Traditionally, brides have worn classic, statement pearls to create a stunning look for their wedding day. And just like the traditional meaning of a white wedding dress, cultures throughout the ages have believed what wearing pearls symbolises purity, while folklore says that wearing pearls on your wedding day will result in a happy marriage.
Moving forward to the modern bride today, you no longer have to choose a simple strand of pearls and a pair of classic studs, there are so many new options. We chatted to Ikecho Australia’s Director and Pearl Designer, Erica Miller, to find out her expert advice on choosing pearls for your wedding day.
Here are Erica’s top tips:
Pick Your Jewellery After You Choose your Dress
Once you've decided on your wedding gown choose your jewellery and accessories to match and highlight your dress. And remember to take your style of dress in to consideration. Think about your dress’ length, sleeves, proportions, and neckline. If your wedding dress shows a lot of cleavage or is off the shoulder or a strapless wedding gown, compliment it with a stack of pearl strand necklaces. If you want to make a statement, a large pearl on a chain will do the trick.
Statement Earrings:
You don’t have to stick to all white pearls
Even if your wedding gown is white, you can customise your look by wearing coloured pearls. You could go with all black Tahitian pearls, like or go for a more colourful look with multicoloured pearls, or various pieces of pearl jewellery in various colours. You can even add a little edge to your look by wearing mismatched stud pearl earrings, or by stacking different coloured earrings. Natural Pink Freshwater pearls are lovely with pastel dresses and dyed grey Freshwater pearls look lovely with charcoal dresses.
Mix your gems
If you want to go with simple pearl pendant, you can still create a more embellished look by choosing pearl pendants surrounded with coloured sapphires for extra sparkle. Or, add a pop of colour with various sizes of your birthstone or other favourite gems, like opals.
If you’re more a diamond girl, have your pearl earrings embellished with diamonds and wear them as your statement piece.
Co-ordinate Your Wedding Party
Now, it’s time to get the rest of your wedding party dressed for the occasion. As the bride, you’re typically responsible for buying jewellery gifts for your maid of honour, bridesmaid and flower girls. This is the jewellery they will all wear on your wedding day.
FOR YOUR BRIDESMAIDS: Choose a timeless piece that reminds her of you and your special day. A pendant featuring a single freshwater pearl will complement your bridesmaids’ dresses, but keep it simple so it doesn’t upstage your look. Saying that, the pendant doesn’t have to be so plain, there are so many different pearl pendant designs to choose from, And, if you want to personalise the bridesmaids’ gifts, choose a specific colour for each bridesmaid. You don’t even have to go with pendants, you could choose pearl bracelets and earrings instead.
FOR YOUR MAID OF HONOUR: If you want your Maid Of Honour to stand out from your bridesmaids, maybe gift her something different, or larger, than what your bridesmaids are wearing. If not, make the strand of pearls or chain longer. You could also choose a different colour pearls to make a point of difference.
FOR YOUR FLOWER GIRLS: Your flower girls won’t want to miss out, so choosing a baby size pearl necklace, bracelet or earring will make them look and feel super special. Like our Bambini collection.
About Erica Miller: Ikecho was launched in July 1999 when Erica was 19. She grew up in a jewellery family, and her childhood memories were being in opal mines in Lightning Ridge. “I have always loved pearls and since it was my birthstone thought what a better gemstone to work with,” she says. Now she designs pearl and opal jewellery which is sold on her website, and through selected luxe stockists and David Jones.
For more information, visit https://www.ikecho.com.au/ and follow Ikecho here.
Written by our guest writer, Nikki Yazxhi, editor and creator of BellaMumma.