Top 10 Melanin Wedding Color Ideas

Melanin wedding colors celebrate our natural skin tones. From the darkest shades of mahogany to honeyed tans, the lightest shades of porcelain, and everything in between, the trick with these wedding colors is to consider your skin tone part of your color palette.

Here are our top 10 melanin wedding colors for brides and grooms of all skin tones.

Copper Wedding RSVP Envelope, Metallic Pumpkin, and Leaves on a Wooden Table: Intimate Weddings, Table Display With Books and Gold, Copper, and Brown Macarons: GC Couture, Copper and Gold Color Palette: Pantone Connect

Copper, Gold, and Tiramisu

This color palette is all about making sure your brown wedding colors don’t fall flat with its combination of shimmering copper and glimmering gold.

The warmer the metals you choose, the better. Avoid shades of silver and high-shine gold. Antique gold charger plates, brass trumpet vases, and knurled copper candle holders look very old-world and scholarly among a backdrop of wooden panels and elevated desserts, like tiramisu and macarons.

Smiling Black Bride Wearing a Champagne-Colored Wedding Gown: Brides, Champagne Tower: Weddingomania, Champagne, Creamy Ivory, and Deep Mahogany Color Palette: Pantone Connect

Champagne, Creamy Ivory, and Deep Mahogany

Champagne is a flattering color on any skin tone, but it takes on a regal quality when worn on darker skin tones.

Opt for a champagne or a creamy ivory wedding gown, or let your bridal party don these deep melanin-friendly tones. When your skin is on display, bouquets can feature cream-colored roses and hydrangea. If you want to incorporate brown into your décor, decorate with woodgrain serving trays and rustic woodgrain table numbers.

Bride Standing With Her Bridesmaids Wearing Brown Velvet Dresses: Country Living, Crisp White and Honeyed Brown Color Palette: Pantone Connect, Honey Wedding Favor on a White Porcelain Plate With Brown Lace: Hey Wedding Lady

Crisp White and Honeyed Brown

White looks its lightest and brightest against darker skin tones, making it a great choice for a bridal gown or tux, but it’s also a great choice for brides and grooms who love the idea of all-white floral arrangements.

When it comes to incorporating honeyed brown, look for shiny shades of this hue. Velvet is a great choice to get that shimmering look, as is silk and glittery fabrics. Understated accents of antique glass in shades of amber and honey can bring this color palette together.

Bridesmaids in Different Shades of Terracotta Covering Their Eyes: Jenny Yoo, Ceremony Décor With Terracotta Pots, Wall Panels, and Flowers: Green Wedding Shoes, Shades of Terracotta Color Palette: Pantone Connect

Shades of Terracotta

Incorporating shades of terracotta into your wedding day color palette is perfect for brides and grooms who want to incorporate different shades of melanin, not only through skin tone colors, but through attire and décor as well.

Let your bridesmaids choose the shade that complements their skin tone the best. Actual terracotta vases and candle holders are perfect for reception tables, but you can also incorporate other clay accessories. Create clay name tags for your seating arrangements and serve coffee from clay mugs with dessert.

Wedding Cake With Faded Blush Flowers and Splattered Brown Frosting: The Knot, Bride Wearing Blush-Colored Sunglasses Sitting With a Groom in a Pink Suit Jacket: Rebecca Carpenter Photography, Faded Blush and Chocolate Brown Color Palette: Pantone Connect

Faded Blush and Chocolate Brown

Blush can bring out the pink undertones in any skin color, making it a flattering choice for many brides and grooms. It’s also feminine, so it has the ability to create a romantic ambiance at your wedding. Combine melanin wedding colors with faded shades of blush and you can create the perfect, dreamy atmosphere.

Wear a wedding dress with blush undertones, incorporate blush-colored roses in flower arrangements, and hang soft chiffon from the ceremony arch. Take the “chocolate” in chocolate brown literally and serve chocolatey confections, like a wedding cake covered in melted chocolate, or set up a chocolate fountain.

Dusty Mauve and Latte Color Palette: Pantone Connect, Mauve Wedding Shoes on Rose Embroidered Tulle: Martha Stewart, Bride Smiling With Her Bridesmaids Wearing Mauve Dresses: Stone House Weddings

Dusty Mauve and Latte

If blush is a little too girly, but you’re still searching for a feminine hue, turn to dusty mauve with its purple undertones.

Dusty mauve looks lovely on any skin tone, but it looks especially ethereal on medium skin tones, whether you and/or your bridesmaids wear this hue, or you apply mauve-inspired eyeshadow and lipstick. Velvet table runners, raw velvet ribbons, and dried flowers lend themselves well to this color palette.

Stylized Photo of a Wedding Ring Box, Save the Date, and Accessories: Ruffled Blog, Black Bride Standing in a Vintage-Style Dress Holding a Bouquet of Flowers: Love My Dress, Porcelain, Tarnished Silver, and Antique Brown Color Palette: Pantone Connect

Porcelain, Tarnished Silver, and Antique Brown

Light and dark skin tones look lovely with this color palette. It’s an especially good choice if you love antiques and bygone eras.

Think tarnished silver, antique lace, and hobnail goblets. Things like mother of pearl and tortoiseshell accessories are perfect for this color palette, as are brown glasses and old porcelain dishware.

A Bridal Bouquet on an Antique Mustard Velvet Chair: Tidewater and Tulle, Reception Table With Mustard-Colored Napkins and Brown Goblets: Chic Wedd, Spicy Brown Mustard Color Palette: Pantone Connect

Spicy Brown Mustard

Melanin wedding colors look striking when combined with shades of spicy brown mustard, especially since mustard is having a real moment as a popular wedding color.

Mustard dresses look lovely on bridesmaids with medium to dark skin tones, while the groom and groomsmen will look dapper in brown suits. Incorporate things like mustard-colored napkins and have fun with mustard-colored furniture and unique goblets.

Forest Wedding Ceremony Space in the Road: Green Wedding Shoes, Bride and Groom Standing in Front of a Wall Covered in Ivy: Black Bride, Forest Green and Bark Color Palette: Pantone Connect

Forest Green and Bark

Take your melanin wedding to the forest with this color palette of greens and browns.

Let the trees do the talking and host your wedding outside. Décor can incorporate evergreen boughs in the winter and tree slices in the summer. Focus on leaves in flower arrangements instead of blooms. Play around with brown leaves in the fall and vine-covered arches and backdrops.

Black Bride Wearing Yellow Standing With the Groom Next to Purple Flowers: This Bug’s Life, Wedding Invitation Suite Surrounded By Colorful Flowers: Wedding Chicks, Brown and Brights Color Palette: Pantone Connect

Brown and Brights

Melanin wedding colors tend to lean towards neutrals and soft, understated tones, but they don’t have to! If you love light and bright, and you aren’t afraid of doing something a little different, choose a rainbow of dazzling colors and combine them with shades of brown.

Offbeat brides can wear a bright yellow wedding dress, while others may opt for ivory, but inject bright shades of pink, purple, and blue into their flower arrangements. Give your wedding party-vibes with streamers, or keep things classy with bud vases in a rainbow of colors.