Jewelry

I suppose this would have been a great opportunity to wear my wedding necklace again, but I wanted something simpler to go with what was sure to be a simpler dress but still reminiscent of the original. The big problem was, I didn’t choose a vow renewal dress til 3 weeks out (more on that later), so it made designing the necklace a little tricky—mostly because I had no idea what the neckline would be like!

I reached out again to jeweler Madame Fortuna, who made my wedding necklace and earring set out of blue chandelier crystals I sent her. I still had several crystals leftover that I’d been hanging on to in hopes of just such an occasion.

So this is what my original necklace looked like…

Wedding Jewelry

I knew that this time I wanted a single large crystal drop and smaller drops for the earrings. What I didn’t know was how long to make it or what color metal would go with this fantasy vow renewal dress I had in my head but couldn’t find.

Here is what Madame Fortuna sent as her initial idea…

First Draft

It felt a little too steampunk to me, which I felt guilty saying because that’s her specialty and the reason people love her jewelry! But she was totally fine with my request to simplify it a bit and switch the chain out for something more traditional. (My original necklace is on an antique watch chain, which I absolutely adore!) I requested gold hardware this time, just to mix things up a bit. She came up with two ideas…

Second Draft – Two Options

I loved both of these and had a really hard time deciding. I almost wanted to get both, but that would just put off the decision even longer. I finally decided the one with the extra smaller crystal looked less like anything I’d seen in stores or could create myself.

And then, 3 weeks before the event, I finally found a dress. Not only was it not a V-neck like I’d wanted, it had silver accents that wouldn’t work with the gold hardware on my jewelry! Ack! I frantically emailed Madame Fortuna, and fortunately it was not too late to switch out the hardware for silver. However, she had to order a chain, which meant a bit of a delay and another decision for indecisive ol’ me! She liked the added meaning of these heart-shaped links, and I liked that they came in smaller gauges, so that’s what we went for.

The Finished Products!

Sorry, I know I just used this pic in the previous post, but it’s all I have for now!

More photos to come, I hope… What I really loved about this set is that I can totally wear it again someplace that’s not, like, a State occasion or a costume ball! In the years since my wedding I’ve bought a couple pieces of jewelry reminiscent of my original set (including a Kate Spade necklace with plastic crystals that’s practically a copy) but none of it ever looked quite right. This new set from Madame Fortuna is quite, quite right!

Up next… Cake!