Bling Is King: The Ultimate Wedding Jewelry Shopping Guide

1. Start shopping early.** Aim to have your wedding and pre-wedding looks ready at least 3 weeks before the wedding. Remember, last minute, hurried shopping does not maketh the

!

2. Shop for your lehenga_ or _sari

first:

Make a mental list of all the functions and events in your wedding and proceed to shop for clothes for these. Only then, start browsing, window shopping or actually shopping your way through your favorite jewelry stores. If you shop for jewelry first, you might end up buying stuff that you do not need, or which does not go with your outfit and then, where will you be?

3. Set aside a certain amount for your wedding jewelry** in your overall budget. And stick to it! Keep in mind the ancestral choker or other heirlooms that you will receive from your family and your in-laws’ side. Also, keep a small buffer while setting the budget so that you do not exceed it.

4.

When shopping for jewelry,

leave home with a picture or a part of the fabric of your clothes**. Especially, keep in mind the necklines, cuffs (if you’re wearing a long-sleeved blouse) and borders of your outfit. Your chosen jewelry should be such that neither should it hide the already present patterns/borders/motifs in these areas nor should the combination look tacky and over the top. Also, keep the measurements of your ideal necklace length, wrist circumference and other surfaces with you.

5. Try interchangeable wedding pieces**, which can be used on many occasions, even after your wedding day. Versatile jewelry should be your aim while out on your shopping expedition. Try and create different looks for each event, especially the main ones such as the engagement, the actual wedding, and the reception. Jewelry with cooler tones like solitaires could look great when worn on your reception while more traditional jewelry would help you look like a true princess on your wedding day. Also, try and pick pieces that you will be able to wear again!

6. Keep your hairstyle in mind** while picking your earrings. If you’re going to tie up your hair in a bun, then, moderately sized earrings (which do not overpower your face) will complement your look nicely. But if you plan to keep your hair down, then, splurge on longer earrings. However, long earrings tend to catch your hair more than most, so, if you’re a short and simple studs kind of a lady, well, kudos to you!

7. Revamp your mother’s heirlooms** to suit your requirements for your wedding. Modifying old classic jewelry and giving it a modern touch would be a good option. Or you can do the entire thing your own way and melt the old jewelry and use the raw gold to craft a design that you love!

8. Pick an engagement ring that you know you’ll always adore**. Your fiance’s ring might not even see the light of day more than a couple of times but if you, like us, are an incurable romantic, well then, you’ll probably wear it every single day for the rest of your life and hence, you want it to be something that you’d love to wear every day.

But, where can I find all this?

Anything else I need to remember?

Shop from stores which have a return/exchange policy in place. After all, jewelry is a big investment and you want to be able to return or exchange it in the event of a defect, or change of heart.