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Archive for the ‘Tiara Advice’ Category

Tiaras – Frequency asked questions

Sunday, January 30th, 2011

wedding tiaraI get asked so many questions when it comes to brides choosing tiaras that I thought I’d dedicate a blog post to them. So here are the most common questions I get asked concerning wedding tiaras.

Do I place a tiara like a headband?

No the easiest way to position a tiara is to  balance it on the top of your head and use your fingers to push the ends of the bands down about an inch, just so the tiara is leaning back slightly, but not so much that it lies flat to your head.  If the tiara still feels loose you can slide grips along the band into your hair.

Can I wear other wedding hair accessories with a tiara?

Tiaras are normally worn at the front of the head so using other wedding accessories such as pins and grips are great for the back of the head which is where your guests will be looking throughout your wedding ceremony.  Be careful not to wear a tiara and then something else such as a comb as this will look too over the top.  You should have one focal point for your wedding hair accessories (your tiara) then add interest with smaller items which don’t detract from the tiara.

Do bridesmaids wear a tiaras?

There’s nothing stopping bridesmaids wearing tiaras, these tend be more more simplistic tiaras but many brides choose something else for their bridesmaids such as headbands or wedding hairvines.

What other occasions do people wear a tiara?

Tiaras are worn for valedictory dinners (the UK equivalent of the US prom), confirmation and by rose queens as well as weddings.

Your crystal tiaras mention clear and clear AB crystals, what’s the difference?

Clear crystals are just that, perfectly clear.  Clear AB crystals have a coating.  This coating can either cover just one side of the crystal (AB) or both sides (ABx2) and is named after the northern lights – aurora borealis, as the coating has a similar effect.  If you look very closely, the coating is similar to the colourful effect oil has in a puddle of water, from a distance this coating reflect all the colours of the rainbow and has intense sparkle.

Should the stones on my tiara match my wedding dress?

For a more elegant look always choose a tiara which has stones that match the ones on your wedding dress.  This doesn’t necessarly mean that the entire tiara has to created from that type of stone but it should be included.  So if your wedding dress has Swarovski crystals then so should your tiara.

Should I choose a silver or gold tiara?

This depends on your skin tone, unless you have gold or silver in your wedding dress.  Usually you should stick with the jewellery colour you normally wear as this is probably the one that suits you best.  If you have gold or silver accents in your wedding dress make sure your wedding tiara matches this.

Another other tiara questions?

If I’ve not answered your tiara related question in this blog post, feel free to leave your question in the comment question below and I’ll answer it for you.

Wedding Tiaras or Tiara Combs

Wednesday, December 29th, 2010

If you’re undecided between choosing wedding tiaras or tiara combs as your main bridal hair accessory then it might be helpful to look at the advantages of each and decide which would be best for your big day.

Pros of tiara combs over wedding tiaras

  • Usually easier to wear and place than a wedding tiara
  • Tiara combs tend to sit more upright then a tradition tiara which is tilted back slightly

Cons of tiara combs over wedding tiaras

  • Tiara combs are difficult if you want to place with a veil which is attached using another comb as the teeth of the two combs might prevent both combs being slided into hair at the same place
  • Not all tiara combs sit well on the top of the head, the arch in the comb might not mirror the arch on your head
  • You will need to be wearing your hair up for the tiara comb to stay put

Pros of wedding tiaras over tiara combs

  • Wedding tiaras can be worn with the hair down
  • Wedding tiaras an be worn in multiple positions without any problems unlike the tiara comb
  • Wedding tiaras can an easily be worn with a veil without the problem of the combs teeth getting stuck together
  • There is a bigger range of choice of wedding tiaras then tiara combs as wedding tiaras is a better seller than a tiara combs

Cons of a wedding tiara over tiaras comb

  • Need to hide the band of the wedding tiara with hair

So if you’re planning on wearing a veil or your hair down then you might find that a wedding tiara is the better choice for you.  What are your thoughts and preferences on wedding tiaras or tiara combs?  Leave your comments below.

Bespoke Wedding Tiaras

Monday, December 20th, 2010

Buying a bespoke bridal tiara may seem a little scary especially if you struggle to imagine what the finish piece might look like so I’ve created an article to give you a starting point and a few questions you should ask your wedding tiara designer.

You tiara designer should start with the height of the tiara and to ensure you end up with a tiara which suits you your face, there are some general rules of this, round faces should got for tall tiaras, long faces suit short tiaras and oval faces can wear any height of wedding tiara.

Your bridal accessories designer should ask you about any embellishments on your dress and the mental colour of any other jewellery you’ll be wearing on the day so they can ensure nothing clashes.

Your tiara designer can only make your dream tiara if you can illustrate your ideas clearly, if you haven’t already, create a mood board of all your favourite bridal accessories that you’ve seen while you’ve been searching around. This should include jewellery as well as wedding tiaras because it will give your designer a good starting point. There also the added benefit of being able to show your unique style. If you do have a rough idea of what you want your wedding tiara to look like, do a quick pencil sketch, it doesn’t have to be perfect but again it’s a great starting point. I’ve had many brides who have emailed me a sketch and we’ve worked on it together to create something perfect for them which won’t collapse under its own weight, it a very satisfying experience for both of us.

In the UK internet purchases are protected by the distance selling regulations but custom made items where there is a choice of specifications such as crystal, pearl and metal colour are excluded from the 7 day cancellation policy. Bespoke wedding tiaras come under that exclusion but not all tiara designers will make you aware of this before they start creating your product, so if in doubt over their returns policy and it’s not clearly stated on the website – Ask, actually if it’s not stated on the website, find another tiara designer!

There are a number of questions you should ask before starting work with your wedding tiara designer; I’ve listed some of these below.

How long will it take from design to completion?

Some tiara designers will have a set time frame from when the final design is agreed to how long it will take to be created and dispatched; if you haven’t been given this information freely make sure you ask. That way you’ll know when your wedding tiara is due to arrive and can chase with the postal system if it’s delayed or lost.

Will my wedding tiara be insured when it’s posted?

You’ll need to make sure it will be insured for loss and damage while in the postal system. Check with the designer whether insurance is included in the price or not.

What happens if it gets damaged in the post?

Before handing over any cash make sure you know whose responsibility it is for claiming if it gets damaged in the post.

How do I position my wedding tiara?

There are many ways to position a wedding tiara, I’ve written a blog post and you can find a whole article dedicated to this one question. You can find a link to this article here. Ways to Position a Wedding Tiara

I hope I’ve given you an idea of the things you will need to think about when working with a wedding tiara designer to create your dream tiara but if not you can always contact me to ask more questions by using the contact form.

What to do with your tiara after your wedding pt2

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

So if your read last weeks blog post you’ll know that this weeks is a continuation of what to do with wedding tiaras after your wedding day. Here’s my other ideas on how you can get more use out of your wedding tiara.

Sell your tiara on

You can always try to sell your wedding tiara once you’ve used it but you might find because tiaras can be so inexpensive you don’t get any buyers, but there’s nothing to stop you trying.

Donate it to a local school

You can give your wedding tiara away to a local school, I’m sure their drama department will have a good use for it, I wouldn’t recommend doing this if you’ve paid of lot of money for your tiara.

Raise money for charity

Offer to wear your tiara everyday for a week to raise money for charity, it’s different to the other typical money raising ideas and I’m sure by the end of it you would have met lots of new people because people can’t help but ask why you’re wearing a tiara, maybe you’ll end up finding a most amazing friend along the way.

Destroy it and create something new

If you’re quite crafty and like making your own jewellery, you can always recycle your wedding tiara by removing the beads and creating something new and unique with them. This way you’ll get you wear your tiara as often as you want. If you’re not crafty but still want to create something from your wedding tiara, design something on paper and then feel free to contact me to create it for you.

That concludes my ideas of how to get more use out of your wedding tiara after the big day. I understand some of you won’t want to part with your tiara, you’ll leave it wrapped up somewhere safe a take it out once in a while to remind you what a fantastic wedding day you had. But for others of you, you might have more of a reuse, recycle mentality. Personally I always love the feeling of giving something away I no longer need especially when I know it will make someone very happy.

Now I’ve shared my ideas do you have any on how you can get more use out of your wedding tiara? If so leave your comments below and I’ll add them to the list.

Uses for your Wedding Tiara after your Wedding Day

Friday, October 15th, 2010

When I originally wrote this article I decided it was too long for 1 blog post so I’ve spilt this post into 2, you will be able to read the remainder of it next week so don’t forget to bookmark us and come back to visit. Now on to the blog post ….

So you’ve had your wedding day, hopefully you enjoyed every minute of it and now it’s all over and you’re back to reality. You have your wedding dress hung up in your wardrobe, you’re tiara’s hidden in a drawer and your wedding jewellery is tucked away in your jewellery box waiting for another special occasion so it can be worn and admired.

These items all hold memories of the best day of your life and it seems a shame to not use them again, so I’ve thought of a few occasions where you can wear your wedding tiara and other ways to make such it gets put to good use.

A girly night out

If most of your female friends are now married, why don’t you have a themed night out and wear your tiaras, it will draw lots of attention and the single girls among you are sure to get lots of attention off the men. You could go the whole hog and wear your wedding dresses too but this might become a little difficult if your planning on going clubbing in them, who knows who’ll trip up over the train.

Save it for your daughter or your best friend

If you’ve spent a lot on your wedding tiara you might want to save it for a future generation, such as your daughter or maybe give it to your best friend for their wedding day. Remember though your wedding tiara might not suit their taste so don’t be offended if they don’t want to wear it.

Clean in it

Who says that you have to look scruffy when cleaning the house, not that there’s anything against it, but a number of my brides have been so desperate to wear their wedding tiara before their wedding that they still wear it after the wedding for cleaning the house, it helps bring some fun back into those boring chores. You might get a strange look if you answer the door in it though.

Let your daughter or niece play with your wedding tiara

If you didn’t spend a lot of your tiara and you’d get a lot of satisfaction from the enjoyment you know your daughter or niece would get from it while they pretend to be princesses, then give it away.

As I said in the beginning of this blog post, I was going to spilt it over 2 posts so while your waiting for all the other things you can do with your wedding tiara why don’t you add any ideas you have below and maybe I’ll add them to the remainder of this article, with credit to you of course.