Making your own wedding jewelry can be both rewarding and cost effective. You can take the time to carefully plan the perfect wedding day jewelry that you can wear again and again. If it is something you like, then it will be something that you will love to show off at other parties, outings, and get togethers.

However, planning a wedding is often stressful, adding to that a large project can be a disaster. So, to help with the process here are some great wedding jewelry tips.

1) Start early.

As soon as you have your colors and your dress picked out, start planning your jewelry. If you do this early then there will be no last minute stress or panic.

2) Think about the look.

What type of look do you want? What jewelry do you want? Hair combs? Necklace? Earrings? Bracelet? All of them?

3) Enlist some help.

Whether your mom, your soon to be mother-in-law, or your bridesmaids having some help can be a wonderful and inspiring thing. If the other person (or people are crafty they may be able to help the whole way along), if they aren’t they can lend ideas and opinions.

4) While you can make jewelry really inexpensively, I suggest spending a little more. Not that you have to spend a ton or even spend as much as you would if you were going to buy it from someone else, but take the time to buy high quality materials and make pieces that will last a life time.

5) Some materials to consider are glass beads, crystals (swarovski really are of the best quality), pearls, gemstones (both semi-precious and precious though you pay for what you buy), and gold or silver findings (hooks, wires, ect.). These materials will cost a little more then acrylic beads, but can make heirloom jewelry instead of jewelry that fades, chips, and peals.

Make sure that you stay relaxed through this process, don’t let it stress you out. Have fun and enjoy making the jewelry, and saving the money. You can find beads and findings at bead shops, chain craft stores such as Hobby Lobby and Michael’s, or online at places such as e-Bay or my personal favorite www.firemountaingems.com.

If you need ideas I recommend checking out books from the library, going to a book shop and browsing their bead books, or looking at the bead books often found at bead shops and craft stores. If you find a pattern you really like it may be worth buying the book. I found a wedding lariat that I can’t wait to do! Have fun!