Archive for category Jewelry

A great trend that has been popping up on bridal run ways and magazines this season is the Bib Necklace. These large, statement pieces are usually worn with a wedding gown that has a fairly simply bodice and they work together with the dress to create a gorgeous statement. The bib necklace trend is great for budget brides as well. You can save money by choosing a simpler style gown and then add a huge statement with a very affordable bib necklace.

Bib necklaces come in a large variety of colors and styles. You could pick a simply white style, perhaps with fabric pieces like our first example, that will tie into your gown. Or you can pick a rhinestone or crystal piece to add glamor and glitz. Or pick a colored piece that compliments your bridal bouquet for an even more unique look. Here are a few great examples to get you started:

Flora Bib Necklace $148 from Nelle, Lei’s Rhinestone Bib Necklace comes with matching earrings for $39.99 from Emitations, Zsa Zsa’s Rhinestone & Ribbon Necklace for $44.99 from Emitations, Leanna’s Rhinestone Bib Necklace comes with matching earrings for $24.99 from Emitations.

You’ve all been gracious counterparts in my quest for the perfect earrings. We’ve looked, together, at every store/blog/etsy shop for these elusive, magical earrings. You can find those posts HERE and HERE The earrings that would take me from being a bride to being a B-R-I-D-E.

Awww, come on. They’re just earrings, right?! Haha! For some reason, they seemed important. It seemed like they could make or break my whole ensemble. (Once again, what will I obsess with after the wedding is over? Maybe I’ll STILL be obsessing over the earrings, who knows!)

To catch you up to speed…

I wanted earrings that were blingy, had a pearl, and in some way resembled my awesome e-ring (which I realize would only be noticed by me and my mom). I found a gazillion “close but no cigars”. I figured I would just have to compromise on one of the must haves on my list.

But as I entered my Mom’s room the first night I was in St. Louis, my eyes were immediately drawn to a pair of earrings on her vanity. It was “them”. THE earrings. The mystical, magical, clandestine earrings I’d been obsessing over.

They had pearls. They had bling. AND they resembled my e-ring. And went PERECTLY with my bff’s tiara.

I picked them up and said to my mom “What are THESE?”.

And she said “Oh yeah, I was just digging through some of my jewelry and thought you might like them”.

I said “LIKE them? They’re PERFECT”

And she said “I thought so too!”

Turns out she wore them at her 35th wedding anniversary party.

Another Something Borrowed! For which I feel grateful and sentimental and connected to a tradition bigger than myself and my measly wedding! Sorry girls, I couldn’t get a good picture. But they are drop earrings with 3 sections with pearls surrounded by rhinestones… I’m way happy.

So earlier today, Jill posted about her challenge in finding the perfect pair of earrings for her wedding.  I love a shopping challenge so I figured I would do some digging lol.  I don’t know if these are what Jill is looking for – but maybe you’ll love one of them so check it out:)

1. $55 from LizardiBridal on Etsy 2. $32 from ExquisiteBride on Etsy 3. $38 from EuropeanBride on Etsy 4. $58 from BelCanto on Etsy 5. $30 from Angelique 6. $90 from PerfectDetails 7. $12 from JewelryStylist 8. $28 from Wedding Sparkles 9. $55 from Emitations 10. $99 from Emitations

I know this isn’t the end of the world. I mean, seriously, there’s some major bad stuff happening in the world right now. God bless those in Haiti that are still missing loved ones and will have to rebuild their lives from the ground up. God bless those everywhere that are experiencing hunger, abuse, oppression. Please don’t think my bridezilla-ism causes me to forget that the world is bigger than my wedding…

BUT, I am a bride to be, and I think I deserve a second to fuss….

I can not find bridal earrings ANYWHERE. I have a VERY particular pair of earrings floating around my cluttered little brain and I can’t seem to find them. Maybe they don’t exist. Maybe they are merely a fictitious figment of my wedding obsessed imagination.

Here’s what I’m looking for.

• A decent sized drop earring. NOT a chandelier as I worry that chandeliers will be too 2010.
• Not too big.
• Not too small.
• Plenty of bling.
• With a pearl or two to set them off.
• I would LOVE LOVE LOVE it if the drop part of the earring had a big stone surrounded by little ones, like my beautiful e-ring.
• AND I don’t want to spend a fortune. Maybe like $50 or so.

My dear friend and BM Jennifer has graciously lent me her tiara to use as my something borrowed. I’m absolutely overwhelmed at the sentimentality of sharing something so beautiful with a friend I’ve had LITERALLY since birth (our moms met and became bff’s when they were pregnant with us!).

So the earrings I choose must compliment the beautiful tiara. Please, fellow brides to be, do you have ANY ideas???They’d be some sort of amalgamation of these:

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(ALMOST perfect, but no pearl)

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(REALLY almost perfect, but just a week bit too small and a little weak on the bling)

Have you ever heard of DiamonArt from JCPenney?? They are lab created diamonds, simulated diamonds from the JCPenney jewelry collection. It has fewer inclusions than you would find in real diamonds so it is clearer than real diamond but looks just as nice if not better.  According to JCPenney.com “Diamonart® jewelry is created with the highest grade of simulated diamonds and perfectly cut to reflect the maximum amount of light” and that“DiamonArt® jewelry is of the finest quality thanks to the patented polishing system of applying diamond dust to add more luster and shine”

I found a bracelet in the case of the JCP where I work part time as a portrait photographer. I LOVED it. I tried on my left wrist and it sparkled just as much as my e-ring. J offered to buy it for me for Christmas to wear on our wedding day. I was hesitant because it was essentially a FAKE diamond bracelet that was $829! I thought I’d prefer to have a real gemstone (white topaz maybe?) bracelet rather than a fake one. Well, we found out that the ring was 75% off and then they’d give us an additional 40% off for their pre-black Friday sale… on top of my 20% employee discount. So in total the $800 bracelet ended up being $100!! Yay! That’s my kind of sale! And it’s stunning! It is so sparkly and fits my wrist just right.

I’m such a new found fan of DiamonArt that I think I’d like all of my wedding day jewelry to be that brand. Definitely check it out! Today JCPenney.com is having a Cyber Monday free shipping sale and loads of great sales on other DiamonArt pieces. No one will know that you are not dripping in real diamonds!!! I’m thinking about buying these as my wedding day earrings, what do you think???

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I’ll give you three guesses what I plan to feature today….

Okay 1 guess lol.  Actually, jewelry is one way that brides add often choose to a touch of blue to their wedding ensemble especially if it happens to work with your wedding colors. Of course, there are different shades of blue from soft tiffany blues to dark blue sapphires.  So for today – here are some gorgeous blue necklaces – click on the images to find them online.

Shown Here:  Blue Pearls from AmericanBridal.com ($28), Katie Holmes Inspired Synthetic Sapphire Necklace from Emitations.com ($55), Blue Topaz Rhodium Plated Flower Design Necklace from JewelBasket.com ($79), Colored Pearl & Crystal Jewelry from the Online Bridal Store ($36), Sapphire Chandelier Necklace from Portia Jewelry ($24)

When you’re planning a wedding one of the biggest and oldest budget saver is renting/borrowing. You rent transportation, decor and other items you know you won’t need again. You rent tuxedos and sometimes even wedding dresses.  Brides often borrow pieces from friends and family as well: a heirloom necklace, a gorgeous decor piece that will add just the right touch, etc.

Borrowing jewelry is another great way to save – and celebrities have been doing it for ages! Do you really think they actually BUY those multi-million dollar accessories they wear once down the red carpet?   The great thing is that there are now a number of services that offer jewelry rentals. Some that you may have heard of include Bag, Borrow & Steal and Adorn Brides were you can find designer fine jewelry at a fraction of the cost to rent for your wedding day.

Another service I discovered recently is BorrowedBling. BorrowedBling works a little differently. Members pay a monthly fee starting at $29.95 per month and can then borrow as many pieces from the collection as they wish at no extra cost!   This is a great way to keep yourself decked out in fantastic styles for all of your pre and post wedding events and of course the wedding itself! Here are a few pieces available from BorrowedBling.