As a wedding planner in Siena, I know that many British brides that come out to get married here have already got their outfit and wedding jewellery before they arrive in Tuscany. Once again the power of Twitter lead me to find Tracey Phillips of Bridal Designs Wedding Jewellery, Tracey is the very talented designer of some truly wonderful wedding jewellery that would not only look fabulous on the day but can also be handed down through generations. Tracey very kindly offered to write a piece about choosing your wedding jewellery, and here is what she has to say.

Wedding jewellery is generally the last thing to be chosen, you will need to pick your dress, and decide if you are wearing a veil and/or tiara before you start on your jewellery, If you have large earrings in mind then it might look too much with a tiara and veil, if your dress is heavily embellished you may want to keep the jewellery simple to balance it, or if you are going for a simple dress you may want to go all out on a gorgeous statement piece of bridal jewellery.

Icicle bracelet

Bespoke or off the shelf? The world is your oyster when it comes to having pieces especially made for you, and there are differing levels of this. For instance, all of the pieces on my site can be made to different lengths to suit you and also the colours of the crystals and pearls can be changed for any of the vast array of different Swarovski colours. The next step up would be having a bespoke piece made especially for you. I would work with you to specially design something that suits your dress, style and budget.

A good tip for bridesmaids jewellery is to find a smaller version of what you are wearing yourself, for instance if the bride was wearing something like this necklace, then the bridesmaids could wear the pendant version.

Wildheart bridemaid's pendant

Again a lot depends on the dresses they will be wearing. It may be nice to introduce a bit of colour in the bridesmaids jewellery to co-ordinate with your wedding colour scheme. Buying your bridesmaids jewellery for them as a gift is a lovely idea and gives them something they will be able to wear again and again after the day is over.

Like everything else in life you generally get what you pay for, if jewellery is suspiciously cheap its generally made from cheap materials. If you just want something to wear on the day that’s fine but mostly customers are looking for jewellery that they can wear on many special occasions after the day itself and hand down to their daughters for their wedding day. I only use Sterling silver in my designs as it is hard wearing, beautiful, and with proper care will last for generations. I also only use genuine Swarovski crystals and pearls. Swarovski crystal is the best quality crystal in the world and is available in a myriad of different colours. Swarovski Pearls are made from a base of Swarovski crystal encased in multiple layers of pearl coating which gives them the weight of a natural pearl. Swarovski pearls will not react in contact with perfume and unlike other faux pearls their coating will not flake.

Natasha Choker

When considering your wedding jewellery it’s well worth checking out Tracey’s website Bridal Designs I’m sure that you’ll find a piece that will look stunning with your dress or you could even have a special piece made for you.