The Jewels

Oooooh I had some fun with these! Here is my lovely wedding jewelry, made of all sterling silver, natural mother of pearl, freshwater pearls and Swarovski crystals. In keeping with my beach theme, I love how these worked out. I think the crystals look like little water drops on the shells. Love it!

I used sterling wire and headpins to wrap the beads into links and dangles. It's a little hard to tell (actually if you click on the pics they get much bigger), but the idea was to wrap extra wire around the top to make a sort of bead cap for each one. I think in the future I will do a post on how to wire wrap beads...

I bought bulk sterling chain and attached it to a fancy wave clasp in the front, and I love the look of it! I did the same for my two best ladies, but with fewer dangles and a smaller clasp. They also got simple crystal earrings to match.

I made a matching headband at the last minute, after looking at some online. For this, I used silver colored beading wire I happened to have on hand in 18 and 28 gauge. The thick wire was doubled and bent at the ends so as not to scratch my dainty head. I used the thin wire to wrap the beads onto the headband (alternating pearls and crystals), by weaving it in and out of the two thicker wires. It worked pretty well, but if you work the thin wire too much it can break. Which I found out about 2/3 into this. Ha. Anyway, I think it added something pretty to my hair since I didn't wear a veil... I got lots of compliments on it.

I don't have pics of them, but I also made 3 simple pendant versions for the 2 moms and the carrier of the ring bearer (aka sister-in-law). For theirs I got ready-made chain necklaces (with clasps on them), and added just the shell with 2 crystal dangles. In some ways I liked those better than mine! I would wear them all the time... whereas my necklace feels almost too fancy to wear day to day. 

I made some neato little gift boxes for all the jewels, and gave them out at the rehearsal dinner. You can find templates for these online all over the place... it's just a flat shape folded into a pretty little box, one cut out of card stock, another out of paper and glued inside (leftover invitation papers of course). I wrote a little love note inside of each one and wrote their initials on the top.

 
And here's one more pic with the wave motif, jacket and jewels. I know they're not for everyone... but I have to say these were perfect for me. I loved the simple prettiness of everything. Looking at the pics again, I am still swooning over my wedding day.