Weddingbee Blog

Part I

In the second installment of bridesmaid bandit-dom, I’ll share with you the first of a few projects that was ripped out of my hot little hands and turned into another DISE project. Not that I’m complaining—it’s just that I felt so entirely guilty to bestow what I felt was one of my “bridal duties” onto another person. Which is silly, because ultimately, I could have easily purchased these gifts from a vendor and felt just fine.

Image via whatigotsofar

Again bridesmaids, this is the stopping point for you! If you peek below the cut, you’re in BIG trouble!

Lanvin Pearls and Organdy Necklace $1,035 @ Aloha Rag
The inspiration necklace—a bit out of our price range.

Image via lauriemb @ Flickr
A more realistic version of the inspiration necklace.

Image via beatluv @ Flickr
A side shot of the alternate way to wear such a necklace (to the back instead of to the side). Please ignore the stubble—apparently the only photo I could find of this style was of a man wearing it. Weird, no?

In fact, I nearly purchased the necklaces from Monique’s Boutique, who even offered to track down moss green ribbon to match our wedding colors. However, my mom’s friend Lisa had offered to help me out with making the wedding jewelry. At that point, I had thought she meant, “go shopping, and I’ll help you make them.” Little did I know, she actually meant, “go shopping and I’ll make them for you.” So, off to the bead shop I went!

I purchased a tube of crystal seed beads, 4 strands of medium freshwater pearls, 2 strands of smaller freshwater pearls, a spool of Soft Flex beading wire, and some 1.5″ moss green satin ribbon.

When Lisa arrived, she basically swiped up all of my materials and took them home with her that evening. I was shocked that she so graciously offered to create these for me—but she insisted that the work was super simple and was like meditation for her. She brought the completed necklaces back when we had our second DISE Bridal Necklace session.

A bridesmaids’ necklace on the left, and a Jr. bridesmaids’ necklace on the right.
A close-up of the pearls and seed bead spacers—an alternative to fussy knots.

A close-up of the sterling silver clasp.

Each necklace was gently packaged in its own organza bag.

Then, all I needed to do was cut and package the ribbon ties. I decided that I’d make a longer tie for the bridesmaids, so that they could adjust the length of the ribbon based on their dress, and make a shorter tie for the Jr. bridesmaids, as I knew that the side-bow would look best with their ensembles.

A long bow for the bridesmaids.

A short bow for the Jr. bridesmaids.

I decided to package the necklaces without the ribbons tied to them, in order to minimize the wrinkles in the ribbons when they are unwrapped on the day of the wedding. To keep wrinkles out of the ribbons, I rolled them up and sandwiched them between the pearl strands in the organza bags. Mamita Pom came up with a genius way to roll up the ribbons with a ballpoint pen.

Slide one end of the ribbon into the pen cap clip…


…wrap ribbon around the pen…


…slide the ribbon off of the pen…


…and voila! Wrinkle-free ribbon in an organza bag!

Each of our bridesmaids will receive a pearl necklace, as well as a pair of matching 8 mm freshwater pearl studs (as shown below) that I purchased from a seller on eBay. Each necklace cost about $10 to make and the earrings were only $6.32 a pair (I bought them in bulk and they were shipped in bulk). It was also a very cheap and easy project to do!

8 mm Elegant White Freshwater Pearl Silver Studs $3.99
via dodogift @ eBay

$60 Bridesmaid Budget
Personalized Stationery $2.00
Pearl Necklace with Ribbon Tie $10.00
Pearl Studs $6.32
———————————————-
$18.32 down, $41.68 to go!

Have you considered beading your own wedding jewelry or bridal party gifts?