A Bachelorette Party With Colour
Looking for a bachelorette or hen party activity that's more than another cocktail class in Amsterdam? A colour session gives the whole group a fun, shared experience, and gives the bride something genuinely useful for the big day: knowing which white truly suits her.
Everyone gets a turn in the spotlight. Everyone sees the difference the right colours make on each other. And by the end, you'll have real answers for the wedding dress, the bridesmaids' dresses, and hair and makeup.
Finding the bride's perfect white
Not all whites are the same. Bridal shops are full of them: bright white, soft white, off-white, ivory, cream, champagne, blush. In a shop under artificial light, they can be hard to tell apart. In daylight and in photos, the difference really shows.
The right white makes skin look clear and glowing. The wrong one can make the bride look washed out, sallow or tired, which is the last thing anyone wants in the photos they'll keep forever.
As a rough guide:
Cool undertones usually glow in crisp or soft whites with a slightly blue or grey base.
Warm undertones usually glow in ivory, cream and champagne, with a golden or peachy base.
A full colour analysis goes further. It shows how bright or soft and how light or deep that white should be, so the bride walks into the dress shop knowing exactly what to look for.
How it works: the Colour Party
The Colour Party is a speed colour analysis for groups. One by one, each guest sits down for their reveal and finds out their colour season, while the rest of the group watches, cheers and compares. Each person takes about 15 minutes.
Everyone takes home their colour season, a palette pocket card, and hair and makeup tips for their colouring.
This is what makes it so useful for a wedding. Knowing whether your undertone is cool or warm is a start, but finding the bride's perfect white also depends on how bright or soft and how light or deep her colouring is. The Colour Party gives the bride and every bridesmaid their full palette, so planning dresses, hair and makeup becomes much easier.
Big group or short on time? On request, I can add quick express undertone checks for extra guests. Each takes a few minutes and tells them whether they're cool or warm, with a free one-pager to download afterwards.
Bridesmaids: making everyone's colours work together
Once we know everyone's palette, we can look at the group as a whole. This is where it gets really useful.
Choosing one dress colour for a group with different colouring is tricky. One shade of sage or dusty pink rarely flatters everyone. Knowing each palette opens up better options:
Find the overlap. Some colours work across several palettes. We can look for shades that suit most of the group.
Same colour, different shades. Each bridesmaid wears a version of the colour that suits her, for example a lighter, softer or deeper tone of the same family.
A coordinated mix. Different colours from a shared mood, so the group looks planned and harmonious, and each person looks her best.
The same goes for hair and makeup. Knowing everyone's colouring helps you choose lip colours, blush and hair tones that look great individually and work together in the group photos. It's also a big help when briefing a makeup artist.
Something to do while you wait your turn
Watching each other's reveals is half the fun. But if you'd like more going on, I can set up activities the group can do on their own in between:
Wedding mood boards. Bring magazines, fabric swatches and colour cards together into a board for the bride, or let everyone make one for their own look.
Custom jewellery with Ebi Jewelry. I work with Ebi Jewelry, an Amsterdam-based jewellery maker who runs charm necklace and bracelet workshops. Guests can make their own piece as a keepsake, or matching ones for the bridal party.
Something else that fits your group. Tell me what the bride loves and I'll suggest ideas.
Your place or mine
I can come to you, at home or at a venue, or you can come to my home studio in Osdorp, Amsterdam. The room needs good natural daylight near a window, a mirror and some space for the group.
Trusted wedding recommendations
Once you know your colours, I'm happy to point you to people I trust:
A makeup artist in Amsterdam I work with, who can bring your colour results to life on the day.
Photographers I can recommend, who know how to capture you at your best.
It's a nice way to keep the planning connected, so everyone is working from the same understanding of your colours.
Let's plan it together
Every bachelorette is different, so I put together a custom offer for each group. Get in touch and tell me:
Roughly how many guests
The date and where you'd like to hold it
Whether any extra guests would like an express undertone check
Any extras you'd like, such as mood boards or jewellery making
I'll come back to you with a plan and a quote that fits your day. You'll find more about my group formats on my Groups page, or email me at hello@colourbella.com