Cafe au Lait is a very popular wedding dahlia. I grew it for my daughter's wedding a few years back. It's a rather unusual color - kind of a beigey pink. Honestly after growing it for four years I'm still not sure if I really like it lol, although everyone who sees one in a bouquet loves it! And there is a bit of variation in the blooms - some are more pink, some more beige, some even more pale. But a lovely form nevertheless.

For a deep purple I don't think you can go wrong with Thomas Edison. Big, bold, purple blooms. Diva is another nice purple IMO.

I grew a dahlia once called Summer's End. The colors were breathtakingly beautiful, IMO, but it bloomed so late for me I only got one or two blooms and laughed that it should be called Autumn's beginning lol. But being in such a warmer zone you may get more blooms.

I know you didn't ask for white, but one (or two) I always recommend to people is Fleurel, or White Perfection. I apologize that I can't be more specific, but I grew both of these for my daughter's wedding and unfortunately I did not label when planting, so I'm not sure which was which. But whichever it is, it is a huge, beautiful white bloom. One flower makes a bouquet!

Here is Cafe au Lait (with I believe Thomas Edison behind it)

Unfortunately I usually tend to grow pinks and purples too so I don't know about too many of the bolder colors. This year I tried to expand a bit and I tried American Sun, which is a prolific, bright yellow, smaller blooms than the dinnerplates; Mingus Alex, which is a lovely red but was more purplish red than I had expected; and Tropical Sunset, which was an orange. None of these truly wowed me, but then again it could be because I DO like the pinks and purples better.

Oh, one more which I love but might not fit your palette lol - Great Silence. Gorgeous colors! Again, smaller than the big dinnerplates but the color is spectacular, IMO. It does have orange and yellow tones but overall is probably more pink.

BTW, I find this forum to be very slow so you may want to post your question to other forums, perhaps perennials, which is more active, or even annuals.

Good luck, and congratulations on your daughter's wedding!

:)

Dee