Remember the Carrie Bradshaw flower corsage? My homegirl could put a flower on anything and still look amazing. Observe:
BUT just because she made a giant bloom seem femme and flirty – versus, oh, ridiculous – doesn’t mean I’d recommend pinning a mega bloom to your wedding dress. The spring 2014 wedding dresses hitting the runways took the flower corsage model and morphed it into something the rest of us can pull off, thank goodness. However, what happens when you adore the flora, but don’t actually get teary eyed when you look at the gown attached to it?
Here’s what happens… you find that perfect wedding dress that gives you goose bumps and then you buy the perfect glam crystal floral brooch to pin to your, well, whatever. Shoulder. Décolletage. Sash. If you have a willing helper, you can even pin a floral brooch to the point where your bodice meets your skirt to add visual interest to the part of your dress your guests will be looking at during the reception. AKA your back.
I know what you’re probably thinking. Floral brooches are for the springtime bride, right? Yes, they are, and also for the wintertime bride who wants to incorporate some warm-weather touches into her look. Maybe for the anytime bride. I would never suggest you not rock something floral just because a chill wind is blowing. After all, weather doesn’t stop brides and bridesmaids walking the aisle in December.
Just don’t forget to choose a bridal brooch that coordinates with your other wedding accessories!
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USABride is your complete source of wedding jewelry and wedding accessories. Save 10% off your order of $50 or more at www.usabride.com.
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Shopping for a wedding jewelry set? Are you sure? Sometimes separates are de rigueur and sometimes they’re absolutely, positively necessary. I nearly keeled over delightfully dead when I saw all those illusion necklines walking down the most recent bridal runway models.
On one hand, there’s nothing like finding the perfect bridal necklace to chase the pre-wedding blues away. On the other, I adore how a single flirty piece of sheer fabric can take a wedding gown from ordinary to extraordinary. I mean very few gown details can make the kind of impact that a barely there neckline can – whether it’s spectacularly embellished or simply sheer.
High drama, in either variation.
Now of course, choosing a gown with an illusion neckline does make for some interesting wedding jewelry shopping. Obviously, I hope, no necklace is necessary. If it isn’t obviously a no-no in your book, then let me just say that you should never, ever layer a necklace over an illusion neckline. If you’re desperate for the look of a bridal necklace, there are scads of illusion necklines with necklace-like adornments that are to die for.
As for the wedding jewelry you ought to be shopping for, your neckline will be your guide. Illusion necklines with gorgeous beadwork or floral embroidery should be treated as focal points in and of themselves. The same rules apply as with any style of wedding dress… your accessories should be in harmony with your gown’s embellishments.
I recommend thinking in terms of opposition. A plain illusion neckline calls for very striking wedding jewelry, while an opulent neckline is like jewelry unto itself. Stick with simple pieces in that case and let your neckline (or your bridesmaids’ necklines) do the talking.
How much do you love these gowns?
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USABride is your complete source of wedding jewelry and wedding accessories. Save 10% off your order of $50 or more at www.usabride.com.
Use Coupon Code: BRIDE10
* Offer excludes dress orders
If you think about it, the most important piece of wedding jewelry you’ll wear probably won’t be one you choose yourself. We’re talking about your engagement ring! We know that not every bride will wear – or even have – an engagement ring, but in most circles it’s still a must-have.
But why a ring, anyway?
When you go back far enough in history, brides wore wedding rings as part of their bridal jewlery and beyond but only on and after the wedding day. Historians think that the Romans were the first culture to practice giving a ring to signal one’s intention to marry, but their custom didn’t catch worldwide on until much later. The Ancient Greeks had their own version of the engagement ring, but the giving of these rings wasn’t necessarily linked to betrothal.
It was only in medieval times, in 1215 if you want to get specific, that engagement rings became a part of the lasting lexicon of matrimony. That was the year that Pope Innocent III declared a mandatory waiting period between a couple’s engagement and the wedding ceremony. And there was nothing like a ring to show that a bride-to-be was off the market. Not that you or I would recognize these rings as engagement rings by design.
If you’re wondering when ‘modern’ engagement rings hit the scene, you’d have to jump forward to the 1400s – and then visit a wealthy family with a wedding in the near future because the practice was typically limited to high society. It’s in this century that you’d start to see engagement rings with precious gems like emeralds, sapphires, or diamonds.
Today, engagement rings are still a traditional part of the betrothal process, but the common diamond solitaire isn’t the mainstay it once was. Sapphire engagement rings, the perfect complement to blue wedding jewelry, have been popular ever since Princess Diana’s day and are modish again thanks to the divine Kate M. Semi-precious stones and lab gems like moissanite give buyers more bang for their bucks. And some couples are replacing rings with necklaces, watches, and other alternatives!
What’s YOUR engagement ring history? Did you help shop for your own or was it a surprise? Are you even wearing an engagement ring?
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USABride is your complete source of wedding jewelry and wedding accessories. Save 10% off your order of $50 or more at www.usabride.com.
Use Coupon Code: BRIDE10
* Offer excludes dress orders
Stymied when it comes to your Something Blue? You’re not alone! While it’s perfectly fine to get married without the old and the new and the borrowed and yes, the blue, most brides-to-be find themselves scratching their heads when it comes to finding all four. Do you borrow your gram’s wedding jewelry? Does your wedding gown count? Is it all right to tell your MIL and your mom that, no, you’d rather not wear a bracelet on each wrist, but thanks anyway? That last one is up to you – we’re not touching it. But we do have five Something Blue ideas to help you in your search!
Blue wedding shoes are the darling of brides who want to add a little color without going crazy. And we love it because it’s so exciting to catch a glimpse of a splash of blue peeking out from under a lacey hem.
Shoes still too much? A blue bridal garter will only make an appearance once during the reception – that is, if you plan to do the garter toss, which many modern brides specifically do not do. (True story: One of our bloggers didn’t toss, so went around giving everyone free peeks of her Something Blue.)
Some brides opt for blue earrings, which are noticeable but not overwhelming when they’re the only color in the wedding day ensemble. We love these, but what’s not to love? (Of course, there’s plenty of blue wedding jewelry to choose from!)
A blue sapphire engagement ring may be trendy thanks in part to certain royals who shall go unnamed but there’s actually scads of tradition to support picking sapphires over diamonds. These gems have been linked with fidelity and engagements since the 1700s at least.
On the flip side, there is the blue wedding dress. Not an option chosen by most brides, we admit. But still, we’re kind of in love with the thought of a deep blue gown on the bride and bridesmaids all in white. Very quirky and fun.
What’s your Something Blue?
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USABride is your complete source of wedding jewelry and wedding accessories. Save 10% off your order of $50 or more at www.usabride.com.
Use Coupon Code: BRIDE10
* Offer excludes dress orders
Have you ever wondered how some brides look so put together and other brides look a little, well, discombobulated? As if all the pieces aren’t fitting together quite right, we mean. Usually, that’s a symptom of a bride who didn’t bother to think about how her wedding accessories and her gown and her bridal hairstyle and her makeup would work together – or not – on her big day. Look, it’s not easy. Most brides-to-be have never had to worry about styling themselves for a formal event past prom, and prom was a lot simpler.
Luckily, we’re here to help, and this week we wanted to share a few tips for choosing bridal earrings that will make a hairstyle shine (and vice versa):
- Ideally, you’ll have checked accessory shopping off your wedding planning to-do list before you go to your hair trial with your stylist so she or he can style around your jewelry, head piece, and veil.
- Your bridal earrings and your wedding day hairstyle should complement one another. If they’re competing for your guests’ attention, the whole look you’ve worked so hard to create is going to seem ‘off’.
- Remember, some earrings are meant to be seen. If you’re wearing an elaborate hairstyle that has tendrils falling over tendrils or an otherwise soft, loose style, choose gem or pearl studs because chandelier earrings are just going to get lost in your locks.
- Subtle doesn’t have to mean small when it comes to earrings. If your bridal earrings are subtle and larger than the average earring, your ‘do needs to be prim and polished. Conversely, flashy complements flashy.
- It’s all about volume. A huge hairstyle is just crying out for a big, bold pair of earrings, so pick yours accordingly.
- Statement earrings are totally hot but not at all right for every bride (or every bridal hairstyle). If you don’t like the way you look in what the fahsionistas tell you is a must-have, feel free to ignore their advice. You’ll feel more beautiful on your wedding day if YOU like the way you look.
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USABride is your complete source of wedding jewelry and wedding accessories. Save 10% off your order of $50 or more at www.usabride.com.
Use Coupon Code: BRIDE10
* Offer excludes dress orders
