By: Jacinta
Courtesty of the Ottawa Wedding Show
Most women love jewelry and wear it to both compliment an outfit and to celebrate occasions/ sentiments. One of the most important days in one’s life, your wedding day is no exception. Careful thought needs to go into planning what type and style of jewelry to wear on your special day. Things that need to be considered are the overall style of the wedding (traditional versus modern), the “theme” of the wedding and any special pieces to include for sentimental reasons.
As is the case with bridesmaids and other women of significance in the wedding celebration most of them already know that the prime person of importance is the bride and therefore any jewelry selection will be to complement the outfit ensembles without upstaging the bride. Should the bride be someone who prefers understated jewelry (i.e. small classic pieces, earrings etc.,) then the jewelry selection for the bridal attendants should be similar. In the case of the “Mother of the bride” (or mother of the groom) it is not as important as the attendants with respect to mirroring the jewelry tastes of the bride. Jewellery that is garish, obnoxious, too large or flashy should not be used unless this is in keeping with the wedding.
It is important that bridal jewelry compliment the wedding dress and should be seen as an enhancement to the overall look as opposed to being in competition with the dress or overpowering the look of the dress. Depending on the neckline of the wedding dress certain jewelry styles will be more appropriate than others. Be careful not to mix jewellery types or metal colours. As a general rule pearls should not be mixed with diamonds and gold should not be mixed with silver unless it is the style to combine both on the same jewellery piece.
Throughout history jewellery was used as both decorative and also in some circles as an omen of luck and fertility for the new union. Some nationalities are very focused on jewellery and especially bracelets. Other nationalities not as much focus on the jewelry as such but sometimes this is replaced by the ornamentation sewn into the wedding dress. Many wedding dress designs feature a beaded or jeweled bodice as a key element of the overall design. Some floral arrangements will include a jeweled component for example beads or pearls and the same can be true of the wedding cake.
Most important choice for the jewellery is that it is consistent with the style and theme of the wedding, compliments the attire and is not distracting or distasteful. Sometimes other small pieces of jewellery that do not match are used for sentimental reason. As an example one might want to wear a piece of family heirloom jewelry that perhaps does not match with the other jewellery or even the outfit.
The following are some interesting things to consider when planning not only the jewellery for the bride but also for the entire wedding party. One view expressed here is to “stand out” and not be subtle!
