Perceptions of colour

Okay - we're going to do a bit about weddings today. Well, sort of. I want to try and explain how difficult it is when two or three people all attempt to visualise a colour. Shall we say Blue. Hold that in your mind. Blue.

So which one was it? Oh, sorry you were thinking a sort of Tiffany blue?

or maybe navy blue

I could play with my three hearts all night adding different shades of one colour. You only have to think of the range of paint colours to choose from at the local d-i-y shop to get the point.

And yes, I know the advice is always to take a sample of fabric - but did you know that cotton takes colour differently from nylon from wool? Dye a white swatch of all three in the same batch of dye and you will have three different colours resulting. So your satin dresses will never 'match' the table linen or paper dinner napkins.

Also bear in mind, the backgrounds that you will be against and using. Some colours wash out others so if you're determined not to have white or off-white table linen check your colours against each other as you decide.

Same three hearts as above but on a solid colour and below as lime on the three blues.

Whichever way you do it, it changes the perception of the colours.

And finally, do listen to your venue's catering manager/event co-ordinator/restaurant manager or whoever you are dealing with when it comes to which colours will work in which areas. I know a fab room with an amazing rug across most of the floor which has rusts, oranges, tans, amongst other colours in it. BUT, if you take anything 'Barbie' pink into the room it makes the most disgusting combination of colour imaginable. This is not the room but it gives you an idea of what happens if you're not careful. Look at the carpet colours and pattern against what is on the table.