I am making a promo for submissions of recipes. I am making a list; checking it twice. A fellow grammar n_ tells me that the corporate style guide says colons before lists, and it is true. That is what I did until this same person asked me to bold the texts before the lists, essentially making them subheadings in my opinion. Now, because of that, I decided to drop the colons. Am I wrong? Should I have kept them lest I incur wrath?
Have at it, Axis and Allies.
Oi!
How about these directives…
Colon before a List?
However, this one sounds more sincere:
As does this one:
Colonizingly Yours,
Claes in Lund, Sweden
I neglected to mention it had to do with bulleted/numbered lists… When I was given the suggestion to bold What to include, I dropped the colon because to me it becomes a subheading, making the colon redundant.
Before
What to include:
After
What to include
I think it needs the colon, regardless. Just looks right, to me… 
This depends on if you want a full stop after the content that proceeds your list (this would be the bold header style) or of the list is intended to be part of some proceeding paragraph or content (then you want the colon).
The most important thing is that you’re consistent throughout 
@grubernd You make a good point about semantics. A colon would make sense from an accessibility point of view if it were bold/strong. If I wanted a heading, I would have to make it one.
@paperdigits Could you provide examples? I wanted to have some fun with the thread but ultimately I want some clarity so I can articulate it with other people. Been too tired to make wise utterances.
You can consult whatever grammar-Godwins you can find here, or check style guides that are considered authoritative, for example https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/ . Of course, YMMV. The great thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from. 
^ Good advice.
if you have a corporate style guide then adhere to that; it is after all still clear with a colon.
Style debates are of small moment, but in quantity can deliver death by a thousand cuts. If there is a corporate guide, consult it and instruct all nit pickers to do the same. If there isn’t, choose one and throw that at the nit pickers. The goal is to keep nit pickers at bay, for otherwise they’ll eat you alive with their endless twaddle.
The “New Hart’s Rules - The Handbook of Style for Writers and Editors” (Oxford University Press, 2005) says the following:
I would just like to point out that this is about typography, not grammar.
Not sure what that makes me. 
And just for fun and certainly OOT:
