You probably had decided your wedding theme long before you even received the ring. Most of us know if we prefer modern or vintage, beach or rustic. But when it comes to matching wedding themes and colors, do you know which ones to pick? While choosing colors for your wedding is hardly an exact science, certain palettes just tend to lend themselves better to the feel of the event. We've chosen several of the most popular wedding themes, and we will give you examples of colors that work and colors that don't.

Vintage

As you can see from the examples above and below, vintage is all about soft hues and pretty textures. Above, light pink roses are assembled in milk glass vases, votive holders, and teacups. In general, vintage weddings do best with muted colors and more feminine shades. Pastels are extremely popular for these types of antique-friendly events. Below, mismatched antique plates are paired with white and pink centerpieces in Mason jars. Although you can make this theme work with a variety of palettes, vintage wouldn't look quite itself in black and white, primary colors, or super brights. And yes, you can forget neons.

Rustic Beach Retro Modern

Vintage's country cousin, rustic is usually a little bit more casual, farm-to-table, and happily rough around the edges. Here you will see more burlap and less handkerchiefs, more lanterns and less stylized votives. The color palettes for rustic events can be very similar to vintage. Muted earth tones like soft blues and natural shades of lavender help to make these wedding shine. They also do very well with autumnal colors for fall affairs. Deep reds, burnt oranges, and taupe give an October rustic wedding the perfect amount of warmth. Since rustic is all about natural elegance, avoid jarring brights or bold primary colors.

There are so many different colors that work well for a beach wedding. The two most popular are traditional nautical (above) and bright seaside (below). Nautical shades of red and navy can be very sophisticated for a harbor wedding. And aqua-complementing sherbet shades of pink and coral sing at a tropical event. Even though you could pretty much use any palette for beach weddings, deep jewel tones, black and white, and gray monochromatic don't add as much to the event as other colors would.

Love yourself some brights? Look no further than a retro wedding! Inspired by the 1950s and '60s, these playful events are all about happy in a palette. Whether you use sherbet-inspired shades, or fun black and white patterns, retro details usually have a dash of good humor. As such, avoid "stately" palettes like deep jewel tones, traditional earth tones, and light pastels.

Modern is hardly a one-trick pony anymore. While it used to be only synonymous with clean lines and zen-inspired styling, it can now include metallics, bright colors, and loads of different texture. Above, a perfect example of a modern glam color palette is this mixture of gold and sage greens. Below, a modern minimalist table accented by pops of spring green succulents and orange buds. Both are bold statements in their own way. When planning your own modern wedding, you can go with a lot of different palettes, but especially eye-catching are black and white, metallics, and bright pops of color. Avoid neutral-on-neutral to keep from looking stark, and pastels for being a tad too precious for this type of event.