements of Malia and Daniel’s summer wedding. Geranium Lake Flowers did a wonderful job of translating Malia’s taste into a gorgeous floral arrangements and bouquets. All of the non-floral elements were hand made by Malia herself. (She’s a freelance graphic designer.) At the venue, Molly’s Loft on SE Belmont, they created a great mood with drapes and swags of irridescent green. Check out the smaller cake pic to see the cool display idea: along with it’s own canopy, the cake was elevated on glass over a layer of green apples.

I’m still swooning from the decor at this wedding. It’s definitely the prettiest set up I’ve ever seen at the Oregon Golf Club. Here’s some of the details straight from Amanda’s mom, who oversaw the details of this lovely event.

First, they replaced the black rear wall pipe and drape with white drape and an overlay of sheer organza. Small pink uplights gave the organza a barely-there tint that made everything (and everyone) in the room look stunning. Swan Island Dahlias did a magnificent job with the flowers. I heard that over 7000 peonies went in to this scrumptious look. The centerpieces, composed solely of peonies, were a simple contrast to the tall arrangements, which looked like they had roses, gladiola, stock and other yummy stuff in addition to peonies and candles.

Here’s a secret about cakes: Lamb’s Thriftway. Don’t tell anyone. It’s the insider secret to save you a bit on your reception. They can make just about any style of cake you can dream up. They can do sleek and modern, bright and vivid, polly-esque and cheeky, and of course, lush and traditional. And will probably cost you a third of what the top drawer wedding bakeries charge.

Other details that made this party pretty: silver chargers under white plates, white chair covers fastened with a single peony blossom, twinkle lights to set the mood, votives sprinkled on the table tops, and small bouquets of flowers as curtain tie-backs on the tent walls. Maybe you’ll think pink for your reception?