The most beautiful bridal accessories ever.

I'm just in love with the stunning butterfly jewellery by etsy seller Jewelera. It's made by transferring images of actual butterflies onto organza fabric... so delicate and ethereal. She has a video showing how the wings flutter in a breeze.

I would snap up the headband in an instant if I could at all get away with it. Unfortunately, my style is much more bold and structured, and I just don't think this would go. But someone else should get it, wear it, and send me the pictures! Let me live vicariously!

Statement necklace with a strapless gown.

This post is serving double duty: first, I adore Jess' big necklace with her strapless gown. I've been pondering wearing a big ol' vintage neckpiece, but wasn't quite sure it would work. Evidently, it does. Though I am still thinking that veil + statement necklace might be a bit much.

Secondly, I adore Jess' photos. Jess is a very popular knit-blogger, which is how I stumbled on her photos. I love, love, love how happy everyone looks in all of them, and how natural. No forced, cheesy 'we're quirky and having fun!' shots here. The photographer was Jenny Jiminez (based in Brooklyn), and you can see a few more shots over here. I'm definitely showing these to our photographer for 'inspiration'.

Wedding Day Jewellery: the statement ring

A cocktail ring on the right hand is a nice piece of wedding bling, I think. A friend wore her mama's sapphire cocktail ring on the right hand, as her something blue. For something a little more modern (and not blue), I love these coupley rings by DonMoti. The one above is a couple in conversation.


And this gorgeous one is an elderly couple looking back on their younger selves. Aaaaw. Nice symbolism, non?

Choosing the bridal accessories that go round your face.

Volume or length? Volume or length? Hmmm...
From the fabulous Okinawa_Soba's photostream. Seriously, go check it out. There's some awesome non-wedding stuff in there.

You know, veil, earrings, hairstyle, that kinda thing.

I'm not 100% necessarily convinced by all this 'how to dress to suit your proportions and colours' stuff, but these blog posts do seem remarkably thorough (and explain what to do when, like me, your features are squashed into the middle of your face, leaving vast deserty expanses of chin and forehead. Seriously, my forehead is outright Elizabethan*).

First, you wanna work out what your basic face shape is.
But, it's not that simple. 'Cause you got to work out whether your features are actually where they should be, or if you would have been a natural beauty in Elizabeth I's court. So, facial proportions need to be considered.

Now you can consider an appropriately flattering hairstyle, and earrings to suit your face shape.

And, my personal favourite, how to choose a hat to flatter your face. I'm taking a wild guess and saying that the same principles can probable be adapted to choosing a veil?


* What? What is she on about? In the Elizabethan period a high forehead was considered aesthetically pleasing. So much so that women used to pluck their hairline, to create an even higher forehead.

Pretty nature-jewels

Strong yet organic earrings. I'd like something like these for the wedding day.


Isn't this delicate and alive? I love the assymetry. Maybe if not for the bride, pretty on the bridesmaids/ groomsmaids. Oo, actually, I think the artist does a few variations on the hydrangea petal necklace - you could get a different one for each lady in the wedding?

All from Patrick Irla Jewellery on etsy (of course).

ring ring - part 2

BCB was insistent, from the moment engagement was mentioned, that he would also like an engagement ring. He has, apparently, always though it a little unfair that the girl gets to show she's taken but the guy does not. But BCB is not a very blingy guy. A masculine ring with diamonds was never going to suit. I suggested two rings that sort of fit together, like Georg Jensen fusion rings. Nup, he didn't like the swirly shapes. He did know that he wanted one white gold and one yellow gold ring. Our jeweller brainstormed like a mad man - welding, clips, neoprene, rivets - all were suggested in search of a wedding ring set for a man. And then the jeweller suggested magnets. And BCB was sold. Nothing other than magnetic rings would do.

You can see the magnet in the wedder.

In the end, it took months. The jeweller had massive problems sourcing small enough magnets (despite assuring us they had done such rings before). Apparently they had some problems getting the magnets into the rings. The rings had to be chunky to accomodate the magnets. So chunky initially that they were sent back to the workshop for the ring equivalent of lipo - convex sides (so BCB's fingers weren't so spread), comfort fitting, edge softening. And we still don't know if he'll interfere with credit cards and what will happen if (when?) the magnets rust... but they sure are are beautiful.

One ring can support the other. And there's an invisible attraction between them. BCB loved the symbolism.

Our jeweller, as is obvious from the box, was Koro. We chose them because I found a few online recommendations, we wanted someone in the city so it was easy to drop by for appointments, and Linney's won't make something with a stone they haven't supplied themselves.

They were a great choice for us, albeit with a few stresses. If you want control over the whole process, if you want to see the little wax cast of your ring and all that jazz, forget it. With my ring I gave them a rough illustration of what I wanted, and we concluded some finer points would be decided once they had 'something to show me'. Then a fortnight later they rang BCB to say my ring was finished and ready. That said, it was just beautiful, with wonderful workmanship and design. They were willing to make any changes I wanted, but I didn't want or need any.

BCB's ring took months. They weren't terribly good at keeping us updated with what was happening, or exactly what his rings were going to look like. That said, they were very creative and helped him come up with a really unique idea; and they kept working on making it possible even when I strongly suspect they would have liked to have given up. They made cosmetic changes willingly; and while not dirt dirt cheap, for what they do I think their prices are extremely reasonable.

And my favourite part about the store is the sales assistants. Unlike another jeweller we went to, the sales assistants were really, really knowledgeable about jewellery design and stones. They were friendly and patient and had great communication with the workshop.

Ring ring - Part 1

Most (though far from all) engagements start with a ring on the finger of one party to the nuptials. Ours was no different. I thought I knew what I wanted. I wanted something modern and organic with few or no diamonds, preferably diamonds from the Argyle mine in WA.

Turns out modern and organic looked like rubbish on my finger, and something a little princessy was the better-looking option. But bigger (as in, larger than pave size) diamonds felt wrong on my hand. Should have seen the face of one jewellery salesperson when I asked if they had anything smaller than 1/3 of a carat. I decided I wanted a weeny little diamond with sapphires solid all around. Except it turns out that to do that, you have to custom cut the sapphires into little wedge-shapes so they sit flush against each other properly. Which was a teeny bit pricier than we expected. So I reversed the idea. Sapphire in the middle, diamonds round the outside.

I then went on a three-month hunt for a sapphire. A colour-change sapphire, to be fancy about it. Ended up buying one online from the US and taking it to the jeweller to be set. It was larger than I intended, but I figured after three months I wasn't going to turn down a stone because it was too big. So I ditched the idea of diamonds round the outside. And, that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I ended up with a sapphire solitaire.


And for the record, I love it. For a review of the jeweller we used, and the saga of BCB's engagement ring (yes, he got one too), stay tuned.