Tips: Creating a Vintage Palette

One way to create a color palette for your vintage wedding is to start with a postcard, greeting card, poster, or print advertisement from the period.

I found the following image at Cardcow.com. I then copied the image URL (on a Mac, ctrl+click and select Copy Image URL).

Image courtesy of Cardcow

Then I copied the image URL into an online color generator. Both DeGraeve and Color Hunter provide vivid and dull palettes based on the selected image.

DeGraeve and Color Hunter provide a Hex value for each color. To get a Pantone value for each color, use the Color Picker in Adobe Photoshop. Be sure that Only Web Colors is not checked. Enter the Hex value and then click Color Libraries to get the appropriate Pantone color. 

Here's a vintage palette complementary to Pantone's 2011 color of the year: Honeysuckle. I started with a 1950s postcard from Arcanium Antiques.

Online Sources of Vintage Paper Goods

• Card Cow
• Etsy
• Flickr
• Vintage Postcards

Free Color Palette Generators

• DeGraeve (web image)
• Color Hunter (both web image and uploaded file)

Dress Hunting for the Bride's and Groom's Maids: Trip 1

Friday after work we started our retail excursion by sipping wine while looking out onto Union Square and plotting our plan of attack for the bridesmaid's dress search. We decided to start with Macy*s and then head out to Nordstrom's and Westfield Centre.

Macy*s yielded a couple of purple dresses (one of our primary wedding colors). They were also having a 60% clearance so we found one potential dress for under $75 (I was hoping we'd find dresses for less than $150 - score.) They had two sizes on the rack - luckily 2 of the 3 sizes we needed - so Ames and Moni headed off to the dressing room while Helen and I continued browsing.


We ended up putting the dresses on hold. They were the first option that might work and we didn't want them to fly out the door before we'd made a decision. Next stop Nordstrom and disappointment.

The dresses at Nordstrom seemed old (like the styles I saw last year's when we were shopping for a dress for me to wear to Matt and Lauren's August 2009 Wedding) and were well picked over and damaged (snags, pills, etc.). We left quickly. Our last stop, cache, yielded a familiar dress - a private label, iridescent blue version of the Xscape dress I wore as a bridesmaid in Ames' wedding. Unfortunately the largest size carried by the store was an 8 and I hadn't seen that color in my online searches.

Did you find the perfect dress at the first place you looked?

We chose astral colors

I love color and everything about it. I have tons of books about color in my Design - Color bin (versus the Photography - Color Correction bin) - Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color, Color - Messages and Meanings, A Pantone Color Resource, An Eye for Color,Interaction of Color by Josef Albers (one of the classic references on color - the other is by Itten), Designer's Color Manual: The Complete Guide to Color Theory and Application, Color Design Workbook: A Real World Guide to Using Color in Graphic Design (of which I might actually have 2 copies). And I have even more books about color in photography and color correction, for example The Essential Color Manual for Photographers or Professional Photoshop: The Classic Guide to Color Correction. Those books are in a separate metal bin - the Color Correction bin. (As an aside, the color correction books and manuals for photographers assume you know something about color and don't really cover why or when you should use color.)

So today on one of the design blogs I follow I came across another "resource" from Pantone - Colorstrology. Being a Pantone junkie I just had to take a look. And well... immediately I was back thinking about our wedding. Bear with me and you'll see why.

From the start cubes and I both knew we wanted purple. When we told friends, Ames remarked that purple and blue (one of our secondary colors) were very "Us." (I'll have to post pics later but until then trust me that I've had apartments decorated in various shades of purple since 2004.) And, um... now according to Pantone - specifically Colorstrology by Michele Bernhardt - I *know* why.

The color for February 3 (the day I was born) is Persian Violet (or Pantone 17-3925). My color personality is: Poignant, Precise, and Talented. "[I] have a myriad of talents from which to choose. Artistic and technical, [I] can succeed in many areas. It is important for [me] to contribute something to society. It is [my] effect on the community and the world that will give [me] the most pleasure. [My] personal color helps [me] move through the different stages of life with ease. Wearing, meditating or surrounding [my]self with Persian Violet reminds [me] to keep [my] individuality without distancing [my]self from the people whom [I] love and that love [me]."

On to the color for October 17 (the day cubes was born). The color is Orchid Smoke (or Pantone 15-2210). His color personality is: Transforming, Powerful, and Seductive. "[His] ability to transform [himself] and others is extremely powerful. [He] like[s] to push past limits and go where no man or woman has gone before. There is a great deal of restlessness in [his] birth date. Try to incorporate ease into ... daily plans, as too much intensity can be hard on [the] body. [He] can use [his] curiosity to discover valuable information. Wearing, meditating or surrounding [him]self with Orchid Smoke allows him to explore profound experiences while sustaining a balanced and secure foundation."

If you take a look at the color for October, you'll see that it's in the blue family - one of the other colors in our color palette. Makes you want to go "hmmm."

What's your colorstrology? What did you think about when you chose your colors? Did you chose a date based on astrology?

Update: Of flowers, Wine, & Ribbons (aka Scavenging Supplies)

Lots of wedding stuff happened this weekend. On Friday, I found Real
Touch dahlias in our colors-Aubergine and Amethyst and Peonies in
Ivory with Watermelon, Cotton Candy, and Rose Water tips. All were buy
one get one free.

On Saturday, Mom and dad went on treasure hunt to find more. Mom found
Ivory dahlias but no Aubergine or Amethyst. They ventured further down
the peninsula, visiting Colma, San Mateo, Redwood City, and Mountain
View.

At the same time I went in search of Aubergine ribbons for my dress.
We found bins of satin ribbons, but no Aubergine and very little
Black. There were spools of Amethyst, Quarry, and Cotton Candy. Done.
Ribbons for our invitations, wedding favors, and tablescapes obtained.
150 yds: 50 Quarry, 50 Amethyst, and 50 Cotton Candy for under $11.

Sunday brought a suggestion to go to Jo-Ann Fabric Stores on our way
to my dress fitting in Sacramento. Quick search of the Internet
revealed one. Off we went. More Ivory dahlias and more Peonies. Still
no Aubergine or Amethyst. But... digging in buckets of silk flowers we
found a couple of Star Dahlias - one in a burgandy color with
Aubergine tips and an Ivory with Rose Water tips. Next we contemplated
fabric dye. Another DIY project was born. I'm now going to dye and
handpaint the 7 baby girl pink dahlias that I'd picked up on Friday.

While working on wedding stuff we saw a tweet from Ed and Heather that
they'd been to BevMo. Not remembering if BevMo has one or two 5 cent
sales a year, we looked at wines included in the sale. (Note: The
wines we initially chose were already sold out.) Across the parking
lot from Jo-Anns in Sacto was a BevMo. Mom and I quickly crossed the
lot and did our reconnaissance. Wines with 89+ points for under $15 were
in short supply. Call to cubes. Decision made. 36 bottles of wine
acquired.

Next stop - final dress fitting.

Did you send people on scavenger hunts for decor? Were they successful or are you making do with something else?

Color: PANTONE Inspiration Board

Initially our color scheme was primarily Black and Aubergine with accents of Ivory (My Dress), Espresso (My Boots and Anchor Steam Candle Holders), and Quarry (Platters used in Table Centerpieces and Vintage Keys).

After considering in-season flowers (dahlias and hydrangeas) and choosing a cake with pink frosting (Rose Water or Cotton Candy), we expanded the color scheme to include Rose Water and Cotton Candy, Majestic, and Watermelon (to tie the blues and purples together). The primary colors are Black, Aubergine, Watermelon, and Majestic. The accent colors are Cotton Candy (Wedding Cake), Ivory (My Dress), Espresso (My Boots and Anchor Steam Candle Holders), and Quarry (Platters used in Table Centerpieces and Vintage Keys).

Photo Credits: Hydrangea Floral Arrangement and Vintage Keys via iStockPhoto. Top: Jennifer Dery via Polka Dot Bride; Bottom: L'Amour De Ve via Bonafide Bride, Albert Lewis of Mulberry Photography (recolored to match our wedding colors) via Polka Dot Bride, Emersonmade via Bonafide Bride (recolored to match our wedding colors).

Color: The Difference It Can Make

NOTE: Originally posted on LiveJournal.

Lots of wedding porn/blogs start with an inspiration board - what do you like or what's your vision. Those boards look like something out of Martha Stewart - kinda not the feel we're looking at. cubes proposed for the first time at Spurious Causality and we explored the Neverwas Haul shortly after. That's driven/influenced the overall feel for us - hence one of the reasons we chose Swedish American Hall in SF (built in the early 1900s).

We had our cake tasting last night and that got me thinking about whether hydrangeas or dahlias or a combination of the flowers (both are in-season in October) would go best with our cake choice (the raspberry frosting is pink/rose colored).

Take 1: Inspiration Board Using Dahlias as Focal Point

Take 2: Inspiration Board Using Hydrangeas as Focal Point

Take 3: Inspiration Board Using Cake as Focal Point