Bridal Design
Last spring a bride named Jessica came into my store on referral from a previous customer. She was very business-like with folders, clips and pictures of her wedding dress, bridesmaid’s dresses and fabric and color swatches of each. This lovely tall blonde girl with beautiful blue eyes had been searching for weeks, looking through every jewelry store and website, trying to find the perfect combination of cream-colored and sea blue stones set in delicate and simple style. Her eyes were clouded and down trodden, as she explained that her wedding was in less than three months and she had to yet to find the perfect suite of jewelry for her to wear and even worse, nothing appropriate to gift to her bridesmaid’s and have them wear at her wedding.
Jessica knew she wanted to incorporate pearls and into the selections for both her bridal jewelry and that of her bridesmaid’s. However, the classic, repetitive look of the cultured pearls she saw in so many jewelry stores was not what she had in mind. An individualist with signature flair and inimitable style, she wanted her bridal outfit to incorporate her personal style on the most important day of her life. After sitting down with Jessica and showing her all types of blue stones, she fell in love with a semi-precious stone called a blue topaz. I also showed her a collection of fresh water pearls and explained their unique shape, textures and creamy color palette. Together, we created a string sample of a design she envisioned, coupled with these lovely and uncommon stones. I admit it was rather lucky that I had just returned from India and had an amazing collection of loose stones to show. Jessica was thrilled to sift through them and pick unique shapes and sizes to mix and match. We finalized the design for the jewelry and settled on a grouping of rare nugget-cut London blue topaz and dainty fresh water pearls and crystals that would add sparkle to such a special occasion.
Now it came time for the bridesmaid’s. There were eight ladies in her wedding party and all were special and important to Jessica in different ways. She wanted to give them something they could be proud of and wear for years to come, but that would also reflect their taste and choice of color and design. Since she knew them each well and had pictures of them in her phone, we were able to select different stones and styles that she was sure they would love. Best of all, each necklace and earring set were similar but just slightly different. The end result would look consistent in pictures, but not be look mass-produced or ordinary.
The wedding day was sunny and beautiful and the pictures were amazing! I still keep them on my work desk for inspiration. Many of the bridesmaid’s have come to me to design jewelry for their own weddings or to give as personal gifts. Each piece is one unique, one-of-kind and personalized.
—Chloe Sachs
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