How to Add Color to Your Wedding Dress

The right wedding dress will make you want to paint the town red—even if it's ivory. Punctuate your look with your favorite hue, whether it's the sparkle of an earring, the flutter of a sash, or the fabric of the gown, and you'll feel as good as gold when you walk the white carpet.

Crown Yourself

You may have been together for years, but as your day approaches, you'll feel caught up in a whirlwind romance. Let that emotion go to your head by pairing Amsale's airy, corded lace tea-length dress with a spray of fresh pink and orange flowers—a bright fascinator or jeweled headpiece could also do the trick.

The Details: "Nell" gown, $4,500, amsale.com; Scott Kay Luminaire ring, $3,350, scottkay.com.

White gowns are lovely in their own right. Add a smattering of azure embroidery, and you have something that's fashion-forward and unforgettable, too. Monique Lhuillier's long-sleeved gown bewitches and has bona fide luck-bringing credentials: If one something blue is good, then hundreds of details in that shade are undeniably auspicious.

The Details: Monique Lhuillier long-sleeved gown, $7,995, MoniqueLhuillier.com; Mizuki gold and diamond short bar earrings, $790, TwistOnline.com; Stephen Russell ring, price upon request, StephenRussell.com.

The strapless taffeta bodice of this Oscar de la Renta ball gown is sophisticated, and the point d'esprit lace on the billowing train is sweet. It's the trailing navy bow that ties it all together into one swellegant vision.

The Details: Oscar de la Renta ball gown $7,698, OscardelaRenta.com; De Vroomen Mabe earrings, $1,950, Beladora.com.

Many gowns appear fit for a princess, but only a few seem like they actually walked out of a fairy tale. Take Luisa Beccaria's off-the-shoulder tulle dress covered in multicolored flowers embroidered by enchanted singing birds. Okay, we made up that part about the birds, but just because the gown has us under its spell.

The Details: Luisa Beccaria off-the-shoulder gown, price upon request, LuisaBeccaria.com; Angela Cummings for Tiffany & Co. lapis and gold bracelet, $16,000, Beladora.com; Vanna K. ring, $3,112 for setting only, VannaK.com.

You could cover fuchsia highlights for your wedding, or you could  flaunt them, playing up your signature style with an equally punchy lip color or eye shadow. Little touches like these can add up to something awesome. Just look at this thoroughly modern (and detachable) update on the Elizabethan ruff, a major fashion statement made up of mini wired petals atop Atelier Pronovias's otherwise simple "Veneto" gown.

The Details: Pronovias "Veneto" gown, price upon request, Pronovias.com.

The top three reasons to carry a bouquet: First, it gives you something to do with your nervous hands. Second, it visually whittles your waist if you hold it in front of your hips. And last, but by no means least, it lets you add any color you desire to your walk down the aisle. This cascade of white and yellow tree peonies, garden roses, and hellebores is as dramatic—and refined—as Jim Hjelm's tulle and taffeta ball gown with a sweeping train.

The Details: Jim Hjelm tulle and taffeta gown, $2,830, JLMCouture.com; Aurélie Bidermann "Bianca" earrings, $470, AurelieBidermann.com.

Scarlet usually gets top billing as the most romantic shade. But in Naeem Khan's beaded lace stunner, the color formerly thought of as baby pink gives red a run for its money. The blush flowers are girlish, but the deep V-neck and see-through fabric are capital-G glamorous. Because nobody puts baby pink in a corner.

The Details: Naeem Khan beaded lace gown, $12,990, Ever After Miami, 305-444-7300; Scott Kay Luminaire ring, $3,350, ScottKay.com; Jennifer Zeuner "Holland" ear cuff, $286, JenniferZeuner.com.

The clean lines of Lela Rose's full-skirted gown let its brocade fabric take center stage. The best supporting players will be those that stand out against the creamy shade of the fabric, like these melon-hued earrings and poppy lipstick.

The Details: "The Mountain" gown, $4,995, LelaRose.com; Jar earrings, price upon request, SimonTeakle.com; NARS "Audacious in Annabella" lipstick, $32, NarsCosmetics.com.

When a modern shape meets a timeless pattern, the end result is a stroke of genius. Or at least that's true of Carolina Herrera's "Mia" ensemble, which pairs a racer-back crop top and a ball skirt hand-painted with blooms in the palest shades of rose and green.

The Details: "Mia" top and skirt set, $8,990, Carolina Herrera Los Angeles, 323-782-9090.

No need to stop at drinking Champagne. Go ahead and wear it, too, with this Dennis Basso for Kleinfeld ivory and champagne silk-brocade cocktail dress with a subtle two-toned pattern woven into the fabric.

The Details: Dennis Basso for Kleinfeld cocktail dress, $2,280, KleinfeldBridal.com; Hearts on Fire "Optima" ring, from $3,700, HeartsOnFire.com.

One way to make Modern Trousseau's strapless Alençon lace fit-and-flare gown modest enough for a house of worship: Add the corresponding (and absolutely gorgeous) jacket. With its removable collar, it draws all eyes up to your face, where you can dazzle the beholder with earrings that sparkle as brightly as you do.

The Details: "Georgia" dress, $4,200, and jacket, $1,050, ModernTrousseau.com; Hemmerle earrings, price upon request, Hemmerle.com.

Who says only the gentlemen get to wear black tie? This over-size, asymmetrical shoulder sash accomplishes the impossible: making Vera Wang's silk-crepe "Micaela" gown even swankier than it already was. It's a fabulous foil to the open back and deep V-neck in front.

The Details: Vera Wang "Micaela" gown, $3,990, VeraWang.com; Aurélie Bidermann bangle, $630, AurelieBidermann.com; Forevermark by Jade Trau "The Center of My Universe" ring, price upon request, Forevermark.com.