Winter weddings we think cool tones: deep burgundy reds, blues, dark greens, and white. But what if we brought some color and life into a winter wedding? Would it feel too spring? How do you keep it winter but also stay warm?
In this Peruvian-inspired, winter stylized shoot, Hairbykayla.utah brought warmth and vitality to a winter shoot through a fun, colorful winter wedding palette, while keeping winter themes with faux fur. She added an interesting twist by creating an ode to Peruvian braids but making them bridal elegant.
Red, Pink, Orange, and Vibrant Colors: A Colorful Winter Wedding Color Palette Inspired by the Vibrancy of Traditional Quechua Women’s Clothing
When we think of vibrant colors, we think of spring and summer, not winter. But hairbykayla.utah had the foresight to see beyond the typical winter color palette.
In this stylized shoot, she incorporated white lace, orange, pink, and even reds—all inspired by some of the colors in traditional Peruvian culture and tied it in with the thread and ribbon aspect we often see in South American clothing in general.
Traditionally, Each Peruvian Village Had Specific Colors
Indigenous women of the Andes, called Quechua women, were often observed to be dressed in bold, rich, colorful dresses, capes, hats, and skirts.*
The Quechua women wore colors that were often specific to their region.*
Colorful Embroidery
Skirts were most often observed to have embroidery among the colorful skirts. The wide skirts are called polleras, and are usually trimmed with puyto, a colorful band usually added to the skirt by hand. This is where you can see patterns and flowers come more into play and hand embroidery become an artistic display of their region.*
Jena Cakes took the embroidery concept of traditional Quechuan clothing and hand piped an artistic rendering onto this beautiful, three-layer cake.
A Cake That Takes Fabric Embroidery into the Sugar Art World with a Colorful Winter Wedding ColorPalette
Now imagine that you took the floral embroidery and those colors and put it on a cake. That is exactly what Jena Cakes Utah was able to accomplish!
You can see her smooth buttercream technique displayed on the outside of the cake, while also observing her hand-piped embroidery as decorative flowers adorning the front and edges of the cake. Yes, that embroidery is all HAND PIPED!
And not only that, but the cake flavor was also AMAZING. Here she brought a light, citrus flavor to complement the color palette by combining a light lemon sponge cake with a tangy, yet sweet raspberry filling.
This piece of sugar art was on a beautiful, hand-made cake stand on table surrounded by candles—all of which was provided by All About You Rentals.
The colors and lightness of the cake and decorations plays perfectly into the stillness of winter yet a colorful color palette to settle into this winter wedding.
Braids CAN Be Bridal
Another show-stopping aspect of this shoot: the hair! Hairbykayla.utah just got to thinking, what if the two, pigtail style braids we see in young girls could be taken and elevated into a bridal look.
As she looked for inspiration, she came across two braids being used in Peruvian hairstyles and weddings. The idea dawned on her, and she knew that this Peruvian wedding hair could be made into that high-end, elegant look desired by brides.
Instead of a typical dutch braid, she did a fishtail style braid for both pigtails. She stretched (or pancaked) the braids with a simple 3 stand braid overlay. This created dimension in the braids so that instead of one long-braid on each side, they created curves and a unique silhouette.
The Quechua Tradition and Meanings Behind Braids
As a short explanation, hair and braiding hair is a part of Quechua culture to signify relationship status. Two braids typically means married, and single braids or a multitude of braids beyond two means they are single.***
Horses: Inspiration from More Modern Peru
In this stylized shoot, Meaghanne brought in her horse to model and participate in the shoot. Hairbykayla.utah smartly decided to tie in the colors with a red blanket across the horse’s back. This helped maintain that colorful winter wedding color palette theme.
The horse added a special feeling to tie us back to nature and the beauty that is sometimes hard to come by in a winter themed wedding. I also feel like it makes a subtle nod to the Peruvian (a top performing horse breed).
History of Horses in Peru (Super Summarized History)
Horses were introduced to Peru by Spanish conquistadors, so it is not considered a part of ancient Peru. However, Peru has become known (in more modern times) for the Peruvian—a masterfully bred horse that has actually been declared a cultural heritage (Patrimonio Cultural) to keep the breed within the country. So to say that horses are part of Peruvian history is accurate and a part of their culture—it is just important to understand where they originated from.**
A white faux fur hat and puff, ruffle tulle sleeves create a faux fur texture to give winter vibes to this shoot.
The Winter Tie In: Faux Fur
So how did Hairbykayla,Utah keep this stylized shoot winter themed? Faux fur. In fact, this stylized shoot inspired our post about using faux fur in a winter wedding. Incorporating faux fur keeps us tied to winter traditions of fur while staying bridal by remaining white.
Faux Fur White Hat
Hairbykayla.utah provided the dress and the faux fur white hat to match the dress. The hairstyle allowed for the hat to easy come on and off, which shows how you can be versatile even with a hat during your own wedding.
Ruffle, Faux Fur- Esque Sleeves
The faux fur hat did not feel out of place, as the ruffle short sleeves created a faux fur-esque texture. Because this wasn’t faux fur, it was still light on the shoulders. Again, a call to warmth from winter’s snow and storms, but still feeling light and airy as short sleeves to match the colorful winter wedding color palette.
How to Be Respectful of Cultures While Incorporating Your Culture into Your Wedding
The fine line of tradition and modern adaptation can become REALLY thin and is extremely important when culture is at the root of these traditions.
**DISCLAIMER— I am about to really labor about cultural sensitivity because I am so passionate about it. Especially in America (but honestly around the world with any less familiar cultures), we often misunderstand cultural significance in mannerisms, traditions, and cultural events. I don’t profess to be the all-knowing being on this topic, but I just want to make sure people take appropriate pause and are respectful of traditions and other cultures.**
The biggest thing I want to make clear is that it is important to connect to WHY the culture is important to you. If it is important to you for the wrong reasons, it doesn’t matter how you incorporate it into your wedding it is wrong and will come across that way. It’s important to respect cultures, traditions, and realize appropriating happens when you just look at it is as something cool you can use. Instead treat it like a cherished tradition of yours and respect the history of where it originates from.
So how do you find that line? Some questions to help you navigate that:
Do you have a connection to the culture this originates from?
Is this connection familial?
Why do you want to incorporate this tradition into your wedding?
If individuals of said culture saw how you incorporated the tradition, would they be honored or offended/shocked?
Is this a one-off inclusion of said culture’s traditions or on-going?
Have you spoken to someone of said culture about utilizing their tradition?
The reason we need to think about this is even sometimes if our lineage originates from certain cultures, we may become so removed from said cultures that we don’t appreciate them the same way.
Cultures and traditions are sacred in their own ways, and it is only right as a human being in this great big world to be respectful of that.
Why We Want to Make Clear this is Inspired by and NOT a Traditional Peruvian Style
This stylized shoot is beautiful, and beautifully incorporates some colors and embroidery inspired by Peruvian culture. However, we want to make it clear this stylized shoot is not done in a traditional Peruvian style and should not be considered a Peruvian Stylized Wedding Shoot—it is merely inspired by a few aspects (primarily vibrant colors) of Peruvian individuals. We want to respect the culture and traditions that are part of Peruvian weddings by being clear this does not represent that culture exclusively.
A Stylized Shoot that Offers Vibrant, Warm Colors while Remaining Appropriate for Winter: A Beautiful, Colorful Winter Wedding Color Palette
This Peruvian-inspired, colorful, warm stylized shoot by Hairbykayla.utah reminds us that winter doesn’t have to be solely cool—it can be warm and colorful while still staying true to the season. It is about having the right team with the right vision behind your wedding to achieve a colorful winter wedding color palette that will stun.
Please check out all the vendors who participated in this stylized shoot below:
When we think of vibrant colors, we think of spring and summer, not winter. But hairbykayla.utah had the foresight to see beyond the typical winter color palette.
In this stylized shoot, she incorporated white lace, orange, pink, and even reds—all inspired by some of the colors in traditional Peruvian culture and tied it in with the thread and ribbon aspect we often see in South American clothing in general.
And not only that, but the cake flavor was also AMAZING. Here she brought a light, citrus flavor to complement the color palette by combining a light lemon sponge cake with a tangy, yet sweet raspberry filling.
This piece of sugar art was on a beautiful, hand-made cake stand on table surrounded by candles—all of which was provided by All About You Rentals.
The colors and lightness of the cake and decorations plays perfectly into the stillness of winter yet a colorful color palette to settle into this winter wedding.
Another show-stopping aspect of this shoot: the hair! Hairbykayla.utah just got to thinking, what if the two, pigtail style braids we see in young girls could be taken and elevated into a bridal look.
As she looked for inspiration, she came across two braids being used in Peruvian hairstyles and weddings. The idea dawned on her, and she knew that this Peruvian wedding hair could be made into that high-end, elegant look desired by brides.
Instead of a typical dutch braid, she did a fishtail style braid for both pigtails. She stretched (or pancaked) the braids with a simple 3 stand braid overlay. This created dimension in the braids so that instead of one long-braid on each side, they created curves and a unique silhouette.
In this stylized shoot, Meaghanne brought in her horse to model and participate in the shoot. Hairbykayla.utah smartly decided to tie in the colors with a red blanket across the horse’s back. This helped maintain that colorful winter wedding color palette theme.
The horse added a special feeling to tie us back to nature and the beauty that is sometimes hard to come by in a winter themed wedding. I also feel like it makes a subtle nod to the Peruvian (a top performing horse breed).
