Choosing Wedding Jewellery
Deciding on the perfect jewellery for yourself and your bridesmaids has never been so much fun!
Nowadays, brides can go to any one of masses of excellent designers and get jewellery handmade in colours to match, coordinate or contrast with their wedding colour scheme or for a fully bespoke service, get an idea they have in their head translated into reality.
But this huge choice brings a whole load more decisions to make which at times can be confusing - a fact I’ve come to realise working as a designer of wedding jewellery.
So if you don’t plan on just popping into your local high street jewellers and picking up a few jewellery pieces, but want more choice but don’t quite know how to decide, take a look at these useful tips:
Style
Main tip: First decide on your dresses. This might sound obvious, but many brides fall in love with some jewellery or headdress and then choose a dress and find they don’t go so well together.
Your dress is the single most important thing you’ll wear on your big day (and your bridesmaids). Everything else should add to and not detract from that. Maybe you will need very little jewellery - sometimes less is more. Take a look at yourself in your dress - will anything take you from beautiful to Wow Absolutely Beautiful.
Choose jewellery and a headdress that uses design elements and components in your dress - if your dress has pearls, think of pearl jewellery , if it has diamante, look at matching that up, if it has some lace, think of floating jewellery to complement that look. Does it have straight simple lines? Consider a simple headband style headdress. Is it a sweetheart neckline? A drop necklace will drop towards the sweetheart beautifully.
As for the bridesmaids and flower girls - a suggestion is to choose hair accessories and jewellery which reflect your style but are a bit “less” a bit smaller, for example- if you have chosen a multi strand illusion necklace for yourself - you could choose one with fewer strands for your bridesmaids. It is, after all, your day and you are the one who should take all the limelight!
Colour
Main tip: think about hair colour and skin colour - what will show up and what will look best on you or your bridesmaids? Everyone’s different.
First the bride - if you are wearing a more traditional white, ivory, cream or pale gold dress you will probably want a tiara or headband in crystals, diamante or pearls or a combination of those.
Austrian clear crystals can either be plain clear or the AB coated crystals. The AB crystals (aurora borealis) have a special coating which makes them sparkle like mad but they do pick up surrounding colours giving rainbow kind of effect. So if you want maximum sparkle go for AB, but if you want to keep all colour except neutrals out, then go for the plain clear crystals.
Glass pearls come in variety of neutral/pale shades from white and ivory to cream. If in doubt, ask for samples. Freshwater pearls, now a real alternative in terms of affordability, are often a pale ivory colour. The advantage of Austrian glass pearls is that they are uniform and consistent, perfectly round and colours can be matched absolutely. The advantage of freshwater pearls - they are not perfectly round and so lend themselves to interesting different designs and of course they are real.
A question which is recently giving brides a bit of a headache is whether to go for silver or gold based accessories. Recently gold is having a bit of a comeback, but the choice is still not as good as in silver, so that needs considering. But really the most important thing is - which compliments your skin and hair colour best? Try on in both - which enhances your natural beauty best? I think before too long we’ll be seeing a lot more bicolour jewellery which will solve this.
Now for the bridesmaids - if you go to a jewellery maker who uses the best Austrian crystal and pearls you’ll find that there is a huge range of colours to choose from so you should find no problem in finding colours to compliment your bridesmaids and flower girl dresses.
Affordability
Main tip: Stick to your budget
Sterling silver and gold filled, gold vermeil or solid gold jewellery will cost more than silver plate or gold plate. Whilst they cost more they will be a better quality and last longer.
Most headdresses use plate due to the high cost of making these in sterling or one of the high gold options, although if you look around you will find designers working in these materials and then you will have a future family heirloom.
Other jewellery, however, because the items are small, is very affordable in sterling silver and gold filled or gold vermeil although solid gold will be much more expensive.
Gifts
Main tip: Combine wedding day jewellery with gifts to the bridal party.
Simple headbands are now being worn not just for wedding accessories but as fashion accessories, so for some bridesmaids this would make a perfect gift. Necklaces, bracelets and earrings, of course, always make acceptable gifts.
The good news for gift ideas for the groom, best man, ushers, father of the bride and father of the groom is that cufflinks are becoming increasing popular and so make perfect wedding day jewellery and gifts if you choose a classic design.
Not forgetting mother of the bride or groom, a custom made piece of jewellery to compliment her outfit will thrill her to bits and be a beautiful keepsake of your wedding.
Final word
Good luck, happy hunting and most of all enjoy this exciting time!
Jane Beady Eyes Designs © 2008
Nowadays, brides can go to any one of masses of excellent designers and get jewellery handmade in colours to match, coordinate or contrast with their wedding colour scheme or for a fully bespoke service, get an idea they have in their head translated into reality.
But this huge choice brings a whole load more decisions to make which at times can be confusing - a fact I’ve come to realise working as a designer of wedding jewellery.
So if you don’t plan on just popping into your local high street jewellers and picking up a few jewellery pieces, but want more choice but don’t quite know how to decide, take a look at these useful tips:
Style
Main tip: First decide on your dresses. This might sound obvious, but many brides fall in love with some jewellery or headdress and then choose a dress and find they don’t go so well together.
Your dress is the single most important thing you’ll wear on your big day (and your bridesmaids). Everything else should add to and not detract from that. Maybe you will need very little jewellery - sometimes less is more. Take a look at yourself in your dress - will anything take you from beautiful to Wow Absolutely Beautiful.
Choose jewellery and a headdress that uses design elements and components in your dress - if your dress has pearls, think of pearl jewellery , if it has diamante, look at matching that up, if it has some lace, think of floating jewellery to complement that look. Does it have straight simple lines? Consider a simple headband style headdress. Is it a sweetheart neckline? A drop necklace will drop towards the sweetheart beautifully.
As for the bridesmaids and flower girls - a suggestion is to choose hair accessories and jewellery which reflect your style but are a bit “less” a bit smaller, for example- if you have chosen a multi strand illusion necklace for yourself - you could choose one with fewer strands for your bridesmaids. It is, after all, your day and you are the one who should take all the limelight!
Colour
Main tip: think about hair colour and skin colour - what will show up and what will look best on you or your bridesmaids? Everyone’s different.
First the bride - if you are wearing a more traditional white, ivory, cream or pale gold dress you will probably want a tiara or headband in crystals, diamante or pearls or a combination of those.
Austrian clear crystals can either be plain clear or the AB coated crystals. The AB crystals (aurora borealis) have a special coating which makes them sparkle like mad but they do pick up surrounding colours giving rainbow kind of effect. So if you want maximum sparkle go for AB, but if you want to keep all colour except neutrals out, then go for the plain clear crystals.
Glass pearls come in variety of neutral/pale shades from white and ivory to cream. If in doubt, ask for samples. Freshwater pearls, now a real alternative in terms of affordability, are often a pale ivory colour. The advantage of Austrian glass pearls is that they are uniform and consistent, perfectly round and colours can be matched absolutely. The advantage of freshwater pearls - they are not perfectly round and so lend themselves to interesting different designs and of course they are real.
A question which is recently giving brides a bit of a headache is whether to go for silver or gold based accessories. Recently gold is having a bit of a comeback, but the choice is still not as good as in silver, so that needs considering. But really the most important thing is - which compliments your skin and hair colour best? Try on in both - which enhances your natural beauty best? I think before too long we’ll be seeing a lot more bicolour jewellery which will solve this.
Now for the bridesmaids - if you go to a jewellery maker who uses the best Austrian crystal and pearls you’ll find that there is a huge range of colours to choose from so you should find no problem in finding colours to compliment your bridesmaids and flower girl dresses.
Affordability
Main tip: Stick to your budget
Sterling silver and gold filled, gold vermeil or solid gold jewellery will cost more than silver plate or gold plate. Whilst they cost more they will be a better quality and last longer.
Most headdresses use plate due to the high cost of making these in sterling or one of the high gold options, although if you look around you will find designers working in these materials and then you will have a future family heirloom.
Other jewellery, however, because the items are small, is very affordable in sterling silver and gold filled or gold vermeil although solid gold will be much more expensive.
Gifts
Main tip: Combine wedding day jewellery with gifts to the bridal party.
Simple headbands are now being worn not just for wedding accessories but as fashion accessories, so for some bridesmaids this would make a perfect gift. Necklaces, bracelets and earrings, of course, always make acceptable gifts.
The good news for gift ideas for the groom, best man, ushers, father of the bride and father of the groom is that cufflinks are becoming increasing popular and so make perfect wedding day jewellery and gifts if you choose a classic design.
Not forgetting mother of the bride or groom, a custom made piece of jewellery to compliment her outfit will thrill her to bits and be a beautiful keepsake of your wedding.
Final word
Good luck, happy hunting and most of all enjoy this exciting time!
Jane Beady Eyes Designs © 2008
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