Happy bridesmaids see-th I!

In the process of planning for your wedding, your usually rational thought processes are clouded by thoughts of traditional versus non-standard color schemes, bonbonniere, which flowers say what about you, and whether to let the DJ play ‘Time Warp’ during dancing. That is why many brides think it is actually easier to just give the same gift to every bridesmaid, than it is to pick individual ones. The trend towards getting the same gift for everybody is very quickly going the way of pink lace!

If you decide on getting the same gift for everybody, you need to take quite a few different tastes into account. If you are giving out earrings, does everyone have pierced ears? Will that non-drinking bridesmaid ever use the wine glasses you bought? Of course, buying different gifts does mean that you need to balance the value of one against another. However, as long as you spend similar amounts on everybody (and are lucky enough to have friends for whom the joy of your wedding day is more important than petty jealousy over someone else getting a better gift), there shouldn’t be any equality issues.

An easy to personalize gift - Makeup

You could:

• Buy makeup for all, but a different sort for every girl
• Get similar photo frames, each with a photo of you and her together
• Give them a hand in selecting the bridesmaid jewelry, and make that their gift
• Personalize a soap and lotion pack for everybody

One easy and modern way to solve the dilemma is to give a gift voucher. Those plain white envelopes with a storeperson’s writing, or a text-only email landing in your friend’s inbox are not very romantic or personal, so why not have the company that are making up your wedding invitations also create a personalized gift voucher? You can give this along with the ‘real thing’, or choose an online store like a jewelry store, or a bag or accessory store to deliver the gift vouchers by email, so your friends can save the pretty pictures you drew!

BelFiore Bridal also have some great tips for all of the tricky dilemmas that your friends will throw up for your wedding, as does Wedding Fanatic.

If you’re feeling a bit flummoxed by the Tahitians, the South Sea, the Akoyas and the Mabes … and considering just buying a nice new saucepan as a gift instead, we’re here to give you a bit of insight! We’re also here to save you from having that saucepan thwacked over your head (no lady wants another excuse to be confined to the kitchen!). Here’s a quick rundown of the difference between freshwater and salt water pearls.

Can you tell whether they are salt or fresh water pearls?

Basically, the difference between freshwater pearls and salt water pearls is that in one, the pearl mussel or oyster is a salt water creature, and a fresh water resident in the other! There you go - end of explanation .

However, in terms of jewelry buying, there are quite a few differences between fresh water pearls and salt water pearls.

One of the main reasons that people feel that salt water pearls are of higher quality than fresh water, is that salt water pearls are more often natural pearls, and less often cultured. It is more difficult to control the circumstances under the ocean, and oysters are often lost to environmental occurrences. People that are ‘farming’ pearls prefer safer, freshwater environments. However! Not all freshwater pearls are cultured, and not all salt water ones are natural. In fact, only a small percentage of salt pearls are natural - in many places in the world, ‘hunting’ oysters for the chance of finding a natural pearl is illegal. Wild oyster harvesting is tightly regulated.

A cultured salt water pearl is still a joy to behold, and there are a couple of major differences between salt and fresh water pearls, whether God put them there, or we tweaked nature’s work along a little bit:

• Salt water pearls generally have a more brilliant shine than fresh water pearls
• Salt water pearls are usually round, freshwater pearls are usually off-round, which is sometimes called ‘Baroque’. Sounds better than ‘looks like someone sat on it’, anyway!
• Salt water pearls come in a narrower range of colors. Fresh water pearls usually take on the hue of the mussel’s shell, but can also be dyed by naughty, interfering humans
• Saltwater pearls almost invariably come from the mollusc family Pteriidae. Remember that next time you’re playing Trivial Pursuit!

An example of 'looks like someone sat on it', or Baroque pearls ;-)

As to the different names of salt water pearls, they almost always refer to the region they were grown in. Regional differences can make some slight variations in pearl appearance. Akoya pearls originally came from the Akoya region near Japan, South Sea pearls are caught in the southern hemisphere, including Australia, and Tahitian pearls come from the North Pole. Ha! Caught you :-).

Or, if you want an extremely simple way to tell the difference - salt water pearls almost always cost more than freshwater pearls!

Most people do a fair bit of research on their bridal jewellery. You’ll look into things like what necklace shapes and styles will best complement the neckline of your gown, whether your dress is simple enough to accent it with a tiara or hair jewelry, what earrings your little cousins are less likely to rip straight out of your ears, and which bracelets won’t get filled with cake so easily!

Wedding jewelry - simple, stylish, or super-over-the-top?

One thing that a lot of people discount because it seems too ornate, or too expensive (not actually true, happily!), is incorporating your wedding jewelry into your dress! Bridal Market Week in New York late last year saw the resuscitation of this trend, when Crystallized Swarovski Elements collaborated with some of the States’ hottest designers. Zuhair Murad, Vivienne Westwood, Alice Temperly, Vera Wang and Julien McDonald were among those involved in the resurgence of a wedding dress as part of the bridal jewelry.

If you’re going to indulge in this sweet, ethereal and decadent trend, we have some dos and don’ts for crystal dresses as bridal jewelry:

Do:

-          Go as ornate as you like with your actual wedding jewelry. As long as it is still tasteful! Most crystal wedding gowns are more of a shimmer than all-out Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves material.

-          Allow yourself the luxury of some color in your wedding jewelry - there’s no need to coordinate to the accountancy rulebook. It’s all about your personality.

-          Consider using mirror backed crystals … in moderation. If you see Michael Jackson standing at the window of your bridal shop, salivating while looking at your dress, you might want to lose some of the mirror ;-). Just a bit!

Don’t:

-          Forget to co-ordinate your veil. Crystals can be scattered through for a starry night effect, or form part of the trim for a regal look.

-          Be afraid to splash out on wedding jewelry, or one show-piece in particular. Crystal jewelry is very budget friendly compared to traditional stones.

-          Choose jewelry and a dress that will interfere with each other. It’s just as awkward as that time you and your boyfriend got your braces caught together. And just as embarrassing!

And just a warning, if you choose to check out the full complement of dresses from the show - you will see bald brides, as well as some that look decidedly like they haven’t yet completed a full course of hormone therapy! But aren’t the dresses beautiful …

Vera Wang Crystal Wedding Gown

Julien McDonald Crystal Wedding Gown

Zuhair Murad Wedding Gown

Monique Lhoullier Crystal Wedding Gown