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Wedding Jewelry Choices Can Be Overwhelming

April 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment
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In some cultures, wedding jewelry is part of the dowry the bride receives from her family.  In Eastern cultures, the bride may receive necklaces, bangles, earrings, toe rings and nose rings from their family. 

Wedding jewelry can be expensive or budget-conscious, based on your individual finances and desires.  Some brides prefer to wear costume wedding jewelry so they don’t have to worry about losing it on their big day while others are willing to spend thousands of dollars on personalized, engraved wedding jewelry.  Either way, many guests have been duped by a necklace or tiara with rhinestones instead of diamonds since often the bride is seen from a slight distance.

Because the bride traditionally wears a white, ivory or cream-colored wedding dress, pearls frequently appear in wedding jewelry.  Simulated pearls, freshwater pearls and cultured pearls are available in a variety of shapes, sizes and shades to match your wedding gown.  Mix pearls with diamonds or rhinestones for a glamorous look on your wedding day.  A pearl strand necklace is always a classic touch.  Dangling pearl earrings add drama while posts are more conservative.  Add red or blue stones for a bold dash of color or that touch of blue you need for your wedding day. 

Wedding jewelry is a unique, personalized way to express yourselves on your once-in-a-lifetime day.  If you want to bring on the bling, you’re the stars of the day and it’s the best time to do it!

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Bridal Pearl Jewelry Is The Number One Choice of Brides

December 28, 2008 By 1 Comment

When brides are choosing their bridal jewelry, pearls immediately come to mind.  Bridal pearl jewelry has been the traditional choice for many years.  The tradition of silver accessories—like wedding shoes, and handbags, has made it’s way into bridal jewelry for a more modern twist.

Swarovski Crystal and Cultured Pearls

Swarovski Crystal and Cultured Pearls

Many modern brides are opting for the combination of pearls, silver, and swarovski crystals for their bridal pearl jewelry.  Pearls come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  Pearl shapes can be round, semi-round, drop, pear, button, oval, baroque, and circled.  Perfect round pearls are the most highly prized pearls, and they are the most expensive.

Cultured pearls come in a variety of colours–white, pink, green, yellow, blue, brown, purple, or black, and are dyed white pearls.  Some colours occur naturally, but they are very rare, and extremely expensive.  Some of these rare, naturally occuring colours are pink, yellow, blue, champagne, and purple. 

When choosing your bridal pearl jewelry, the addition of swarovski crystals to the pearls and silver is ever more popular.  Crystals come in a large range of sizes and colours, and jewelry designers can create pieces to reflect your choice of colour, and style.

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What is The Difference Between Cultured Pearls and Freshwater Pearls? – The Wedding Expert Answer

December 5, 2008 By

Question from Marg:

What is the difference between cultured pearls and freshwater pearls?  Is one better than the other?  Which one do you think I should buy for my wedding?

Answer from The Wedding Expert Angela:

Hi Marg.  Naturally developed pearls are uneven, and come in a variety of shapes.  The perfect roundness of cultured pearls is created by a technique created by Japanese researchers Mise and Nishikawa early in the 20th century.  The technique allows for the oyster to create a perfectly round pearl, so in a way it is also naturally created—just the start of it is through a man-made technique.  A freshwater pearl comes from freshwater mussels (as opposed to salt water oysters for cultured pearls). 

Pearls come in many shapes, sizes and natural colours.  They have long been used for bridal jewellery—a tradition that stems back to the time that a perfect set of round pearls was rare, unique, and very expensive.  Today, cultured pearls are perfectly round, and are easily harvested, bringing their cost down.  Pearl necklaces are still the most predominant wedding jewellery worn by brides.

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What Colour Should My Wedding Gown Be?

November 6, 2008 By Leave a Comment
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Choosing a colour for a wedding gown is a very personal thing, and many colours are available for bride’s to choose from.  For many centuries, brides were married in the nicest clothes they owned.  Often they made their own wedding dress or gown from the nicest fabric they could afford to purchase.  The key element of the wedding ensemble was not the dress, but the fact that the bride was allowed to wear her hair loose on her wedding day.  The tradition and practicality of wearing one’s hair tied back in a ponytail or braid was commonplace in everyday life, and the wedding day was the day to wear the hair loose. 

 

In Roman times, wedding gowns were yellow in colour and they wore a yellow veil that covered them from head to toe.  Other cultures have specific colours or embroidered costumes that they wore as their wedding dress—like the colour red worn in many parts of Asia.  European and British ancestors often wore pale pink, yellow or blue dresses. 

 

Traditionally, marriages were for political or social gain, and it was important to have the best wedding gown possible to show off the family status.  They tended to be the height of fashion, with the richest fabrics, and the boldest colours to make a statement.  Yards and yards of the finest materials—damask silk or velvet—and trimmed with furs, and gems were commonplace.  Those of the lower classes would emulate the higher classes by having a bit of rabbit fur to trim their dress, or by having long sleeves and thereby using more fabric. 

 

During the 17th century, wedding dresses became more brightly coloured and had more pattern to them.  Blue was a popular colour for many brides because in paintings, the Virgin Mary’s robe was always blue, and blue denotes constancy.  Traditionally, black, purple, and green were avoided because they were either mourning colours or considered unlucky. 

 

In the 18th century, for example, one description of a Quaker bride’s dress was a light blue brocade dress with matching high heeled shoes, a short blue bodice, a white satin stomacher embroidered in multicoloured threads, and a black hood lined with white silk.  The groom was dressed in a peach coloured cloth lined with quilted white silk. 

 

Wedding dresses and gowns tend to follow the latest styles, and in the early 1900’s, all wedding dresses were dresses—knee length in front, and a longer in the back.  It wasn’t until the 1940’s, that wedding dresses started to become wedding gowns, and the trend to full length dresses has continued to this day.

 

For a number of centuries, royalty in Britain wore silver.  Over time, the silver royal gowns were trimmed with white.  Queen Victoria changed this tradition by being married in a white wedding gown.  This started a trend of white wedding gowns that is still alive today. 

 

The tradition of wearing a silver wedding gown for so many centuries has continued in the tradition of wearing silver jewellery, and having silver handbags, and shoes with the white gown.  Silver and cream coloured wedding gowns are still traditional along with the more popular white wedding gown.

 

As we move into the 21st century, the traditional “white wedding” is slowly making way for more colour in the gowns the brides are choosing.    The length of wedding dresses has also changed in the last number of years.  With destination weddings becoming more and more popular, shorter wedding gowns are practical for beach wedding ceremonies, and we are seeing a resurgence in popularity for the shorter wedding dress. 

 

Today, brides are free to choose any style or colour of wedding dress they desire.  Some weddings are themed medieval or renaissance, and the dresses match the theme.  Some weddings are very modern, and the wedding dresses reflect that haute couture styling.  Those who grew up with and love the Disney influence in our culture, often opt for the ‘fairytale princess’ theme and their wedding gown and wedding decorations reflect that theme. 

 

No matter what colour you choose for your wedding gown, wear it with pride and style.  Plan your wedding to reflect your personal style, your taste, and your personality.   Whether you love tradition, or love the modern, there is the perfect wedding gown out there for you, and in the perfect colour. 

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