I love color. And ever since I saw Gwen Stefani's custom-made pink-and-white silk faille wedding dress (designed by John Galliano for Christian Dior) in 2002 (photo below), I've also loved ombré, which in French literally means having colors or tones that shade into each other. The technique is often used in fabrics in which color is graduated from light to dark. But lately you can find ombré on everything from red carpet gowns to rugs and shower curtains and even cakes and flower arrangements. It's a hot trend in the wedding world lately, and it's pretty easy to see why. The shading of colors adds such a beautiful and dramatic element to wedding decor (even the simple orange and yellow carnations below make a statement). The wedding inspiration images I compiled below showcase everything from gorgeous wedding cakes to handmade bowls that could be given as favors or used to hold the wedding rings. The colorful fabric shower curtains would make great photo booth or dessert table backdrops, and the handmade paper cranes could be strung from a tree outside or used as cake toppers. Even if you're not planning a wedding, you can take these ideas and apply them to your wardrobe or home decor, and as long as you stick to color gradients in the same family, it will be hard to go wrong!
Top row, from left: Cake Coquette; Etsy Aqua Paper Bowl; Martha Stewart Weddings; Martha Stewart Weddings. Second row, from left: Etsy Tokyo Berlin Paris Ombre Peace Crane Origami Permanent Ornament; Leigh Miller Photography; Anthropologie Smoldering Hues Shower Curtain; Maggie Austin Cake. Third row, from left: Zoe Saldana in Givenchy at the 2010 Oscars; Martha Stewart Weddings; Martha Stewart Weddings; Badgley Mischka Lyndee Sandal in Rose. Fourth row, from left: Whipped Bakeshop; M&J Trimming 1" Hand Dyed Silk Satin Ribbon in Mother Spirit; Martha Stewart Weddings; Gwen Stefani in John Galliano for Christian Dior from Thomas Rabsch/WireImage. Bottom row, from left: Etsy Small Peach Fade Bowl Set; Martha Stewart Weddings; Anthropologie Flamenco Shower Curtain; Martha Stewart Weddings.
