Wedding colours by tradition, and how not to edit them out
For photographers who cover weddings outside their own tradition. Checked against CullTone on 20 Oct 2026.
A red qipao, a white kasavu sari with a gold border, a hall dressed in one family's aso ebi: at many weddings the colours were chosen long before you arrived, and some of them carry meaning. The quickest way to lose that in the edit is to "correct" it.
Below are colours you will often meet, with what a careless edit tends to do to them. They are common, not rules. Every family chooses its own, and a palette here is only a starting point for the question worth asking before the day: which colours matter to you?
Around the world
White church weddings
Ivory and white satin, lace, blush and sage florals, champagne gold.
- Ivory
- White
- Blush
- Sage
- Champagne
Watch for clipped whites that wipe out the lace, and a cool white balance that turns an ivory gown grey. Ivory isn't a mistake to fix.
Chinese tea ceremonies
Red for luck and joy, gold for prosperity: qipao or qun kwa, door games, banquet halls.
- Lucky red
- Deep red
- Gold thread
- Pale gold
- Lacquer
Watch for saturated red clipping in one channel, which turns embroidery into a flat blob. Lower the red's saturation or luminance a little to bring the stitching back.
Japanese Shinto weddings
The all-white shiromuku kimono, then often a coloured uchikake; vermilion shrine gates.
- Shiromuku
- Vermilion
- Uchikake
- Gold
- Pine
Watch for white silk losing its woven pattern. Expose for the kimono, not the face, when they are in the same light.
Korean pyebaek
Hanbok and wonsam in strong reds, blues, greens and yellows, side by side.
Watch for a global saturation boost. With five strong colours in one frame, the loudest wins and skin pays for it.
Nigerian traditional weddings
Aso ebi: one fabric chosen for the day and worn by family and friends; gele headwraps; coral beads at many Edo and Igbo weddings.
- Gold
- Coral
- Royal blue
- Emerald
- Wine
Watch for the aso ebi drifting from frame to frame. Hundreds of guests wear the same colour, so it has to match across the whole gallery; set white balance once per scene and copy it.
Ghanaian weddings
Kente cloth: woven bands of gold, green, red and black, chosen by the families.
Watch for fine woven patterns softened by noise reduction or clarity tools. Kente is detail; keep it sharp.
Nikah and walima
At many South Asian nikahs: pastel decor and soft daylight halls, with the bride's outfit in a deeper colour.
- Mint
- Blush
- Lilac
- Ivory
- Dusty gold
Watch for contrast and vibrance that turn pastels into candy. Soft decor wants soft handling.
Indian weddings, region by region
India is not one palette. These are some of the regional colours that come up most often; many families mix traditions in one wedding.
Haldi and mehndi
Turmeric yellow for the haldi, often green and marigold for the mehndi, henna drying from orange to deep brown.
- Turmeric
- Marigold
- Mehndi green
- Henna
- Leaf
Watch for auto white balance fighting the yellow. The haldi is supposed to look yellow.
North Indian ceremonies
Red and maroon bridal lehengas, gold jewellery, sindoor, marigold garlands, diya light at the pheras.
- Bridal red
- Maroon
- Gold
- Marigold
- Diya glow
Watch for correcting diya and tungsten warmth to neutral. Keep it, and keep skin from going orange inside it (Indian wedding warm).
Bengali weddings
The red-bordered white sari, shakha pola bangles in white and red, alta on the feet, sindoor.
- Laal paar
- Sari white
- Shakha
- Pola
- Alta
Watch for red and white in one frame: expose for the white and the red clips, expose for the red and the white blows. Hold the highlights first (Bengali red and white).
Tamil, Telugu and Kannada weddings
Kanjeevaram and other silks in deep red, maroon and mustard, gold zari, temple jewellery, jasmine and banana leaves.
- Silk red
- Mustard
- Zari gold
- Jasmine
- Banana leaf
Watch for zari gold drifting green under tube lights in temple halls. Fix the tint on the gold and the skin together (South Indian temple gold).
Kerala weddings
The kasavu: off-white cotton with a gold border, jasmine in the hair, green backwaters and gardens.
- Kasavu
- Gold border
- Jasmine
- Backwater
- Palm
Watch for the off-white going pure white and the greens going teal. Both are signs of an edit made for somewhere else (Kerala natural green).
Punjabi and Sikh weddings
Bright colour at the sangeet and jaggo, phulkari embroidery; many brides wear red or pink at the Anand Karaj.
- Rani pink
- Red
- Phulkari
- Saffron
- Turquoise
Watch for pinks shifting toward magenta under LED dance-floor light (Punjabi bold).
Rajasthani and palace weddings
Sandstone and marble, bandhani and leheriya prints, jewel tones and gold.
- Sandstone
- Marble
- Bandhani
- Emerald
- Sapphire
Watch for the warm stone pushing every frame orange. Let the walls stay warm and check faces separately (Rajasthani royal).
Swatches are approximate: real fabric, light and dye vary. Marathi, Gujarati, Odia, Assamese and many other traditions aren't here yet.
Ask before the day, not after the edit
Our position is simple: a colour the family chose is never a colour cast. A white balance tool will happily neutralise a turmeric-yellow haldi or a red banquet hall, because it can't know what the room was meant to look like, and a photographer who has never been to that kind of wedding often can't either. One question at the planning call, which colours matter to you and why, saves an hour of second-guessing in the edit and a hard conversation after delivery.
Then keep three habits. Hold highlights before you push colour, since saturated reds and white silk clip first. Fix white balance on skin and on a neutral object, never on the decor. And copy the settings across each scene, so a colour that hundreds of guests are wearing matches from the first frame to the last.
These notes come from general knowledge, and they will be wrong somewhere. If you shoot one of these traditions and see a mistake, or one we've missed, tell us.
For the light itself, read white balance and colour temperature; for faces, skin tones in every complexion; and for the looks made for particular ceremonies, all 54 looks.
Keep the colours the family chose
Pick a look per wedding, including looks made for particular ceremonies, and check every face before the gallery goes out.
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