IMG_6130I just finished making bridesmaids jewelry for a friend’s wedding.  This is the second wedding I’ve designed for, and I’d thought I’d share the process in case you’re considering doing custom work.

1.  I talked to the bride about her vision for the jewelry.  We discussed colors, materials, necklace shape, earrings, budget, etc.   She gave me a fabric swatch & photo of the dress.

I also asked her to bring anything else specific to give me the most accurate idea of what she wanted and didn’t want.  I suggested bringing: a few bead strands (to understand size, shape, colors, materials) and sketches, photos or actual jewelry (to understand shape, size, and perhaps pattern desired).  This meeting took about an hour.

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The bridesmaids dress, but in a different color. Image from Eden Bridals.

2.  A few weeks later I showed her pictures of necklace ideas, shapes, and patterns I liked & my ideas for beads.  For this dress, I worked to make sure the beautiful dress embroidery was the main focus.  I wanted the necklace to compliment it but not take spotlight.  And for the earrings, I thought there was enough going on with the embroidery & necklace, so I suggested something very simple looking.

3.  I received the bridesmaid dress.

4.  I took the dress with me while shopping for beads.  I bought one of each strand that might possibly work.

5.  I took the beads and started playing with combinations and made three different necklaces to show the bride.   (I used Scrimps to temporarily hold the beads to the wire instead of crimp beads.)

6.  The bride chose her favorite necklace.  I finished making the necklaces & made earrings to match.

The necklace is made with two strands of wire with the pattern alternating between (a) beads being side by side on the two wires and (b) both strands of wire going through one bead.  The earrings are made with simple head pins and replicate part of the necklace pattern.

7.  I returned extra, unopened beads to the store.

I hope this gives you a starting place for designing custom wedding jewelry.  Another important thing to consider is what you’ll charge.  You’ll probably spend more time on custom work than you’d expect, and you’re time is worth getting paid for.  I don’t have pricing quite figured out yet, but here’s a page called tips for pricing your jewelry you may find useful.