Weddingbee Blog

I think I’ve teased about my grandma’s killer jewelry collection and the necklace she’s loaning me for our wedding day, right?

So, here it is. I like to call it “The Wedding Necklace to End All Other Wedding Necklaces”:

It’s a fierce Native American squash blossom necklace!

My grandma picked it up in the ’60s on one of her many travels, and I’m honored she’s letting me borrow it for the wedding. Maybe now you can see why I was faced with the conundrum of finding the perfect dress based on this necklace, because HOW CAN I NOT WEAR THIS?!

So, I mentally ousted my first dress and randomly (and kind of secretly) bought a second dress, thinking it would be utter perfection with the necklace. Long story short, I tried the latter dress on for everyone and they had a major fit and I ended up returning it. The truth is, I wasn’t super obsessed with it once I tried it on, so the return was relatively painless (and wonderful for my budget, since the return was free).

At the prodding of my mom, I tried on the first dress and still loved it. Damn! Luckily it hadn’t made an appearance on an eBay listing quite yet and I still had it hanging nicely in a dress bag. After further prodding from my dear old mother, I tried the squash blossom necklace on with the first dress and…

…MAGIC. PERFECTION. FIERCE WEDDING DRESS REALNESS.

It all just sort of went together and didn’t look over-accessorized in the least bit. Granted, wearing a giant, head-dominating hair flower like I had planned would be definite overkill, but I’m pretty sure I can live without that minute detail if it means wearing this necklace.

Major lesson learned: Don’t rule something out without trying it first.

Mr. Jam isn’t immune to vintage Southwestern wedding accessories, either. He agreed to wear one of my late grandpa’s bolo ties…during the ceremony at least:

As I arranged the bolo ties on the table to snap a picture for this post, I couldn’t help but tear up thinking of Mr. Jam wearing one as I wear my grandma’s turquoise necklace.

Mr. Jam wearing a bolo tie as we say our heartfelt vows will be the perfect homage to my amazing grandpa (who used to let me dress him up in my grandma’s old square dancing dresses and petticoats, which tells you a little bit of how wonderful he was). Good thing I’ve been busy collecting vintage hankies, because I can tell you right now seeing him wearing one of the ties is going to start some never-ending waterworks.

And there you have it. For some weird, cosmic reason, I get to keep my dream dress and the necklace I refused to get married without. Don’t you just love when things actually go your way?

Anybody out there wearing something special when you tie the knot? Are you as infatuated with turquoise and silver as I am? Should I take an extra suitcase on our honeymoon in case I find more amazing jewelry?!