Every bride wants their beautiful bridesmaids dressed to perfection, with specially designed jewelry that sets off the gown and accents each girl’s beauty with just the right sparkle. My daughter chose a beautiful, reasonably priced, Christmas green dress in a style designed for many body types (the dress I was not going to touch, and you know why). Now the jewelry was right up my alley — about the only thing I was uniquely qualified to handle with the necessary experience.
Courtesy of Laura Grace Photography
A Little History
It all started when my daughter was just 13 years old. She asked for a small Swarovski Crystal necklace for her birthday. We lived in South Florida and at that time, the going rate was about $200. As a frugal, conscientious mom, my response was brief, “Sweetheart, unfortunately that’s a little steep and not in the budget.”
As a very creative young lady who thought outside the box, she responded, “What if I can find the crystal at a good price and we make it?”
I shrugged, “Why not?”
In short order, she found the Swarovski Crystal in bulk and at a fair price. Although the cost to make one necklace was reasonable, the up front cost to make the necklace with the remaining materials was not. Of course my creative, business minded daughter had the solution … . Since we already enjoyed making jewelry together, we’d make high quality jewelry to sell at art shows. Once we earned back our out-of-pocket expenses, we’d help others in need with the profits.
One of our offerings included original jewelry sets for the bride and bridesmaids …
Victoria designed the jewelry for her bridesmaids and I made it.
Oops
Last week it was all about the wedding cake, but that wasn’t my first major faux pas. My first lulu didn’t come to my attention until the rehearsal dinner. It was toward the end of a lovely dinner when my daughter gave the bridesmaids their gifts — a Swarovski Crystal and sterling silver jewelry set designed by her and made by me.
“Mom? We’re missing a set.”
“No we’re not. I made 6 sets.”
“But there are 7 bridesmaids with the maid of honor.”
“Uh oh… . Give the 6 bridesmaids their gifts and tell your maid of honor (my niece, Elizabeth) what happened. I’ll make the 7th set before the wedding….”
Unique
The designs we make for each bridal party are unique, and in this case, I didn’t know if I had the materials left to make another set. Although we were staying at the Stanley because of the distance, I had to
- make it back home before the wedding,
- in bad weather,
- with the closure of the main road closest to my house.
My husband and I left early the next morning and made it back with plenty of time and materials to make just one more set (and I do mean just one more down to the last sterling silver tube bead). And fortunately, I had a photo of the set from which to work.
But that also meant, if I had the wrong count for the bridesmaids gifts, then I also had the wrong count for … . Stay tuned next week for the next twist of the lemons… .
What was your biggest event planning oops?
(c) 2018, Karen Van Den Heuvel
