Custom Wedding Jewelry: Mary + Robby

This post is going back a few months to a wedding in July, but I am no less excited to share it with you than I would have been in August. Welcome to Mary and Robby’s wedding!

It’s not every day that I get to work with a bride who is equal parts friend, client, and creator, but I got all of these delightful things in working with Mary.  She has a degree in studio art and is an especially talented painter, so I knew she would have a lot of great input for the jewelry I designed for her wedding.  This was also the largest wedding party I’ve ever designed jewelry for; I made full sets of jewelry for Mary’s seven bridesmaids, both mothers, the flower girl, and a special necklace for her rehearsal dinner.

I first met Mary in 2008 when I was dating the man who is now my husband. Dustin and Robby have been friends for many years, and I was pleased to find that Mary and I shared a similar connection. Our friendship has strengthened since my 2011 wedding and subsequent move nearby to Maryland. Dustin and I had the joy of being accomplices in Robby’s surprise proposal to Mary last spring, and loved playing a role in their 3 months engagement and wedding day – Dustin as a groomsman, and I as the jewelry designer!

With a waterfront wedding in the middle of the summer, Mary decided to go with the whimsical warm-weather color palette of coral and aqua in varying levels of saturation. For her bridesmaids, I created a coordinated set of earrings and necklaces featuring asymmetrical charms that vary in shape but match in style. The earrings were hoop-shaped drop earrings with coral and pearl elements.

The matron of honor’s necklace featured a charm of a small flower with leaves to stand out against the large charm on the necklaces worn by the rest of the bridal party.

Mary has worked as a nanny for a local family for a few years, so she is very close to their two children Max and Lola. She decided to have them be her flower girl and ringbearer, and it might have been the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

For Lola the flower girl, I created a delicate necklace of tiny fabric roses with beaded centers on a silver chain. It got a little crooked (kids will be kids!) but still served as the perfect complement to the pink sash on Lola’s dress.

Because her dress featured an intricately beaded accent under the bust, Mary asked me for a simple necklace that wouldn’t compete with that embellishment. I strung a pendant of small, clustered pearls on a delicate sterling silver necklace to fit the bill, and I think it worked quite well with her dress!

Mary’s earrings were the piece de resistance: a chandelier earring within a chandelier earring. (Inception earrings!?) The outer ring of the drop earrings matched those of the bridesmaids, but inside the hoop there was a faceted clear crystal teardrop with small pearls dangling from it. The set was complete with a little teal bead just below the earwire to tie in the full color scheme of Mary’s wedding. Here’s a closer look:

Robby and Mary’s wedding day was a beautiful and laid-back affair that was a perfect reflection of their love and style. As a veteran of the short engagement, I know how hectic things can be in those few weeks you have to plan everything. Mary kept a level head before, during, and after the big day (we often cracks jokes saying “Wait, I’m really married?”) in a way that I doubt anyone else could have. She looked absolutely gorgeous on that day, and it was a joy and honor to celebrate the love that Robby and Mary share with all of their friends and family.

{Belated} Congratulations and so many blessings, Robby and Mary!

Xo, Ali