Vegan Bridal Jewelry

I've recently been contacted by two people about doing some custom jewelry for their weddings and I'm so excited! I've been wanting to develop and promote my bridal designs more for quite some time now, but have just been too busy to take it on. Maybe this will be the kick in the butt I need to get serious about it.

I think the two things that appeal to me most about working on bridal commissions are (a) getting to communicate in-depth with the bride to figure out just exactly what she wants, then hopefully putting my own spin on her suggestions to surprise her just a tiny bit - in a good way - and (b) knowing that my creation is going to be worn [and, okay, admired - there, I admitted it] on such an important day in someone's life.

This is a prototype I worked up for vegan_noodle's upcoming nuptuals:

Swarovski simulated pearl, sterling silver,
AA prehnite briolettes, green garnet briolette drops,
green tourmaline, aquamarine, AA peridot, and moonstone

She said she loves it but prefers the final version to be made without the dark green tourmaline and with labradorite instead, so I'm working on that now. (Which means this one is up for grabs!) I'll also be making matching earrings and bridesmaids' necklaces for her.

That one was especially fun to make because I've been meaning to make more of that style lately. My goal with this type of 'cluster' necklace is to create something with a similar feel to this...

...but with significantly less labor involved (not that I mind the work, but it drives the price up a lot!) The orange necklace above took about five hours to make, as opposed to about an hour and a half for this new style. I like the effect of alternating single, larger beads with clusters of smaller gemstones. A few months ago, I made this one...


...which was pretty, and I sold a couple similar to this; however, those used a lot of Czech glass and Swarovski crystal, and lately my tastes have been leaning much more toward natural stones and gems. I also wanted to try a more delicate look, which was what led me to that prototype for vegan_noodle's wedding. It's not as chunky as the pink one above, but it still has the pretty little clusters of colorful, gemmy goodness.


I'm also working on a commission to make nine (!) bridesmaids' necklaces and earrings for another wedding. They will be wearing the most gorgeous teal dresses, and the bride wisely chose moonstone as the perfect compliment to their attire. Simple but elegant - perfect! (After all, you don't want the bridesmaids out-blinging the bride!)

Some of these will be done in silver, and some in gold. So pretty!