Why I don’t give a flying funk about pantone colour of the year, and why you don’t need to either

For a long time in the wedding industry I felt like progress was being made in terms of couples being able to do their own thing on their wedding day. No longer did you have to have a hotel wedding package complete with chicken stuffed with another kind of meat and wrapped up in another for your wedding breakfast whilst sat on a chair wrapped up in pink organza (unless that is your jam, in which case, package wedding plan away) When I got hitched way back in 2010 it was rebellious to wear a pair of sparkly converse beneath your wedding dress or forgo the traditional 3 tier fruit cake for a tower of cupcakes (believe me, nothing screams 2010 wedding MORE than a tower of cupcakes)

Over the past 5 years I have had the pleasure of working for brides and grooms who threw all the traditions and expectations out of the window and just did whatever the hell they wanted to (or in some cases, pushed the limits of their parents and in laws to be would allow them to do- some mums just can’t handle too much crazy) I’ve had a bride convince Edinburgh zoo to allow a 12 foot fibreglass giraffe to be part of the menagerie of fake animals in her reception décor, I’ve had more than one bride commission artists to paint pictures of her cats to use around the venue, brides who printed their own custom napkins complete with a fox bride and groom, brides who wanted non traditional colour clashing florals that were in their words “the opposite of weddingy”, I’ve made flower crowns for a statue of a hog and a naked lady, I’ve had brides get married in underground caves, greenhouses and in countless barns to avoid the overly patterned carpets of many a hotel venue, and all of them did it because they wanted a day that reflected what THEY loved, not what a magazine or pinterest board told them to do (it’s at times like this that I just want to say, how cool are the people I get to work with by the way?)

Image- Mirrorbox Photography, Bride Jill is an interior designer, and knows a thing or two about colour, she picked her colour palette from a (shock horror) non bridal magazine, we love Jill, she married Matthew in 2014 and unintentionally used pantone’s colour of the year “radiant orchid” but its ok, because Jill would have picked it regardless

And then , it seems, out of no where, pantone colour of the year has become a thing (apparently so since 2000 but for me, I was livingly perfectly unaware of it until every lifestyle and wedding blog in the land seemed to go apes*it over 2017 colour of the year being greenery)

Overnight we were being told that greenery would be the next big thing for 2017 weddings, the florist world was divided, one half rejoicing because they are foliage lovers and were itching to create foliage jungles for their brides, the other half weeping because many a wedding magazine loves to tell brides how economical greenery is (sure, its cheaper than peonies, but it ain’t free, and if you don’t think that garlands are labour intensive then you didn’t see me at 3am during one particularly manic wedding season, drinking my 300th cup of coffee and dancing to bad Korean pop to get the last of the 100ft monster garland finished) Now, either way, greenery wasn’t so bad for brides and grooms, no one was going to accuse you of only choosing a foliage filled arch because pantone told you to, and I figured there was so much chat about it just because greenery kind of leans itself to wedding styling, especially as barn venues are soaring in popularity, and no one can dispute how good an old barn wall looks with a big bit of greenery against it.

Image: Branco Prata Photography, Kris and Dish, got married in 2015, didn’t use the Pantone colour of the year (marsala) no one gave a fun*k

Then. just as florists were sweeping all of 2017’s Christmas foliage cuttings off the workroom floor, 2018 came round and pantone declared the colour of this year to be ultra violet and it seems that the wedding and lifestyle media went nuts about how we incorporate this colour into our lives and wedding days without everything resembling a giant bar of cadbury's dairy milk (bridesmaids beware!) It seems the world is in panic because pantone didn’t pick a particularly wedding or interiors friendly colour for this year, which is just all kinds of crazy to me, when did we start painting our walls and dressing our wedding party according to pantone? (or according to anything other than what our eyes like looking at best?) Personally, the only shade of purple that I like Is lilac, the sweet, sickly kind. But if you are the kind of gal, or guy, who is partial to a bit of regal purple then go right ahead and get it going in your wedding styling (it looks pretty awesome with gold and fuschia and navy for a winter wedding after all) go forth, read the blog posts elsewhere on how to get some going in your wedding venue.  If however, you are not a fan of tinky winky purple, here’s the thing, there are ENDLESS other colours out there, and you are allowed to pick ANY one of them (or 20 of them if you like, all at the same time) to use in your wedding.

Image- Emma Lawson Photography, Amy and Adam, got married in a greenhouse in 2016 and didn’t use pantone’s colour of the year (rose quartz) and nobody gave a funk

So, dear readers, if you are thinking about your wedding planning one day and out of no where, a vision of decking out your groomsmen in ultra violet waistcoats, tying ultra violet chair sashes to your ceremony chairs washes over you and you consider phoning your baker to see if they can dye the buttercream for your cake the same shade of purple as your mother in law’s shoes, and you’re not sure how these ideas came to the forefront of your mind, consider than you may have been brainwashed a wave of social media, step away from your phone, close down your laptop and find the person you’re engaged to and figure out what it is that you love, maybe you just painted your living room bright yellow, maybe that’s the colour you should pick for your stationary, or your bridesmaid dress, maybe you should carry an armful of sunshine yellow gladioli down the aisle , and believe me , no one will give a flying funk that ultra violet was no where to be seen in your 2018 wedding

And, if nothing else, remember this, outside of sweet pea season, ultra violet is a total bugger of a colour for flowers, unless you like deep purple lisianthus, and I ain’t met anyone yet who thinks that’s a beautiful flower

Kay and Jason, married in 2013 and didn’t give a funk about the pantone colour of the year, emerald