Designer sketches from their Fall 2012 collections. From left: James Coviello, Ella Moss, Bill Blass, Nicole Miller, BCBG Max Azria and Nanette Lepore

New York–Color authority Pantone has surveyed New York Fashion Week designers to reveal the season’s most important color trends. Here, a list of key colors along with sketches of how designers are implementing them. Tangerine Tango has already been revealed as the Color of the Year, as reported here.

Pantone Fall 2012 Color Report

“By playing to consumers’ practical side with versatile neutrals, and boosting their confidence with bold, spirited hues, this skillfully balanced palette has something for everyone,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.

The season brings an unexpected mix of darks, brights and neutrals, all cleverly manipulated “to transport consumers to an enchanting place, free from the stresses of everyday life.”

Key colors and how to mix them, according to Pantone:

Bright Chartreuse, a yellow-green that pays homage to a typical spring shade and creates a bridge into the cooling days of fall.

Pink Flambé is a delicious, vibrant pink with a bit of heat to it. Pair it with vivacious and enticing Tangerine Tango for an ongoing retro feeling. Or, to bring a calming element to the mix, combine these vibrant warm tones with Ultramarine Green, a deep, cooling blue-green.

Ethereal Rhapsody is a grayed-down purple that also encourages comfort and serenity with its quiet, muted tone.

Honey Gold, a mellow, burnished yellow, suggests the soft-muted tones of sunlight to brighten a fall day. Pair it with sensible and strong Olympian Blue, a patriotic blue that will surely make its way into fall and winter athletic apparel.

Rich and robust, French Roast is a tasty, sophisticated hue that is a great alternative

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Wedding Styles: Picking Your Wedding Colors

Wondering how to pick your wedding day colors and make  them work? Here’s a guide to creating a winning palette.

Photo: Alison Gootee

The hottest thing happening at wedding  receptions isn’t just on the dance floor — it’s on the wedding  cake, the invitations, the centerpieces, and even the bride’s gown. It’s  big, bold color. Years ago brides used color to accent their white wedding day  decor, but now they’re using color to cover every inch of the wedding. We’ve  developed a step-by-step guide on color coordination (from choosing it to  decorating with it) to help you dream up a bright wedding day.

Choosing Your Color

First things first: location. When deciding on a  scheme, you must consider the reception space or choose a space without decor or  color. If you’ve chosen a country club with navy and maroon Oriental carpets, a  color scheme of lime green and hot pink won’t work.

Next, become aware of color combinations that you like, whether browsing art  galleries or flipping through a stack of fashion magazines. You might be able to  narrow down your color choices to a half a dozen. To help you choose the exact  hue for your wedding details, visit a local fabric store or paint shop and  collect swatches or chips of colors you might want to use. This will help you  get specific, so that when you decide on green you’ll know if it’s lime green,  kelly green, sage green, or forest green. If you have access to a Pantone book,  use this collection of colors to select your shade the same way graphic  designers do. Many invitation designers mix ink to match the colors in this  book, and many cake bakers use Pantone numbers as a reference when creating dye  for frosting. Can’t decide on just one or two colors? Don’t worry. In fact, many  extraordinary weddings feature a variety of colors, sometimes up to five, that  work together to create a specific sensibility — like an “English garden” with  green, yellow, pink, red, and brown, or “Fall in New England” with orange, red,  brown, and gold.

The Knot Note: For specifics on choosing your winning color combo,  read more on choosing  your wedding colors.

Where & How to Execute Color

Where and how you use color really  depends on the mood you are trying to create. The best way to get started is to  figure out what emotions you want your celebration to evoke. A peaceful,  Zen-like retreat? A regal, romantic affair? A jumping, high-energy party?

For instance, a vibrant summer yellow mixed with chocolate brown (think  sunflowers and bees) is perfect for a country-chic wedding style; add gold to  the mix, and the combination becomes more reminiscent of Northern Italy. As  another example, leaf green paired with cantaloupe is pretty for a waterside  wedding; but pair this green with copper, and you have a color scheme that’s  formal enough for a ballroom or an estate setting. If your wedding takes place  in multiple spaces, each room can have its own color scheme.

The Elements of Style

Attire Your gown doesn’t have to be  solid white, especially since color accents are increasingly more available. A  blue or red sash around the waist is striking and still very bridal. The groom  and his guys can also sport color in their ties or on their cuff links. But  color will be most prominently displayed throughout the day in the bridesmaid  dresses. Some fervent folks might want to match the dresses to the  invitation ribbons, the favor tags, and the bouquets but this isn’t the only way  to define a style. Mixing and matching dresses in varying shades — pink and  orange, or pale green and yellow — can sometimes make a statement stronger than  uniformity.

Invitations Your invitations set the stage for the event, so  remember that mood you want to evoke? This is your time to show it off.  Coordinating the invitation colors with those of the wedding can be as easy as  choosing a color font, ribbon, or monogram or as elaborate as layering colorful  cards.

Flowers & Decor No matter what color you’ve chosen, chances  are you’ll be able to find flowers in that shade — but that, of course, does  not mean the blooms will be available or affordable. If your dream flowers  aren’t an option, use neutral white flowers with centerpiece containers or other  decor elements in your color.

Wedding Cake The cake is one of the easiest places to add color  — all it takes is the right mixing. The color should reflect the other style  elements used throughout the wedding. But when it comes to cake, your color  options are the most flexible. White icing makes a marvelous background for  colorful sugar flowers, sugar-paste stripes or polka dots, or other effects.  Fondant can also be created in any number of shades. For instance, a yellow and  brown country-chic wedding might have a wedding cake iced in a light brown  basket weave and topped with fresh sunflowers.

Favors Ultimately, it’s more important to give something  meaningful rather than something that matches, but it can be a nice touch to  your favors package in your color scheme. Use gift tags and ribbons to  incorporate your colors into your favors. If favors will be left at each place  setting, consider how they will look with your wedding linens and flowers.

New Ways to Use Color

We should point out that overdoing it with a  matchy-match look is entirely possible. (You don’t want your guests thinking, Um, yeah, lavender…we get it.) Begin  with the five essential wedding elements (attire, invitations, flowers, cake,  and favors) and see where you can — or should — add more color. Then consider  details, such as napkins, candles, signature drinks, your ring pillow, or your  guest book, made from the same fabric and in the same color as the bridesmaid  dresses.

  http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-colors/choosing-wedding-colors/articles/color-coordinated-weddings.aspx