Your wedding: a citrus-colored celebration?

Although I'm not a fan of Martha Stewart style overall (too plain!), I do love her Weddings issues. The Summer '09 issue was even more eye-catching than usual, with its surprising and liberal use of citrus colors, particularly orange.

Orange, at a wedding?! I thought the same thing.







Orange has never been one of my favorite colors. I associate it with Halloween (not at the top of my list, though it has its charms), the orange groves of Florida (too hot), the color of traffic cones. In other words, not romantic. Happy yes, romantic no.

But ...

... if a wedding isn't a happy occasion, then what is? Martha & Co. do make a point. And it's a stylish point (as if anything else were possible). One of the things I liked so much about the orange palette was how natural it seemed alongside yellows and pinks. Not in a circus-y way, but in a sunny attitude sort of way. In short, orange as optimism, and maybe a bit of risk taking too.

The ad above caught my eye because it is a combination I've begun to like. It's candy-colored, it's some of the jelly-beans, without being overly sweet. They're not the fondant pastels, they're in your face. But if the silhouette of the dress isn't overdone and the flowers are kept simple, why not? And why not orange and fuschia? These colors together are unforgettable. (Some may remember them fondly, others not so much. But the bride who chooses these is making a personal statement!)

Stopping just-short of showgirl-showy, these D.I.Y. hair accents are unexpected.

The issue's centerpiece feature is the wedding of Ben and Laura of NYC. Laura is an artist (and former crafts editor for Martha's Living magazine). Now this is a statement wedding, from this butterfly bouquet to the zesty citrus palette (lime!) Her dress was storybook simple with a scalloped hem, and the couple rode off on bicycles.

Loveliness.