Wedding cakes are displayed at Munchers Bakery, 925 S. Iowa. Couples can incorporate a color theme into nearly aspect of their wedding - including the food.

Dark roses adorn a cake at Munchers Bakery.

As a bride, Kimberly Rosel knew exactly what she wanted.

Gold.

But it wasn’t until she saw the gold leap from her mind into reality that she knew it was perfect.

“I knew I wanted something really elegant, but I also knew I wanted something subdued, just really light colors. I had it in my mind – I wanted a gold bridesmaid dress,” Rosel said. “I knew that was the color I wanted, but when I actually saw it in flesh and blood, I knew it was the right way to go.”

Picking colors for one’s wedding can be almost as tricky as finding the right gown, decorations or invitation – and many times color affects those decisions as well. So how should brides pick the color that will accent their special day and affect decisions right down to the icing on the wedding cake?

While there aren’t any hard-and-fast rules, industry experts say there are many things brides should take into consideration when choosing their colors. Things like season, time of day, wedding photography and your bridesmaids can all come into play.

Rosel said that when she first sat down with her wedding planner, Carmen Hocking of Lawrence-based A Beautiful Wedding, Hocking asked her to sum up her wedding in one word – something that would, along with the color, set the tone of her wedding to her fiance, Paul.

“Carmen asked me the first time I met her to describe how I envisioned our wedding in one word, and I said ‘elegant,'” said Rosel, who picked ivory and blush-pink accents to go with her gold. “I knew it would be fun to do bright colors, but I knew that the paler, more subdued colors would be more elegant.”

For those who are too overwhelmed with all the color choices found on the glossy pages of bridal magazines, let alone with a single word to describe what they want, Anne Hochstein suggests to start with the wedding’s date. Once you have the big day on the calendar, it’s always good to think about the season your wedding will be in, said Hochstein, store manager of Jessica McClintock in Leawood, which often sees Lawrence brides.

“In the summers we’ll see pink and pretty sage green. In the fall and winter, we’ll do brown and black and red and silver,” Hochstein said.

Also important is how the color you chose will translate to film. No one wants their pictures and video – really, the wedding’s permanent record – to contain smiling people in washed-out frocks.

Hocking, Rosel’s wedding planner, offers her advice on what doesn’t photograph well – anything too light.

“You don’t want colors that are very, very pastel,” Hocking said. “I had a bride who wore an ivory gown and all the bridesmaids wore champagne, and it did not look good on not one of the girls. But it was the choice of the bride, and it’s not my place to say, ‘That’s a terrible color for your girls,’ because that was what she wanted. But it was a total wipeout, and it did not photograph very well at all.”

Rosel said though she was strongly drawn to a lighter color, she made sure her bridesmaids could wear her perfect gold.

“I also wanted a color that would look good on everyone,” Rosel said. “I had a lot of brunettes and then lighter-haired people, too, so I had the extremes, and it did work well on everybody.”

But what if the color you really want is out of season, too light, too dark or too chartreuse?

There’s nothing wrong with going with your gut, Hochstein said.

“You should pick what makes you happy,” she said, “and everybody else will love it because you do.”