Chocolate Brown Weddings
But now, it's like the most visible Hilton heir: Paris — just Paris. Everyone knows who you mean.
Chocolate Brown is the color that fuels any number of high-flying color schemes. It's the go-to hue, whether it's a fall wedding that needs a touch of naturalism, or a fresh concept by a "design progressive" bride armed with a Gocco press, a bucketful of Etsy bookmarks and shelves groaning with artisan papers.
Alas for the chocolate-tigued, that's a migration not likely to happen — at least not soon. The world's still crazy-in-love with chocolate, and all its savory cousins: coffee, mocha, tan. Its hoped-for heir apparent, steel gray, has made inroads ... but has yet to take the wedding world by storm.
And that might not happen right away, because among the neutrals — unlike gunmetal gray! — chocolate brown is warm. Inviting. Feminine, even.
Pair it with just about any imaginable pastel or bright tropical hue, and you've got intimate, instant chic.
How to Get Down With Brown
But later on in the craze, we started to see new hues: butter yellow, lime or apple green. And that original pink got bumped up to sizzling fuchsia. We saw ultra-warm pairings like salmon, peach and burnt orange take their cue. So did aqua and teal.
As royal purple and eggplant colonized the pages of Vogue, they too started flaunting their charms against a field of chocolate brown. So did lavender.
Now, cutting-edge weddings interweave brown with fire-engine reds, copper and oranges, adding exotic touches like pin-tucked linens and fringe. Sometimes, you see brown with burgundy, a dark but elegant pairing ... and sometimes with crisp, patterned black and white.
Beautiful Byways
To most eyes, it's the warm and 'poppy' colors that meld best with chocolate brown. Still, there are blessed exceptions. Cool sage and brown launches the ultimate West Coast palette, especially with twigs or branches, bamboo, palm-leaf, handmade papers and other natural materials.Also down with brown: monochromatics like champagne, khaki and cream. All this adds up to a Tuscan vibe that's positively royal. Just add dabs of gold, olive or brick.
Designing Brides
Everyone knows the traditional wedding: tulle, rose and shasta daisy affairs infused with lavender, pale yellow and other blushing hues.Then, you've got naturalistic weddings — keyed to the blazing hues of a New England hillside in fall.
Here, you see all those sassy, style-infused hallmarks of modern events: patterns (paisleys, damasks, moroccan or henna-style, just to name a few!). And bright chunks of contrasting satin ribbon.
Then, you see cakes stacked in 'gift box' designs, or flaunting quilted, embossed or hand-painted fondant, ribbons, or graphic accents (polka dots, swiss dots, art nouveau swirls or preppy stripes, anyone?).
And modern centerpieces look sharp in this setting: think trays full of wheat grass studded with gerber stems. Or clear cylinders filled with 'drowning' florals and topped with a floating candle.
Papers are uber-important, too. As for invites? Spunky and graphic, if not outright letterpressed in some swanky coastal atelier.
In other words, chocolate brown weddings really are all about detail.
Dialing Up Table Details
Because brown functions as a neutral and can be dark in quantity, this wedding offers the perfect excuse to mix up table linens and centerpieces. Drape some tables with chocolate brown linens and others with cream or mocha, alternating overlays.Then, for focal points, mix up your centerpieces in color and style. If your colors are pink and brown, work in some pale green and peach blooms to add depth to your palette. Use higher centerpieces on some tables, lower on others, and simple lanterns or hurricane lamps on still others.
Funkified Florals
Want actual brown blossoms in your bouquets? Take a look at chocolate brown cosmos, hot chocolate mini-callas, or sultry leucadendrons, to name a few: all of which look fabulous with cream mini-callas or green orchids. Fiddleheads are another super-stylish accent.
For bridesmaids in brown, monochromatic cream bouquets in a tight posy style are simple but stunning.
Over-the-Top Touches
As always, a candy buffet looks terrific in a color-popping wedding like this one.For fun photo ops outdoors, hand your bridesmaids some super-bright parasols in your alternate color and ask them to pop 'em. They'll look like free-wheeling flowers in pics.
And here's one fun last idea for chocolate brides: liven up your bridal attire with a pair of bright heels to match the theme: fuchsia, teal, or lime green!
Talk Back!
Tell us about your chocolate brown wedding. What's got you stumped? What gorgeous designs have you found, or created?
Tags: chocolate brown wedding
May 11th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Kelly, this is just MHO, but there is something about the brightness of the orange in that bouquet that doesn’t go with the latte in my mind. The green: good!, the burgundy: good!, but the orange seems to scream over the softness of latte.
I wandered around a few blogs and snapped up some bouquets that seem to be more complementary but still fall, keeping in mind that you seem to dig lots of rich color. Little details I love here (if you mush them all together) are the dusted champagne grapes, the deep black and burgundy mini-callas, that gold bouquet wrap, and those pale peachy roses. I think peach is hard to beat against Latte!
Anyhow, just some ideas — what do you think? If you want, check on the inspiration boards I swiped these from for a few more possible color ideas: Let’s Get Married and Amanda & Matt from Snippet & Ink, and Clarice & Richard and Rebecca’s Inspiration Board from StyleMePretty.
May 11th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
I am getting married Sept 13th this year! So far I only have one color and it is latte. I am need HELP with flower ideas and reception table decor!!! I would love to go with the “fall” theme but I am not sure what colors might go with the dresses?! I love this fall bouquet but i am not sure if it is going to go with the latte!! PLEASE HELP!!!! I would love any ideas or suggestions! Thanks!!
May 11th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Hey!! My wedding is Sept 13!! I am in need of HELP with flowers! For the reception and for my bridesmaids to carry as well as me!!! The colors for their dresses are Latte. I love fall colors and want to incorporate them but I am not sure how to do that either!! Any ideas on flowers or maybe even centerpiece ideas would be great!!
THANKS so much!!!
May 8th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
how well do apple red white and chocolate go together..what are some ideas for flowers.. my wedding date is Oct 4, 2008
May 6th, 2008 at 1:32 am
My weeeing theme is brown and turqoise. I need help on the invitations.
May 1st, 2008 at 6:26 pm
i LOVE chocolate brown, but i’d also like to encorporate burnt orange, red, and also green(for accenting).. am i crazy? is it time to narrow down my color choices? has anyone used these colors?
April 26th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
HO, I thought I was done with copper, but NOOOO! Then I happened to hit Eric Limon’s blog. Eric Limon is an amazing photographer who works all around new england, and also happens to be this really funny guy with a new baby. Anyway, he just posted pics of a sizzling wedding at Gedney Farm in the Berkshires, with (you guessed it) a copper theme.
So check out these sparkly beaded copper linens (great way to get sparkle in there), luxe copper vases and all that abundance of gloriosa lilies, curly willow, roses and tropical foliage. The red/copper/fuchsia/yellow vibe and textured linens we’re seeing now are, I’m convinced, a precious gift from Bollywood. Anyway, must see if you’re looking for copper ideas.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
[…] Today I saw a referrer I’d never seen before - FavorIdeas.com. If you scroll down, this comment was made on 23April08 - […]
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:15 am
Some copper inspiration for CB brides!
Top to Bottom, L to R: 1) Copper Leaf Bobeches, Martha. 2) Embossed copper menus on CB napkins, from Alissa & Craig, Brides. 3) From Dina & Patrick, Weinstock copper cake, Brides. 4) Favor detail from Stephanie & Ken, Junebug Weddings.
Row 2: 1-2) Copper bodice detail and copper bouquet wrap, from "Fit for a King & Queen," Inside Weddings. 3-4) Copper taper candles and original copper wire trees from Mrs. Carrie Grace.
Row 3: 1) Copper centerpiece display on Copper L’Amour linens, BBJ Linens. 2) Stunning copper organza overlay/tuxedo pinstripe CB linen combination, Real Weddings. 3) Copper linens and hanging paper lanterns, from Beth & Kenny, The Knot. 4) “Jewelry Cake”, Edible Art.
Check out all the weddings listed above for more ideas, especially Mrs. Carrie Grace whose wedding was all about copper. But the other ones listed have some great details. I didn’t include it here, but if you’re into copper you have to see Mishka Design’s tropical Copper Wedding. She is so talented and as usual, the whole design floats off the ground.
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:41 am
OK, nicole, some floral ideas.
First of all, I LOVE your description of the bridesmaids gowns. If you have any pics, can you post them?
The first thing that comes to mind is a bit rustic: a hand-tied bouquet of cream-colored roses with a loose birch twig collar around the perimeter. Wide, luxury copper organza ribbon for the bouquet wrap. There is a much more ornate copper bouquet wrap in the photo mix when I post some copper ideas tomorrow.
Other ideas for that scheme: there is a brown rose now, hard to find and $$ but your florist might be able to pull it off. Chocolate cosmos, white and cream colored callas/roses. Your colors are very classic as a whole … so I’m picturing cream peonies. For a more modern look add monkey tail or ‘black’ or dark burgundy mini callas. Perhaps a touch of ivy for that Tuscan look. I would try to get a hint of complementary colors in your flowers: pale apricot, pale pink, chartreuse.
Finally, some florists are pretty handy with the spray gun and can transform greens and florals with a metallic spray. Done badly this can look kind of cheap and plastic but done well it can really add a punch of unexpected glamour. So consider a toned-down bouquet in creams, surrounded by copper foliage. Mini-callas sprayed in copper could also look amazing since they’re so architectural. Sort of a deco look.
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:13 am
Hi Jarita, let me try to sell you on it.
Seriously, I love the lilacs and lavenders. They’re not even a little overdone … they’re just starting to percolate through the wedding world. I think lavender & chocolate is warm and a little mysterious. I have a feeling we could all be "not another lavender/CB wedding!" in 2010-11, but today it’s a color combo that makes people say, "why didn’t I do that??"
As to what colors go with these two, there are lots. I put just a few below. Corals, pinky-peach, apricot, persimmon. Pale sage or lime green. Periwinkle blue (the kind you see on so many hydrangeas). Take a look at the photos and you’ll see more, such as lavender + deep purple. I always feel it’s too limiting — the look can be one dimensional — if you resolve only to use two colors. You can actually bring in many complementary colors as long as they coordinate. Especially in the florals.
(Or to go on and on … you don’t want your guests to walk in and say, “Oh, I get it! Cornflower Blue and Apricot!” You want them to feel it all gels, but that the color combo isn’t blinking at them like a liquor sign.)
Kay, back to lavender & CB. A lot of brides are treating this color combination as sort of Victorian. Lots of patina’d silver pitchers and containers, candelabras, hydrangeas, a soft antique feel.
Some good flower choices for these colors (don’t know your formality level, themes or anything, so this is general): lavender, apricot and/or cream roses; purple, cream, periwinkle and/or green hydrangeas, cream and purple phalaenopsis orchids; brown gerberas or chocolate cosmos; muscari; purple anemones, lavender tulips, monkey tail (fiddleheads).
Here are the sources so you can go check out some more photos.
Top to bottom, L to R:1) choc & lavender accessories, The Knot. 2) Malibu Ranch, CA, Special Occasions Events. 3) Design by Michelle Rago events. 4) Design from Wildflower Linens.
Row 2: 1) Detail from Snippet & Ink’s Purple & Vine board. 2) Boutonnière detail from Martha Stewart Weddings, "Perfect Palettes: Lilac & Brown". 3) Inside Weddings, "Deep in the Heart of Texas." This wedding leans heavily on gold, but is still worth a look for lavender/brown ideas. 4) Mishka Designs, "Love Without Borders reception."
Row 3: 1 and 2) From "Bahamian Rhapsody", Brides. 3 and 4) MSW’s "Lilac & Brown".
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:03 pm
hi. my wedding is in may 09. I am still trying to decide on my wedding colors but chocolate and lavendar is at the top of my list but i am not completely sold. Would anyone suggest an additional color to compliment them or will the 2 be enough. Coming up with a color scheme has been harder than i anticipated.
April 21st, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Here’s a little inspiration for chocolate brown and ivory (mocha/cappucino/champagne etc.) brides, especially those wanting a more summery look.
Top to bottom, L to R: 1) Exquisite getaway car (source unknown: Martha?). 2) Snippet from chocolate/ivory November wedding mood board at Elizabeth Anne Designs. 3) Orchid cake masterpiece from Truli Confectionary Arts. 4) Handmade almond favors by Shady519.
Row 2: 1-3) "Country Charm," "Autumn Sonata bouquet" and seashell bouquet by Brides. 4) Invitation for Wedding at Vizcaya Mansion by Gleaux.
Row 3: 1-2) "Romance by Design" and "Abundant Blessings" by Inside Weddings. 3) Escort card display by Michelle Rago. 4) Wedding wishes table by Lisa Ranulfson.
Row 4: 1-3) "Crystal and Brandon" and "Spirit-Filled Wedding in Tullahoma" by Bynum Photography. South African Elegance centerpiece by Mishka Designs.
April 18th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Nicole, that color combination seems to be increasingly popular. It’s very sophisticated, I love it. Please take a peek at this extraordinary Tuscan wedding with a similar scheme.
In the meantime I’ll see if I can’t find some more ideas for you and Tamara!
April 17th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
October wedding, my colors are copper, chocolate brown and ivory…what’s the best choices of flowers? the BM’s are wearing chocolate brown tops with copper accents and copper skirts. my dress is ivory. any advice?
April 14th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Hi. I am wanting to use chocolate brown and fuschia with orange in my wedding. What do you think of this color scheme and what kind of advice can you give me as far as boquet flowers types and colors and reception centerpiece colors go?
I was thinking of chocolate brown dresses for the bridesmaids. What color tuxes would you suggest? I don’t want to overdo it with color but I do want it to look nice. Thanks…
April 14th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Hi Kelly … your wedding sounds SO gorgeous. Enjoy, and PLEASE post a few pics when you’re done, after you have some time to decompress! I can see it already …
April 11th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Hello ladies. My wedding is in 4 weeks, and I am using brown and turquoise. For my center pieces I used stacked boxes with turquoise wrapping and brown ribbon sort of like tje tiffany theme. My bridesmaids are wearing brown dresses with turquoise sashes. My grooms men are wearing black tuexes with turquoise vest. I wanted to bring out the turquiose in the sashes.
April 4th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
One more BRILLIANT gerber theme wedding in choc brown/aqua/ hot pink & yellow — just posted it in Daisy theme weddings. Go see!
April 4th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Tonya, welcome! Are you looking for flower ideas? Or some kind of alternative non-floral centerpiece?
April 4th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Remi, check out this totally charming chocolate brown / robin’s egg wedding on flickr with the most beautiful bride (she looks so pixie-like when the guys pick her up for the photographer, it’s unbelievable!) Great use of fabric, fabulous cake. Very simple florals in an eye-catching venue … all over, a hip, chic and wildly successful design.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:15 am
My wedding is in july, my colours are aqua blue and chocolate brown with a touch of cream. i’m trying to figure out what it will look like. some photos of similar choice of colours will be of use.
Thanks,
Remi
March 19th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Hi, I am having a Chocolate Brown, Ivory and Burnt Orange wedding. I having trouble deciding on my centrepieces. I want my centrepieces to capture the burnt orange napkins. Any ideas would be helpful.
Thanks,
Tonya
March 14th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
This wedding is why pink & brown will NOT go away! It has miles of life in it still!
I really think this is type of wedding that most design-oriented brides dream of. You can see countless hours of work in every detail. The maps, the programs, are amazing. The bridesmaids look adorable in those gorgeous ruched dresses … not your run-of-the-mill look, for sure.
The cake is PERFECT for this event, and look at the favors — how sweet they are with their carefully varied satin ribbons and personalized tags. This bride pulled off a wedding that is not just chic, but very, very personal — the furthest thing from cookie cutter. Check out all her wonderful photos; anyone with a chocolate wedding will find the time well worth it!