Wedding season is almost upon us, and brides everywhere are adding personal touches to nearly every aspect of their big day. One way to make your day sparkle is by sprinkling your wedding with beads, gems, and everyone’s wedding day favorite – pearls. From sophisticated DIY invitations to a beaded bodice on your dress, these tiny details will make you radiant on your special day, inside and out.
The Invitations
Remember the last time you got a card in the mail that was filled with confetti, or, worse yet, glitter? Don’t irritate the guests before the big day with a messy invitation. There are lots of ways to embellish your wedding invitations that reflect your style and the ambiance of your wedding from chic to fun. You’ll need quality card stock, a great printer, a keen design, and lovely embellishments. Craftaholics Anonymous offers “Ten Tips on Making Wedding Invitations” that are elegant and inexpensive.
Fabric, lace, organza, and beads are embellishments that will accentuate your style. Think about your wedding colors and choose those colors to adorn your invitations. For example, a shimmery organza ribbon drawn through an antiqued sterling silver shepherd hook, a rose gold Mobius bead spacer, or a vermeil S hook twist design says elegant in an understated way.
The Flowers
Brooch bouquets are all the rage this year. You can start by making pearl and crystal flowers, pearl bead clusters, pearl and gem flowers, or any other combination that works for your color scheme. There are YouTube videos for making beaded flowers and brooches that can then be joined into a single bouquet. You can make brooch bouquets that are entirely made of brooches, that have brooches and other gems combined, or that also mix them with silk or real flowers. The bling of gems is the key, no matter what their proportion.
The Dress
One of the most important – and most expensive – expenditures for your wedding will probably be your dress. You can get a nice dress for a few hundred dollars, but if you are hoping for something adorned with beads, pearls, and gemstones, you’re looking at a much more expensive dress. If you want to look stunning on your wedding day, but need to keep an eye on the budget too, then embellishing your own dress is the best option.
If that feels too overwhelming, maybe dressing up your veil may be a better project. Buy a simple veil in the same shade of white as your dress, preferably from the same shop, to be sure. You’ll need to get a beading needle and the proper thread, plus any pearl or gemstone embellishments you want to use. Adding beads to veils must be done by hand, so be prepared to spend some serious time finishing the job.
The Décor
There are so many ways to dress up your wedding reception, from jeweled napkin rings to crystal table confetti. One idea you might want to consider is a LOVE centerpiece dreamed up by Fancy Pants Weddings. Buy some large cardboard letters to spell out the word love, then get some white baroque pearls in different sizes and cover all but the bottom of the letters. It’s beautiful, not to mention natural, leaving it white, but feel free to paint it one of your wedding colors. Either way, it’s a brilliant conversation piece that makes you look super talented.
The Bridesmaids’ Gifts
An elegant and practical gift for your bridesmaids is a selection of DIY jewel ear jackets. You can choose the color, cut, and shape of the gemstones to make these cute cuffs. Each bridesmaid’s ear jacket should match the color of her dress. Some good gemstone choices might be amethyst, aquamarine, pink Peruvian opal, topaz, quartz, or fire opal. Of course, the color choices are unlimited. A matching bezel set gemstone focal bead would complete the dazzling look.
The Wedding Guest Favors
A favorite among wedding favors is the personalized single-serving wine bottle. You can order them in bulk from most local wineries. They’re personalized with labels either announcing the happy couple or thanking the guests. Give them in organza bags with a beaded tie at the top. Pair it with a DIY wine stopper adorned with gemstones and pearls, and you have the winning combination for a wedding favor.
These are six examples of how you can add some sparkle to your wedding with beads, gemstones, and pearls. It’s by no means an exhaustive list – think bridal headbands, wedding shoes, countless wedding favors, and more. Make your wedding extra special by bringing the bling.
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