all dressed in white.

or green.

or red.

How the bridal market has changed! Remember the old days when wedding dresses were meringue, poofy and a paler shade of white? These days, wedding dresses are a true reflection of the bride which mean they run the gamut from gothic black victorian wear to slinky, backless halterneck numbers and everything in between.

Every little girl dreams about her wedding dress and the princess status that it will bestow on her. When we grow up and find the prince - the search for the perfect dress becomes a little more urgent. What Style? What Colour? Does this suit my body shape? These are the phrases that become mantras going round and round in your head over and over again - thank goodness for shops like Wedding Connexion!

Wedding Connexion are a premier wedding dress and evening wear shop in Johannesburg with imported collections from the fashion capitals of the world. They stock major bridal designers including Alfred Angelo, Dessy and Moonlight making them an obvious first (and last) destination in bridal shopping. What sets Wedding Connexion apart though is the level of service and detail that the provide. The Wedding Connexion fan page is one of the largest wedding planning sites in the world. Why? Brides from all over the world come together to ask the expert Connexion team wedding related questions from colour theme ideas to venue planning. Help is given generously and with expert opinion gathered from years of experience.

Wedding Connexion put it succinctly:

We specialise in fairy tale endings, We know that planning your wedding or special occasion is not easy and we offer wedding dresses, wedding accessories and exclusive evening wear by top designers, to  help you with your decisions. Easily. Beautifully. Without stress.

One of our brides will be winning a gift voucher from Wedding Connexion towards a wedding dress rental of their choice - cast your vote for who you think should win at our Facebook Fan Page.

Have a fabulous weekend all and dare i say it? GO SHARKS! :)

Yours in jewelry,

Shell

Morning all,

As you know, our i'm going to be a mrs competition is winding up and we thought that now was a good time to showcase our amazing sponsors once again with some fabulolus drool worthy pics.

Wedding photography is an art and as far as I am concerned, one of the most important choices you can make for your day. Realistically one must remember that your wedding day does end (usually far more quickly than you would have wanted!) and the only thing that will last past that day is your wedding album. Think about perusing it in years to come with your grandchildren - it is really is an important decision to make!

Kerry de Bruyn is a wedding photographer based in Durban and with a byline in elegance and fun. Her photos imbue the bubbly happiness and joy that the couple feel on their wedding day!

Here is Kerry's philosophy in her own words:

"For me, wedding photography is all about capturing the natural moments
that are shared at your wedding with no forced cheesy smiles. For me
natural equals beauty! As you'll see in all of my photos my goal is to
capture your personalities and who you are, along with the amazing
moments you share with your family and friends on the most magical day
in your life. My style is modern, elegant and eye catching and feeling
at ease with me is one of my special talents ;) I hope to make the
photographs from your wedding as beautiful as the love you share with
each other on your special day."

One of our lucky couple will win a wedding shoot with Kerry to immortalise their wedding day. DO you want to help influence who will win? Get to our Facebook Page  and "like" the proposal and couple story that you like the most.

Tomorrow, we look at Wedding Connexions, the shop of every bride's dreams!

Yours in Jewelry,

Shell

Morning all,

Budget planning is probably one of the biggest causes of stress when planning a wedding. Budgets skyrocket along with blood pressures and unfortunately in most cases, something (hopefully not the groom!) has got to go!

Nikki, one of our entrants in the i'm going to be a mrs competition has put together a list of her must haves for her wedding and marriage!

The pig needed a good feed.

So I am sorry for this late post. My poor fiancé had it with me this weekend! I was very ill.

But still I was badgering him with wedding tit bits! Even the flue cannot shut up and excited bride.

We haven’t set a date yet…. And here’s why….

If you’ve read my story on ‘I’m going to be a Mrs Competition’, then you will gather that we were in England quite recently.

Coincidently we came back with NOTHING! So for my birthday next month I’d like a toaster please!

We nested and built up a house and a life together there and unfortunately due to visa restrictions had to come back. We sold what we had and brought back some money to put a deposit on a new car.

We arrived back in February this year, and have had to build things up again.

I am back, living with my wonderful parents and their very orthodox ways.

When Jed sleeps over, he sleeps in the basement, I sleep in the attic and the door in between is locked!!!

With such a conventional family you can image how our living together in England was handled!

And I am sure you can all think of a few Christian wedding traditions… *grunts un-approvingly*

So here is the list of prerequisites:

1.     Jobs – fair enough, we need to be able to survive – had I not already chosen a man – A good Afrikaans Christian boy would have been on the top of this list.

Although I have a wonderful job with fairly good pay, Jed is on a contract at his current company and may only be offered a new contract at the end of November. So we will have to wait and see.

2.     Money – Ok, everybody needs money and having done my research with wedding suppliers my poor father may need to sell his BMW and SWAGG golf clubs to afford this extravagant affair.

3.     House – Who still buys nowadays? I like rent, I like movement, I like FULLY FURNISHED!

4.     Car – So I am currently staying with my parents(due to a lack of no 3) in order to save money (see no 2)but my new best friend; Whylie the VW Polo Vivo is sucking a large portion of my funds…When picking this car my father suggested the Sedan instead of the hatchback due to larger boot space…. Fortunately I don’t plan on having babies too soon, and I CAN fit a pram in my hatchback boot if I have too.

5.     Ring – refer to my post on Edyn page for the Ring/Bling Upgrade!

Wow, there are so many things but my mind is going wilder and faster than my fingers can. *pauses for a moment and stares at her gorgeous ring* J

 That’s me for today…

This is going to get crazy, fun, wild and fascinating…

I hope you keep reading!

Nikki and Jed need votes to win prizes to help them with their wish list. If you want to vote for them, get over to their facebook entry or email their name and  reference number 33 to wedding (at)edyncollection dot com

Tomorrow, we hear from one of our brides who got married on Saturday in Edyn jewels. *sigh - so pretty*

Yours in Jewelry,

Shell

Morning Edynites,

Hope that you had a fabulous weekend! Today's post is from Nadia who has some sound advice for other fellow brides - advice which many brides forget!

 So far I love imagining our wedding and coming up with ideas that are a bit different. It just frustrates me that I can’t get any quotations or bookings ahead of time as I’m planning a destination wedding (I’m only able to do that in December). I’ve joined a bridal discussion board, all advise I keep getting is It’s best planning ahead, some even started 2-3 years beforehand…Yes you can collect Ideas ahead but you won't be able to book your flowers/ dress/ rings, and I only have 7 months left until the big day!

When I see something I like…I love it and will not change my mind no matter what… A handy tip if you are planning 2 years ahead, don’t plan on what’s in fashion but what is in your taste. Style is to make the best of what you have. (Wise words from my father I will never forget)


When I started off planning, I started to design fancy wedding invitations…with complex patterns and folding methods…and then I heard a voice over my shoulder: “Baby try to design something simple”, it was Rodney. I started collecting ideas for mood boards and it became easier as I would pick 50 pictures and all the ones Rodney did not like, I deleted. Giving my man a voice in our wedding arrangements was the best thing ever. With our save the date I collected a bunch of Ideas and asked Rodney what he thought, he chose the most daring one. He was the one that wanted to keep it simple with no photos.

Our collaborative wedding mood board. :)

We ended up lying on grass, stuck in one position for a half hour for a single shot. I think Rodney lost all sensation in his arm but he did not complain once…due to rain we wrapped up our photo session and the photo was perfect. (See our Competition entry photo).

It’s the most fun planning our big day with my best friend. Now and then I’ll find him peeking over my shoulder and loving an idea I would never have thought he would, like a using wish tree instead of a guest book.

The easiest thing is to ask your man’s advice…he might just surprise you!

Nadia and Rodney are looking for votes to win some fabulous prizes in the I'm going to be Mrs Competition - vote for them on the edyn facebook page or email wedding (at) edyncollection (dot) com with the subject line: bride 17

Yours in jewelry

Shell

Morning all,

There definitely seems to be a pattern of stress and hsyterical happiness surrounding our brides! :)

Natasha is one of our latest entrants to I'm going to be a mrs, check out our facebook page for her love story with Johnson:

Natasha and Johnson

Thank you Edyn Collection for giving us future brides a space to " get it all out "!!
WOW I knew it was going to be stressful but not like this !!
Ok, I guess I put it on myself .. im a control freak! I  firmly believe if you want it done right you gotta do it your self !

BIG , MASSIVE MISTAKE !

Never start planning a wedding in this frame of mind !

My date is 26 Feb 2011 , I got a venue , having my dress made , got a fiancé,  got a priest ... you originally think after this check list is marked, you ready to go, ta,da,da,da down the isle.... uhmmm NO !
Browsed the internet, read wedding books / magz, sent emails, interviewed suppliers  for hours , days , weeks I could have pulled my hair out ! I would have but the fact that I want long beautiful hair for my wedding day stopped me ( thank goodness) .
 
1- Have you tried looking for tiaras? oh man ! Advice - wait for your dress to be finished and on the rail before you do tiara shopping !
2- made my own invitations - my fiancé helped , shame he said it felt like he was in an sweat shop , LOL!
3- mail ordered thank you gifts and personalized it
4 - mail ordered tissue packs and personalized it
5- mail ordered camera's , yip you guessed it, personalized it ( I have an issue of having something or using something someone else did /or might want to use )
6 - personalized wish lanterns from Taiwan( my fiancé is from Taiwan, yes we are combining Taiwan traditions and Portuguese traditions )
7 - mail ordered unity candles and......... personalized it !
8 - made my own save the date
9- I am currently making a check list for every person I have hired  the photographer, videographer, the venue , the caterer, hair stylist etc ( they will be shocked)
10 - I have 8 brides maids .... trying to get 8 girls to agree to a dress shape and color - instant migraine, getting gifts for them - a nightmare ! No, really - I had a nightmare about it !

Trust me the list does not end there , not by far , but on to other things now
I have go a box of over 100 quotes for hair,make up , cake, venues, dresses, jewelry, shoes, ring designers, photographers, DJ's, etc.... I reckon im qualified to be a wedding planner, and im sure you all feel the same way!

I have no idea if you guy have a big family like me, and everyone has to have some or other role to play at your wedding OR else you are asking for a family feud to last a life time ?~scratches head  ...asks politely~ "how do you do this ?"
 
Thank goodness for my knight in shining armor, and my gorgeous maid of honor , when I see either of them I feel like "ok exhale" , ~shack it off ~ it will be an amazing day regardless!

Natasha and her gorgeous maid of honour

Good to see that Natasha is keeping a sense of humour about the big day! Do you want to help her win fantastic prizes for her wedding? Vote for her and Johnson on the FB page  or by emailing wedding (at) edyncollection (dot) com

Yours in jewelry

Shell

Hi all,

Wedding planning is fun but sometimes it is just a little crazy! The gals at Edyn wanted to give the gals in I'm going to be a mrs some space to talk about their wedding experiences to date. So without further ado - our first guest post from Gina Greenberg, a resident of Cape Town who is getting married on the 29th January 2011 in Hout Bay. Go check out the story of how she met and fell in love with the man of her dreams in a previous blog post.

Wow.... this has been way more stressful than expected..
I got the venue and the dress and thought ok we on track, but there are so
many little things to do that keep adding up..

Thank goodness i have a fantastic Maid of Honour - LISA BULPIN, and Her
superstar Mom LINDA BULPIN , Who does the
most awesome wedding invitations!!!! , she has helped me with most of my
hard to make decisions like the bridal shower plans, the guest list and how
to ask for money, in a very polite indirect way...

Gina and BFF, Lisa

Without these 2 lovely ladies my mom and i would be totally out of the loop
with what needs to be done...

Anyway finally things are getting on track.... i am sooo excited :-)

So Gina is T-5 months - if you want to help her win some awesome wedding prizes, dont forget to vote on our Facebook Fan page...

Yours in jewelry

Shell

Hi y'all

Its been a crazy week in the Edyn offices - we are starting to design the next collection for October and yeeeeee haaawwwwww, it is going to be HOT! Adding some funky new earrings, FIERCE rings and some necklaces that are going to blow YOUR MIND!

There are a couple of cool things about designing jewelry for a costume jewellery line - we get to create chunky fashion jewelry which is colourful, modern and trendy, our women's jewellery has no constraints except our imagination AND we get to watch some cool movies in order to juice up said imagination as part of our job! Last night I watched SATC2 again with a margharita in hand (no cosmos for me - I am a tequila gal). Now those women have some fierce style! It has to be said that I am a big fan of Charlotte - LOVE her vintage stylings and her simple but chic look but OMG, did you see SJP's costume jewellery??

The chunky necklaces were to die for! The purple tutu and vintage tee - hmmm, not so much! ;)

So whilst I was crushing on SJP's accessories, I got to googling the lady herself and found her at a premiere with this necklace:

well, wouldn't you know that we have a very similar (and imminently more affordable) version in the Edyn store??

Ah, good to know that we are on trend - as always!

Best I get back to the design sandbox...

Stay Fabulous!

Lucy xoxo

Where has the year gone? I cant believe that it is already August! To our August born readers, a very happy birthday! You share your birthday month with pretty good company like Joe Jonas (the good looking one), Martha Stewart, Barack Obama, Antonio Banderas, Halle Berry and Madonna.  Hope your birthday is a fabulous one!

Some of my more organized friends have already started Christmas shopping which I do find a little stressful – I am still busy buying birthday presents for my August and September birthday friends! :) So rather than feverishly making up a Christmas shopping list, I decided to grab a cup of joe and read up on the birthstone of August – what would make a better present than a piece of designer jewelry set with a  birthstone especially designated for you? (Of course I do hope to have the sentiment returned – as a May baby, I have emeralds to look forward to!)

I first discovered that there are more than one birthstone designated to each month. Colour me happy – more options! There is a modern and a traditional birthstone – the modern birthstone being the peridot and the traditional birthstone being the sardonyx.

An unknown author wrote a poem which outlined the birthstones for all months which was later immortalized by Tiffany & Co in one of their marketing pamphlets. The stanza for August goes as follows:

Wear a peridot or for thee,

No conjugal fidelity,

The August born without this stone,

`Tis said, must live unloved; alone.

 Now, I am not the most superstitious person in the world but I really don’t like the idea of tempting the fates with that kind of threat!

 A little bit more about the stone though  - Peridot is one of the few stones which only appears in one colour - an olive green. The favored color is sparkling pale green color but it also occurs in lime, yellowish green, olive green or medium dark green.

 Some of the symbolism attached to the stone include:

• Love, truth, faithfulness and loyalty
• Fame, dignity, and protection
• The Peridot is also used to enhance prosperity, growth, and openness

Now I liked the colours of the Peridot but wasn't too excited by the history of the stone. The more traditional birthstone for August is Sardonyx and I loved the history that I found on this stone. It was a favorite gem of the ancients and thousands of years ago the Egyptians engraved these gems as scarabs and beetles and wore them as talismans. Roman soldiers often wore sardonyx stones engraved with Mars, the god of war, to render them brave and fearless in battle. During the Renaissance, sardonyx was believed to bring eloquence upon the wearer and was regarded with great value by public speakers and orators. Probably the most famous sardonyx was the one set in the gold ring and carved with the portrait of Elizabeth I. The Queen gave this ring to her lover, the Earl of Essex, as a memento and keepsake.

Sardonyx is also said to have a long list of healing and magical powers :

• protect against plagues (er, not as useful today as it would have been in earlier centuries!)
• protect against reptile and insect bites
• eliminate negative thinking (You can get your Christmas shopping done in time!)
• sharpen the mind and help bring passions and impulses under control
• aid restful sleep
• promote happiness in marriage and relationships
• strengthen the heart, kidneys, nerves, blood vessels, hair, and nails
• provide courage, peace and luck
• aid in legal matters (who doesn’t need a little legal aid?!)

The kicker for me was that a gift of a sardonyx is considered to be symbolic of happiness within a relationship. Now that is a nice value add to any birthday present!

So I checked through the Edyn Collection and found a lovely piece of costume jewelry that are perfect for that birthday present with real meaning!

Leaving you with that food for thought, I am going to sign off. Now that birthday pressies are out of the way, I might get started on that Christmas Shopping List…

Yours in jewelry,

Shell

References: wikipedia, suite 101, brittanica, gemstone institute

Greetings people of Edyn – I come in peace! :)

As Shell warned ya on Monday, I am Lucy, your new! stylish! blogger and I am here to add a little schleb glitter and pizzazz to the proceedings and hopefully show you some cool ways with costume jewelry and of course, our very own Edyn Designer Jewelry.

A little something about me. I am a twenty something (nearer to thirty than twenty) lover of fashion, stylist in a past life – now focusing on trends and design for the Edyn Collection. I am a clothes and accessories freak and get all my inspiration from the past, both distant and recent. You know that saying about clothes maketh the man? I believe that fierce accessories make the woman! My favourites include costume jewelry necklaces, fashion jewelry especially bracelets and I love love love chunky fashion jewelry!

I am addicted to my heart pendants and necklaces - in all shapes and sizes.

I LOVE vintage but like PROPER VINTAGE.

1940’s tailored clothes, red lipstick and coiffed hair.

1950’s ladylike clothes made for a woman with curves and beautiful shoes.

1970’s hair flicks, bell bottoms and colours.

1980’s crazy make up and big big hair. Heck, I will even throw some neon in here.

*swoon* so much fashion so little time!

So when I am not focusing on my day job with Edyn, I am a complete celeb fiend. I devour the pages of fashion about them – lets face it: celebs get to have the fashion lives that we all want – loads of fashion, frocks and fancies! AND FOR FREE!

Well worry not, friends – I am gonna be looking at celebs every week and pick up on a trend and then – hey presto! show you an edyn collection equivalent. Yip, I am good that way! :)

So just a quickie for you to get those style tastebuds going…

Now I know this is a couple of hair dos and colours ago for Rhianna but who can really keep up with this style chameleon?? Baroque and opulence is still very in for this season so this style of over the top costume jewelry necklace  is perfect for that feeling of extravagance.RhiRhi has obviously layered up a whole bunch of pearl necklaces with different textures to create this fabulicious collar. This takes chunky fashion jewelry to a whole new level!

Edyn’s answer to Rhianna’s pearl collar?

Glass pearls and crystals in a multistrand extravaganza – yum yum. Best of all? You can change the colour of the crystals to suit your particular colour palette AND you can get more than one set for that REALLY opulent look and feel.

So thats it for today - next time, a couple more celebs and the earrings that we are lusting after...

Gotta get back to the fashion salt mines – see you soon y’all!

BE FABULOUS.

Lucy xoxo

One of the sad things about the age we live in - I think - is our high levels of cynicism. We cock an eyebrow, look on in disbelief and wait for the gag to be revealed. In a world of trophy brides, iron tight antenups and desperate housewives, stories of love are just not the common - mills & boon and jackie collins maybe but not the real knee trembly type!

Which is why I have LOVED our i'm going to be a mrs competition. We have been so lucky to share in the stories of couples who have found their partners in all sorts of wild and wooly ways!

Nadia  who was nervous to take home her tattooed, pierced boyfriend to mum and dad but then survived a 2 month telephone friendship to reunite and be getting married soon to the ultimate gamer!

8 years and a beautiful daughter later, Michela and Vincent are planning for their beautiful simple wedding of their dreams..

Trudi and Gina - who both met the man of their dreams in school - only to find them years later and reunite. Who says love doesnt come around again?

And the one that had me reaching for tissues and completely smudging my make up - Michelle and Marc. Love at first sight but several stumbling blocks including cancer to get through before they get their fairytale ending in September!

These are just some of the couples who have entered our "i'm going to be a mrs" competition - there are even more stories on the Edyn Facebook Page for your viewing pleasure! Remember they need your votes to win prizes like jewelry, wedding photography, name changing vouchers, and dress vouchers! "like" them on the FB page or email wedding@edyncollection.com.

Like all little girls, I believed in fairy tale endings, pumpkins and the sparkles - but as is often the case, life provided a couple of knocks and a little tarnish on these dreams. Yippee then for these couples - its like polish on the dream of true love!

Enough goo for now! Lucy, one of our new bloggers will be joining us later in the week. Lucy is all about style and will be looking what fashion accessories celebs are lovin' and what we have in the Edyn Collection to match up!

Stay well and keep that cynism healthy!

Yours in Jewelry

Shell