Best Wedding Jewelry Accessories: Envisioning Your Special Day
August 26th, 2019 / Alese Oldenburg
Few events are so meticulously and magnificently planned as weddings – from the gown and the décor to the location and the music, every facet is exquisitely presented. The bride in particular wants to look her best, and will often enlist her most talented friends or the work of a professional for picture-perfect hair and makeup styling. Wedding jewelry is the final element to coordinate the bride’s ensemble – and is arguably the most enjoyable part of choosing bridal accessories.
After the vows have been spoken and the wedding band has packed up their instruments, some delightful memories of the day will always remain with the newly-wed bride: her accessories. Wedding jewelry accessories may make their debut on the aisle, but when selected with a discerning palate, they can be enjoyed for many years to come.
If you’re wondering what jewelry to wear with your wedding dress, here are, head to toe, the best wedding jewelry accessories to cherish on your special day and for the rest of your love story together, from beautiful simulated lab created diamonds to unique accents.
Ideas For Bridal Accessories: A Helpful Guide For The Bride-To-Be
Wedding Hair Jewelry
Whether used as a centerpiece to a perfectly-made coif or used as a subtle accent in a bun or elaborate braid, wedding hair jewelry is the icing on the proverbial (wedding) cake. These adornments may take many different forms, but the most enduring styles feature stone-set designs to sparkle and capture the light during your walk down the aisle.
- Picks: Usually slender and conical in shape, these stick-like accents feature a faceted stone on the end, and may or may not include ribbons or pendant-like jewels attached with a chain. They are the best choice for voluminous hair styles, as they won’t compress curls or cause frizz, but stay securely in place for a touch of sparkle.
- Combs: Used for up-dos and bun-centric wedding hairstyles, these hair accents display intricate beadwork or inset-faceted stones along their top edge, with unadorned, curved “teeth” below that hold it securely in place. Combs may be stand-alone wedding accessories, or may be physically attached to a veil to keep it in place.
- Clips: Similar to combs, all the “bling” for these accents is found on the hinges and outside edges of the clip. These are usually smaller and designed to hold twisted strands of hair or small braids in place, though a large centerpiece clip may be used at the back of the head for up-dos.
- Barrettes: While many resemble the bar shape the name is derived from, others have ornate shapes and can be either large or small. Secured with a swing arm and locking mechanism on the back of the design, these wedding hair accessories can be understated or elaborate, and almost always feature inset stones along their outer edge.
Wedding Earrings
Once you have your hair sorted and styled, your ears are the next opportunity for ornamentation. You’ll want to choose a style that looks proportional to your features and hairstyle, as well as a precious metal and stone weight that feels comfortable to wear. Depending on your personal taste and your dress, there are a number of wedding earrings to choose from:
- Studs: Classic and chic, wedding stud earrings usually consist of a single gem mounted on a straight post. While vintage looks call for pearls, modern brides are increasingly opting for a little wedding-day bling, found in faceted gemstones such as solitaires. While round stud designs are popular, other trending options include the rectangular “emerald cut” style.
- Drop Earrings: As the name suggests, these designs fall below the edge of the earlobe and offer a little movement each time you turn your head. They are particularly beautiful in profile wedding pictures, as they draw the eye to the curve of the chin and the drape of the wedding gown. Drop earrings may consist of a concentric chain of faceted stones from the piercing down, or may use a dangling chain or French hook with a focal stone at the end.
- Hoops: These earrings can be fully-enclosed loops or C-shaped, and wedding styles usually feature set stones along the entire outer edge. They pair best with voluminous hairstyles, particularly curls, though care should be taken to pin or otherwise secure hair away from the hoop itself to avoid tangles.
Wedding Necklaces and Pendants
Most modern wedding dress styles bare the collarbones and varying degrees of the décolleté – which means that the perfect wedding necklace is destined to be front and center of every wedding photo. Second only to the wedding ring in terms of post-wedding “wearability,” a bride-to-be should take her time and enjoy the hunt for the necklace of her dreams before the big day. Here are some popular bridal necklace styles to consider:
- Chain-Attached Solitaires These necklaces are ideal for a bride that wants a clean, modern look to match her dress. The wedding necklace design features a center stone suspended from a chain attached to either side of the setting, but the stone doesn’t always need to be round. Diamond Nexus chain-attached solitaires, for example, come in a variety of shapes, weights, and sizes.
- Graduated Necklaces: The sparkling, faceted equivalent of a traditional string of pearls, graduated necklaces adorn the bride’s neck with a dazzling array of stones. This style can be used to play up an ornate dress, or used as a clever spotlight accent for a sleek, understated modern gown.
- Pendants: Similar to chain-attached solitaires, pendants use a single stone-set design to draw the eye. This style differs in the chain design – rather than the pendant setting being permanently attached, it can be removed from the chain if desired. This wedding necklace is an excellent choice for a bride eager to wear her wedding jewelry after the big day; the pendant can be added to an everyday chain, or the chain can be mixed and matched with other favorite pendants.
- Lariat or Y-Style: For wedding dresses featuring a low-cut V neck or plunge-style neckline, Y-style necklaces are a perfect match. These necklace styles offer adornments on both sides of the main necklace chain, continuing down into a “tail” at the end for a symmetrical look. If opting for a lariat / asymmetrical version of this necklace, look for a fixed design that gives the impression of a pass-through loop without the worry it will cinch itself too tightly.
Wedding Rings
The true star of the show on the wedding day, wedding rings aren’t just a beautiful piece of fine jewelry for the special event – they’ll also become an everyday accessory. With that in mind, they are arguably the item that should get the most consideration when shopping and choosing accents for the ceremony. Here are a few trendy wedding ring style ideas to help spark creativity:
- The Bracketed Band While historically, bridal ring sets have consisted of a wedding band and engagement ring worn together, the bracketed design switches it up a bit. Rather than a standalone band, the wedding band takes the shape of an openwork ring “setting” for the engagement ring. The latter is placed inside, creating a beautiful center stone framed by bands of precious metal or additional stones.
- The Eternity Band: This beautiful band is a great option for the bride who loves to wear more sparkle. Eternity wedding bands may encompass either half or the entire outside edge, and can be edgeless or channel-set depending on style preferences. This type of wedding ring also makes an excellent gender-neutral set, if the couple would like their commitment jewelry to match.
- The Stylized Band: Adorned with inset stones, beautiful textures, braiding, engraving, or elements like leaves or flowers, this band is a clever reflection of the bride’s personality. Ideal for a bride that adores showing off her ring and her love at every opportunity, this style is fresh, fun, and modern. This style is best for a bride that wants to wear her wedding ring by itself, rather than beside an engagement ring.
- The Framing Band: Where bracketed bands enclose the engagement ring from both the top and bottom, the framing band adds a little extra emphasis at the top or bottom of the engagement ring’s center stone. Usually understated, these styles may or may not be set with small stones of their own, and usually feature a gentle, subtle curve.
- The Stacked Bands: An extremely popular and ongoing wedding trend, stacked wedding rings replace one band with several, designed to look beautiful as a group. These rings may or may not nest inside one another, and can even incorporate different precious metals or styles of stones.
The Wedding Bracelet
As wedding dresses have gone sleeveless and strapless, more brides have turned their accessorizing plans to their wrists. With perfectly-prepped manicures just below, a sparkling wedding bracelet (or two!) adorns the arm to make it appear long and elegant.
- Bangle: These rigid bracelets form a loop and are slid over the hand to sit comfortably behind the heel of the palm. Like wedding rings, stone-inset wedding bangles may be “eternity” style with stones set into the entire outer edge, or can also be channel-set. Typically considered a casual accessory, they work best with eclectic or unconventional wedding dresses, or for low-key ceremonies.
- Tennis: Sparkling stone-set tennis bracelets are a classic upscale accessory. The individual stones that adorn the band may be square-cut, princess-cut, brilliant-cut, or may feature other cuts for visual distinction. These bracelets are band-flexible, as opposed to the rigidity of a bangle, and are almost always eternity style in terms of stones. Secure-clasped versions ensure the bracelet stays in place throughout the ceremony and reception.
- Infinity: Best described as a half-infinity style, these bracelets employ a generously-set decorative panel that sits on the front of the wrist. On the back of the bracelet, a lariat-like cinch design keeps the bracelet at the optimal fit, adding stylish dangling cords for a compelling accent profile. This style looks great in close-up photographs of the bride holding her bouquet, or her partner’s hands during the ceremony.
Care & Keeping For Wedding Jewelry
Wedding days can feel like a busy whirlwind of activity, even if extensive planning is completed beforehand. When a bride is getting ready to walk down the aisle or preparing for her reception, she may want to change up her accessories. Even if a wardrobe change isn’t officially planned, it’s a good idea for her to appoint a maid of honor or bridesmaid as the official jewelry-keeper.
Along with other wedding-day necessities – safety pins, snacks, hair products, and so on – the bride’s family or friends should also bring the protective velvet bags or jewelry boxes made for her new accessories. That way, she can slip off one set and put on another, or add to her look before making her public debut at the reception.
Forget-Me-Nots: Wedding Jewelry Memories
The bride may want to ask the wedding photographer to take an “accessories of the day” shot for the wedding album. There are a number of ways to do this, such as lining up her sparkling new treasures on her wedding veil or the hem of her dress, staging them on the vanity table in the dressing room, or setting them beside her bouquet and shoes on a table. This shot can be juxtaposed with images of the couple’s rings stacked beside each other. If applicable, the bride’s wedding jewelry can be staged beside a few of the groom’s accessories, such as cufflinks or a boutonniere.
On the more practical side of things, these shots can also be readily handed over to the new couple’s insurance company in order to document her jewelry. If the pieces should become lost or misplaced during the honeymoon or after, the images will help locate them much more quickly than a generic description.
Wedding Dress Jewelry Ideas: Designing Moments To Remember
No matter which sparkling wedding jewelry pieces catch a bride-to-be’s eye, she can be certain of two important things: looking as radiant as she feels as she walks down the aisle, and creating romantic moments with her beloved to treasure forever.
*Diamond Nexus strives to provide valuable information, while being clear and honest about our products. The Nexus Diamond™ alternative is a patented lab grown stone that, among all simulants, most closely imitates the look, weight and wear of a mined diamond, with two exceptions – it is absolutely perfect in every way, and it costs significantly less. Price points and environmental facts expressed in this blog were taken from popular online retailers and may vary. Learn more about the environmental impact of mining by visiting out blog: blog.
1 “Jewelry.”Brides.com, (no publish date), https://www.brides.com/wedding-engagement/wedding-jewelry. Accessed July 13, 2019.
2 “Wedding Jewelry + Accessories.” The Knot.com, (no publish date), https://www.theknot.com/wedding-jewelry-accessories. Accessed July 13, 2019.
3 ““Current Diamond Jewelry Trends.” American Gem Society.org, (no publish date), https://www.americangemsociety.org/page/diamondjewelrytren. Accessed July 13, 2019.