Olha
Jewellery for a wedding: from bride to guest
Three different roles, three different criteria. The usual mistake is applying the bride's rules as a guest.
The bride wears white, so her jewellery is the only colour she has on. She can afford a statement piece and she can afford real colour, because it isn't competing with anything. What she shouldn't do is choose something she'll never wear again: it costs the same as something she will.
The mother of the bride, or the maid of honour, has the opposite problem: she usually wears a strong colour, and the jewellery has to live alongside it. That's where neutral-toned pieces with a single accent work, and multicoloured bunches work badly.
The guest has complete freedom and almost always wastes it out of caution. It's the one event of the year where a statement piece is welcome, and most people end up wearing something discreet they already owned.
And one practical warning that nobody gives: if the ceremony is outdoors in summer, avoid pieces that brush against the neck. In the heat, eight hours of friction will make itself felt.
