Claire and Eddie's wedding

Ok, here we go...feast your eyes on this romantic, stylish and fun wedding.
Claire and Eddie - you look amazing. You also look incredibly relaxed and your photos capture such beautiful emotions.

This wedding was photographed by Christina Brosnan and when Claire showed me her pictures, I had difficulty narrowing down the ones I wanted to feature! Christina's style is really informal with lots of natural lighting and pretty feminine details.

When I first met Claire, I could tell that she wanted help and advice in creating the overall style of her wedding. She was well able to choose different elements that she liked but was a bit overwhelmed when it came to putting the whole look together. I found her attitude very refreshing. She was completely open to asking for advice from different experts and this resulted in her enjoying the planning of their wedding much more. Claire also attended a styling workshop with Julie Cobbe from StyleFish.

Claire found her dress in Eden Manor and was full of praise for both the owners of the shops as well as the great selection of dresses. This dress is a sculptural, yet so soft and floaty. Although there is no beading detail on the dress, I advised Claire against wearing anything around her neck. Instead she chose an elegant headpiece with simple drop earrings and a very delicate bracelet.

Choosing my dress was easier than expected - one bridal shop (Eden Manor in Enniscorthy) and 25 dresses later. But a dress doesn't create the look alone. A veil was never for me, so wearing something in my hair seemed logical. I also presumed I needed earrings, a necklace and bracelet. However, I didn't feel confident about what would look best - especially since I didn't have my dress to try on with anything. After looking for some advice, I found Julie Cobb and StyleFish. Not alone did Julie recommend Aisling and Rangoli, but I completed her 7 week style course and graduated a more stylish wife-to-be!!!

During my appointment with Aisling in her fabulous studio, she looked at images of my dress which i had brought, styled my hair as i planned on wearing it and chatted about the type of bride I was and the kind of day we were planning - I genuinely felt she was trying to get to know me. After trying a number of pieces in my hair and their matching accessories, I was totally confident making my decision. Although I confess i would never have chosen not to wear a necklace if Aisling hadn't pointed out that it was too much.

On our wedding day, I absolutely felt the most stylish i ever have and received more compliments than i could have hoped for. I would like to say a big hugable THANK YOU to Aisling for her creativity and encouragement and for giving my look the wow factor.

Claire

Claire and Eddie - Thanks for sharing your day with us. Claire - thanks for the hug too! You can read more about the wedding on Christina's blog -

What a lovely Friday post :-) Hope you all have a lovely holiday weekend for those living in Ireland!

Credits:
Photogrpahy by Christina Brosnan
Make-up by Aoife Callaghan
Styling course at StyleFish

Claire and Eddie's wedding

Today has been a busy day but I just have time to give you another sneak peak of Claire and Eddie's wedding. I promise to show you lots more photos soon and will ask Claire to describe the highlights of their wonderful day.

The wedding photographer was Christina Brosnan - you'll fall in love with her website design before you even look at her portfolio! More to come soon...

Edible diamonds

I met my sister for a coffee and cake in the Phoenix Park today. She is just back from an amazing cake decoration course in the UK with celebrity cake maker Debbie Brown.

So, while we were sipping our lattes, she casually mentioned that Debbie had told her about edible diamond decorations for cakes. These two words have been spinning around inside my head ever since she told me this afternoon. Tara runs a cupcake company called Cupcake Me and we are working on a 'sister project' which will involve a photo shoot of my jewellery with her pretty cakes. You can see all of Tara's recent creations on her facebook page too -

Some of them will have *edible diamonds* Just remember, you heard it here first :-)

(Ok, I admit that the pic above is of real diamonds)

Summer lovin'

Summer and sunshine, where have you gone? I'm feeling a little nostalgic for our barefoot BBQ days! So here are some lovely romantic sunny images to cheer us up on this overcast Tuesday... I'd like to be lying in one of those double hammocks with my hubbie right now, sheltering from the scorching rays :-)

Or how about this summer garden wedding featured on Style Unveiled? The theme was 'Antique Garden Party' and was inspired by Jane Austin style romance. The bride, Kelsey wanted to give this theme a twist and create an art deco-esque spin to it. - see the full wedding feature of Kelsey and Jake.



The setting was the San Diago Botanic Gardens - how perfect! As far as I know, our own National Botanic Gardens in Dublin are not available for wedding parties but they would make an amazing venue if they were.

Credits -
I found the top image via Green Wedding Shoes and it was taken by Carlie Statsky.
The Botanic Garden wedding was found on Weddings Unveiled and was photographed by Jean Tsai.

Chalkboard fun

I love this engagement photo by Ben Blood. The photos are so relaxed and best of all the couple look like they're really enjoying themselves. The concept is so simple and you could have so much fun with this prop.

You might remember my post about about a lovely 'Thank You' card I received from one of my clients, (see image below). I have it on display in my showroom and so many people comment on it - in fact a few have even made their own variations!

Photo booths seem to be all the rage at the moment with backdrops of damask wallpaper or empty hanging picture frames. How about using a simple blackboard and chalk? I think that your guests could have a blast creating special drawings or messages, once supervised by a responsible adult or patient photographer ;-) And this is something you can easily make yourself and will cost you very little.

And then you could hang it in your kitchen so you can write love messages to each other or remind yourself to buy more fabric softener...

See the full engagement shoot on Ben's blog.

Esme's Ibiza wedding

Well girls, this is hot off the press...
Esme, the winner of my bridal hair accessories competition is just home from Ibiza. Congratulations to Esme and Keith! These are some images taken by family and friends and I also hope to share some of the official pics in a month or so.

You'll notice that Esme is looking suitably radiant and bronzed after her Mediterranean celebration! By all accounts, the holiday was amazing with family and friends benefiting from a relaxing holiday and amazing wedding party.

Here is Esme with her two bridesmaids. She chose their colour theme to contrast with the white and creams of the Mediterranean surroundings. I love how the sun makes these colours pop.

Above you can see Esme's headpiece which was made of fine gold crochet. I incorporated lots of gold-lined crystal, cream pearls, mat gold and silver-lined beading. This delicate crochet headband was woven around the back of the head, (although you can't see that in these images). Below are some of the crochet forms that Esme tried on before deciding on her own bespoke design.

I've been so looking forward to hearing all about this wedding and would like to thank Esme again for sharing her stories with us. Here are a few words from her -

Well I'm back - the wedding was amazing! Everyone was raving about my head piece; it really pulled my whole look together. The wedding was out of this world. The villa was decorated to perfection and everyone commented on the presentation and quality of the food, it was amazing. The wedding cake was cupcakes in carrot cake and lemon drizzle flavour. We had a Spanish guitarist playing during the reception and after the speeches we had fire dancers, which were spectacular. Thank you so much once again Aisling, my head piece really complemented my dress - I think you are just brilliant at what you do.

You're welcome Esme - thanks for your kind words; I really appreciate them. I know that your wedding will inspire so many people!

Rangoli competition winner

At last I can share the finished headpiece design that I made for Teresa, the winner of one of my recent Rangoli competitions. If you haven't read my previous posts, I can tell you that Teresa's winning entry inspired me with images of a gorgeous outfit that she wanted me to design a bespoke headpiece for.

After our first meeting, we had both decided the form that the headpiece would take. Teresa loved the idea of a small brooch-style detail on a narrow Alice-band. She liked how the hair-band had a function and held her hair in place when it was down.

Once the size of the side feature was chosen and the beading colours selected, it was time for me to start having fun. Really...this is my *job* and I get to do what I love every day :-)

Here are some initial sketches I did that show the flowing lines of the dress...

as well as scale and design of the headpiece...

...and the rhinestone shoe decoration

Often when I am designing, I get carried away and start experimenting with different beaded shapes and forms until I feel like I have achieved the perfect balance. Teresa had given me free reign to design a headpiece based on the forms and colours she had chosen.


So here is the finished headpiece. It is dramatic yet understated, bold and black with plenty of rhinestone sparkle. It's a 'going to the theatre' or 'going for coffee' type of headpiece! And I love how Teresa immediately thought of wearing it going out that evening with friends rather than waiting for those 'special' occasions that are coming up.

I absolutely love the hair piece you designed for me, thank you so much. I can't wait to wear it loads!

Thanks again
Teresa

You're welcome Teresa - I thoroughly enjoyed designing this piece for you and I hope you get lots of enjoyment from wearing it.

Rowena and Ronan's wedding

Rowena and Ronan were married in June and had a gorgeous day for their wedding. This pair look so relaxed and happy! No wedding jitters here...

Rowena chose a Rangoli beaded hairwire. She wanted something elegant, yet understated and I think this headpiece really complements her beautiful lace gown.

It's great to be asked to design accessories for some of the bridal party too. On this occasion I made jewellery for Rowena, her Mum as well as her bridesmaids. I wrote about this bracelet commission recently. It was fun to customise my gold crochet bracelet for Rowena's bridesmaids. The stunning green dresses are by Alvina Valenta and were purchased in White Orchid.

See and read more about my recent bridal commissions ~

The wedding was photographed by Michael Crean.

Nana's wedding jewellery

I'm so happy to be sharing a really beautiful story with you today. One of my clients, (who shall remain anonymous for the moment!), has asked me to help her to incorporate her Nana's pearl necklace into her bridal accessories.

This gorgeous necklace was a gift from her Grandad to his sweetheart before they were married. Unfortunately Nana passed away a few years ago but the jewellery has been passed on within the family. With wear and tear, one of the strands broke and many of the pearls were lost. The three strand necklace was re-strung as a two strand but now looks incomplete.

My exciting commission is to alter the necklace into a bracelet. The idea is to make a feature of the decorative clasp using it as the centre piece. I am going to introduce a middle row of contrasting ivory pearls with some rhinestone detail. These complement the warm almost peach coloured pearls from the necklace.

Check out these amazing photos - below Nana looking very happy and wearing her pearls on her wedding day in 1949.

Below - Nana and Grandad cut a dash after they are married.

And check out the cake shot - if you look closely you can also see the tiered cake-stand with individual cupcakes! (Click on any of the images for a larger version).

And finally the happy couple celebrate their honeymoon in Meath. Those pearls really complete the look!

I have asked my 'secret bride-to-be' to tell us about her grand-parents and the special relationship they had.

Nanny and Grandad were childhood sweethearts, first meeting when they were about 14yrs old! Nanny moved to Birmingham in her late teens to train as a nurse and Grandad followed her over there! She qualified the same year they were married, 1949, aged 22. They returned to Ireland to honeymoon, the perfectly-timed photo with the swan behind them was taken on their honeymoon in Co. Meath.

The pearls were a gift Grandad gave to her before the wedding to wear on the day, and as far as I know, an engagement ring was a luxury that could not be afforded. I'm sure she was absolutely thrilled with them and they looked very beautiful on her that day.And you can see her wearing them proudly in her honeymoon photos too, as I would! They returned to England but decided to come back to Ireland a couple of years later when my Mum was born. They were such a wonderful, inspirational couple, completely devoted to each other and their family.

Nanny passed away in September 2004, a month and two days after they celebrated 55 yrs of marriage. My Mum gave me the pearls as a keepsake, although as more than half a century had passed, the strings were broken and quite a few pearls had been lost. We attempted to have them repaired but putting them back together with a strand missing didn't do them any justice at all. Grandad passed away in 2009, and in those 5 years he spent without her, almost all of his thoughts, words and prayers were about Nanny, for he didn't really know a life without her.

Now that my own wedding is approaching I hope that I may be inspired by their love and commitment to each other. Life was much tougher then than it is now and yet they were always happy, generous and kind. They will be very much missed on my wedding day in particular, but being able to wear my Nanny's pearls feels like they'll be there in spirit and they'll never be forgotten, and means so, so much to me. I am so grateful to Aisling for making this a reality, when you strip away all the pomp and fluff from a wedding it's the people, present on the day and those we'll never forget, that really count.

Here is a sketch I have drawn that shows how the bracelet will look with a fine row of ivory pearls in the centre, with rhinestone accents.

And a close-up of the amazing rhinestone catch, showing the beautiful peachy pearls.

I hope you have enjoyed hearing about this story as much as I have. I feel privileged to be asked to create this bracelet so that this heirloom can continue to be worn and enjoyed.

Read about Siobhan's wedding and see photos of her new bracelet in the follow-up post!