How to Choose the Best Colors for Your Event
When you’re planning an exciting upcoming event, you’ll no doubt have a lot of things to tick off your list. From the venue and decorations to the guest list, party invitations, and more – there’s certainly plenty to organize.
Before you delve into any of these, however, the very first step in planning your party is to select a color scheme. If you’re wondering “how do I choose a color for an event?”, don’t fret. We’ll tell you everything you need to know about selecting the best colors for events, as well as how you can quickly and easily use BeFunky as your very own color palette generator!
What Is an Event Color Palette?
An event's color palette is the set of colors used throughout the space to create a cohesive look and feel. This can include the actual venue, as well as the attire of guests and attendees, decorations, party stationery, and more.
Why Does Your Event’s Color Palette Matter?
We’ve all heard of how your brand color palette can evoke particular emotions, but what about color psychology for events?
Color is a powerful tool that can be used to convey a multitude of meanings and reactions. It has long been used in the creation of visual content, such as art and advertising, but it also plays an important role in event planning.
Red, for example, can evoke passion and convey love. However, it can also be a symbol of danger. Green, on the other hand, symbolizes nature and the earth, but also has strong ties to both money and jealousy. To find out more about the psychology of each color, check out this helpful chart.
Along with communicating certain messages or encouraging particular feelings among your attendees, your event’s color palette also helps to bring your event's theme to life. It allows it to feel cohesive, and each of the elements you add – from table settings to decorations to menus – looks like they're part of one big picture. It also sets the mood for guests and lets them know what type of experience they're going to have at your gathering.
How to Choose a Color For an Event
While it may seem like choosing colors should be easy, there are actually several factors to consider when creating an effective event color palette. These include:
- The type of event (for example, business conference vs wedding)
- The season during which the event will take place
- The location where the event will take place (for example, beach vs office building)
- The type of audience being targeted by the event
Some colors are more suited to certain conditions than others. Think of the seasons, for example. Fall lends itself to warm shades like orange, red, and yellow, while winter tends to be all about cool shades of blue and purple. Therefore, if you were throwing a winter-themed event, guests would be confused to see those warm shades of fall.
You’ll want your party color theme to work well together in terms of its visual effects, as well as its emotional and cultural associations. If your event is a business event, then the theme should be chosen carefully in order to give your gathering an atmosphere that matches your branding and communicates your company’s values effectively.
How to Use BeFunky as a Party Color Palette Generator
Now that you know what elements to take into consideration when choosing a party color palette, you’re probably looking for a way to quickly and easily generate the perfect color combo for your next event.
BeFunky also acts as a handy color palette generator to help you find the right colors, particularly through using its Color Picker and Eyedropper tools to find the exact HEX color code present in an image. We’ve got a helpful tutorial about selecting and managing colors to show you how.
As you can see, you can either use the exact shades you pull from an image within your color palette, or use the Color Picker to find similar shades that are more in line with what you want. For example, you might choose a lighter, darker, more saturated, or less saturated version of that color within the Color Picker.
The first step, however, is to start with your event color inspiration. You can use the Collage Maker to create a mood board for your event, then pick your color palette from these images. Or, you might use a single image or your event’s invitation as a starting point and pick out colors from there.
As shown in the tutorial we linked above, the easiest way to find these hues for your color palette is to place a shape graphic within your collage, graphic design, or photo.
Simply click on the shape, then select Fill from the Graphic Properties panel. This will allow you to access the Color Picker and Eye Dropper tools.
Unique Party Color Combos
Need some unique party color themes to get you started with your own event color combos? Whether you’ll be hosting a baby shower, graduation party, bridal shower, or more – we’ve got you covered!
Baby Shower Color Palette
Baby showers seem to have pretty rigid color palettes, but they don’t have to. If you already know the gender of your upcoming arrival, you might be tempted to opt for the standard blue or pink color scheme, but why not think outside of the box? Alternatively, those who don’t know the gender of their baby usually opt for a pastel color palette, and while it looks great, there are some other options out there.
For this baby shower, for example, we put together a woodland-inspired collage, then picked four complimentary colors from it. The result is a baby shower that’s unique, gender-neutral, and versatile in the way it can be decorated.
New Year’s Party Color Palette
When you think of New Year’s, you probably think of metallic shades of gold and silver. For this color scheme, we were inspired by glitter confetti, balloons, and of course, fireworks. For a more mature New Year’s Eve soiree, we incorporated shades of navy blue and charcoal, along with two different shades of gold to turn up the elegance.
Halloween Color Palette
For a spooky color scheme for your next Halloween party, consider creating an event Moodboard, as we’ve done here. As you can see, ours is all about those shades of orange and black. But your Halloween party can be as traditional or unique as you’d like! Other popular Halloween color schemes include green, orange, and black, as well as purple, fuschia, orange, and black. Remember, think about your audience and setting, then go from there!
Bridal Shower Color Palette
Whether you’re the bride-to-be or you’re throwing a celebration for your sister or best friend, bridal showers are the perfect excuse to get all girly – if that’s your thing, of course. For this bridal shower color palette, we started with a mood board featuring beautiful blooms, flower crowns, and delectable treats. Then, using the Eye Dropper tool and Color Picker, we were able to create a color palette featuring soft and feminine shades of pink, peach, and yellow.
Graduation Party Color Palette
When choosing a color palette for a graduation party, we looked to those all-important academic regalia, like the cap and gown, to inspire us. The result is a color palette of navy blue, charcoal, and yellow-gold, with a very pale shade of gray to create additional harmony among the colors.
Master Your Event Color Palette Using BeFunky
Now that you know just how easy it is to choose the best colors for your events, you’ll never be stuck for inspiration again! By using BeFunky as your very own party color palette generator, you’ll soon be throwing events that capture your attendees’ attention and create a lasting impression.
Try BeFunky for yourself to see just how easy it is to use!
