Hi! So looking for the perfect colours for your wedding is really hard when the hall is a dark colour.

Now, I am someone who likes bright colours: ideally I would have wanted Black+yellow or blue+red or torquoise. What nice combination (including a bright colour) can I use with the dark hall? Gold seems too common. I want it to be soemthing special and different!

What a beautiful hall! (And congratulations!)

Brown is a neutral, so you can mix anything with it. :)

Here's one suggestion - I think you can have your turquoise/red; I'd just avoid white and stick to warm creamy autumnal neutrals, with some dark accents to tie it to the room.

I stumbled on a tool that you could use (re-stumbled because it's in my list of CL tools
>> Pictaculous
Upload the pic and it'll suggests palettes from Kuler & ColourLovers

Brown is a hard color. It falls in the tertiary classification (mixed with three to get one). Since brown is not really a color and a perception most things will blend with it if you use the right undertones that match the current browns in place. Browns can be yellowish, reddish, or grayish and so on. i would not try to do anything to tone it down or blend with it. I would use a contrast ...I would go strictly beige or white solid. To perceive brown it must be next to a lighter color or you get some funky shade of its undertone. So you might end up with some puke green if you get too fancy. At least by the way of photography, See the light in the chandeliers? I would focus on that color but only as a means to compliment the contrast. I would use all white candles ...turn off the chandeliers....or if they have a low level luminance setting that shows up as a candle light glow per say. Then I would use linens in a ivory beige. Since beige does a nice yellow or brown undertone it almost certainly will be elegant. I would do crystal centerpieces with floating candles and some green tropical type leafy plant. If you want to add some color I would do a melon or orange pinkish color. That always blends with brown and linen beige. I have posted a couple of examples ..also if you are totally against the dark background ....find a fabric like some sheer or silk type and do a back drop and cover it all the way around draping it bringing to a point in the center to give the look of a white outdoor wedding tent you see .
example of draped fabric.


here is a candle light, sliver, brown and how it works together.


couple of interesting ways to use the colors together

and this one turned out very good I think....and these are all brown undertones of blended tones of orange and red

a non traditional centerpiece of floating candles. I love this but am sure it would be quite expensive.

Cream, gold, blue, beige, pink, red, green, purple....pretty much anything goes with brown! It's an awesome pick for a wedding.

The hall is actually really beautiful! Is this what you would be using for the actual ceremony or the reception? Brown, even dark wood brown, can go with anything, as it is a neutral, but I would personally stay away from black. The white ceiling really brightens up the place and if it is for your reception, there will be tables with table cloths, most likely, which can be white or another light color to really brighten it further.

With any wedding, my suggestion is- do what you love, bottom line. Red with blue may seem colonial or old fashioned in a setting like that, depending on the shades, but that may be just what you are looking for, and red with turquoise would be very modern and fun! Or did you mean blue and turquoise?

As far as what whites to use, in my opinion you can use any of the range you like because you have bright white in the ceiling, mellow cream white in the chandeliers, and tan/beige white in the woodwork on the back wall. Go with what you like. As long as you keep things consistant within your own set of items (linens, flowers, decorations, ect.), you will be able to use the space well.

One main key is to ask the people in charge of the hall what options they offer, if they provide the linens (table cloths) especially. They may be able to, say, change those dark curtains to the left for something brighter. if you want to drape fabric, as was suggested above, make sure you ask if you are allowed.

Using candles for the lighting would make the space more intimate (and there are so many amazing options), but I think those chandeliers are so gorgeous! Candles would also be more for an evening reception, not for daytime, when you could have light from the windows refreshing the space.

So. . .
When will your wedding be? And at what time of day?
Will this space be ceremony, reception, or both?
What color combination do you love? (and your future spouse, of course!)
What sort of mood do you want for your wedding? Playful, romantic, vintage, elegant, serene, glamorous, natural/green, something else?

I would love to help out with ideas! Wedding palettes are my addiction. Red and turquoise would be very fun to experiment with.

By the way- Pictaculous= awesome! Thanks for the recommendation ycc2106! The palette that came up with the hall pic was red, white, brown, and slate gray. . .which is kinda weird. I would not have mixed dark gray with dark brown. Hmmm. Learn something new every day.

ANd I didn't say it before CONGRATULATIONS on your engagement Sedilicious!

You "loved" this

Is that something you would like to spring board from?