A Few Great Reasons to Have a Beading Party Before Your Wedding

Beading parties are growing in popularity as a fun and female-focused activity to enjoy with your friends and family before your wedding. You can choose to throw a beading party as part of your bachelorette party, as an intimate activity for yourself and your bridesmaids or even enjoy a beading session as part of some pre-wedding bonding with your mom or mom-in-law-to-be. It's a great way to relax, unwind, and have plenty of fun before your big day. Here are a few reasons why it’s such a good idea to host your own beading party, or have a private beading session,  before you wedding.

Homemade Jewelry Makes Perfect Gifts

Your bridesmaids and other attendants are integral in helping your wedding run smoothly: a good bridesmaid will help you get ready on the big day, smooth out any problems as the ceremony progresses, and is worth her weight in gold! It’s likely that you picked your bridesmaids because they are your beloved family members and closest friends. All of this means that it’s important to give your bridesmaids the perfect gift to thank them for being part of your wedding party, and for all of their hard work in the lead up to your big day. What better than a piece of homemade jewelry? Homemade jewelry makes the perfect gift because it shows that you care, especially if you’ve taken the time to make the piece yourself. You can then tailor each piece to the personal tastes and styles of your bridesmaids, leaving them with a piece of jewelry they will love and treasure forever. It's hard to think of a better gift!

Use Beads to Embellish Your Venue Décor

The great thing about making things yourself is that you can think outside the box, and the only thing that you are limited by is your imagination! Who says that you can only use beads to make jewelry? You could make beaded napkin rings to liven up the table décor at your wedding reception: these could then double up as your wedding favor to your guests. You could also sprinkle beads over your table centrepieces so that they coordinate perfectly with these personalize favors. Beaded boutonnieres for the groomsmen have seen an increase in popularity, as have beaded handles or brooches on bridesmaids bouquets. Or even create a beaded flower as the centrepiece for your wedding car ribbon, so that you can ensure it matches your bridesmaid dresses and wedding colour perfectly. Just don’t forget to ensure that your wedding cars have adequate fleet insurance! Your wedding cars may look great with their beaded accessories, but if they break down whilst you’re on the way to your ceremony then you need to know that the cars will be repaired quickly, and that there’s a back-up plan to get you to the church on time!

Match your Jewelry to Your Wedding Dress

The most obvious reason to throw a beading party before your wedding is so that you can create beautiful and personalised bridal jewelry. Whether you want to wear earrings, a necklace, a bracelet, or even all three, you can create your dream wedding jewelry set using swarovski crystal, pearls, and sterling silver plated components. You can ensure the necklace you make suits the neckline of your dress perfectly. You could consult with your hairdresser and create earrings that will match your wedding hairstyle perfectly. There are so many reasons why it’s better to make your bridal jewelry yourself! Do you need any more reasons to throw that beading party? Well, the average American Bride spent $144 on her wedding jewelry in 2012. However bridal beading packages start from just $30 per person. So as well as having your jewelry personalised to you and your tastes, you may also find that making your bridal jewelry yourself could help you save money too!  And don’t worry if you don’t think you’re creative enough because you won’t be attempting this alone:   A Beading Buds designer will work with you, the bride, prior to your beading party to choose the design and colour of the jewellery you want to create at the event. Why not give it a try? You’ll be amazed at all the beautiful things you can create!

By Lisa Fielding

Bridal Jewelry for your Wedding

Custom earrings made at a Bridal Beading Party 

We have been huge fans of Gown and Glory for a long time, a Canadian consignment boutique located in the Greater Toronto Area.  We love so many things about them!  We love that they offer fabulous designer gowns at a fraction of the cost, we love that they are helping to save the environment one dress at a time, and we love the amazing customer service every bride that walks into the boutique receives.   

Angela, from Gown and Glory, is sharing what to look for when choosing your bridal jewelry.

1)  Pick something that your are comfortable in.  If you are an earrings person, wear big sparkly chandelier earrings and a bracelet, if you like studs, wear subdued studs with a necklace.  If you like to make a statement, wear a big statement necklace.  It's all about your own style, and accessories are a way for you to make your gown look even more personalized.

2)  The shade of your dress is critical to the type of metal that should be in your wedding accessories.

If you are wearing a bright white gown (also known as diamond white), pearls, crystal and platinum will enhance the gowns shade.

If you are wearing a slightly off white gown you can wear gold, silver, and rose gold.  Rose gold is the new trendy "it" metal, and goes especially well with a colour scheme that has pink or black in it.  This shade also looks amazing with pearls, but be sure to maintain the off white colour in your pearl selection as well.

If you are wearing an ivory colour dress (a very light cream colour), wear gold, bronze or pewter jewelry and cream coloured pearls.

This is why many brides choose to have their jewelry custom made by a company such as Beading Buds, because then the necklace will be made in the colour metal and shade of pearls that best complement and enhance the detail of the dress.

Custom pearl and crystal bridal necklace

3)  Neckline of the dress. Pick jewelry that goes with the style and neckline of the dress. Make sure the necklace is the correct length to visually fill the space above the neckline.

If you are wearing a halter dress, wear a bracelet and earrings instead of a necklace perhaps, especially if there is a lot of beaded or embroidered detail already in the dress.  You can also wear a hairband, tiara or fascinator if you feel like you need to add more sparkle.

For a strapless dress you have a couple of options depending on the simplistic or extravagant look you're going for; you can wear a statement necklace with small earrings, or statement chandelier earrings and a bracelet, or a simple necklace, bracelet and earring set.  This can be as simple or extravagant as you choose, based on the style of your dress...and the vibrancy of your own personality.

If you are wearing a v-neck dress, wear a statement necklace with a large crystal or pearl pendant, to fill up the space and draw attention to the neckline. 

Custom necklace made at a Bridal Beading Party 

4)  Pick your dress first and then the jewelry.  It is much easier to match the jewelry to the dress, especially if you have it custom made.

5)  Make sure to consider all the specific details in the dress.  This can help set the tone and style of the jewelry.

For more information on Gown and Glory Consignment Boutique check out their website at www.gownandglory.ca