Choosing jewellery for your Mallorca destination wedding

The jewellery you choose for your wedding day is the most important you will choose in your life.

Do you go full-on diamante style? Perhaps an ultra-simple string of pearls, a tiny pair of earrings and a silver chain? A family heirloom, or something daring and contemporary? Should it be something you have had made specially, something given or lent by a family member? Or something you found spontaneously with your partner? The choice is yours, but it can be hard to decide!

It can help to narrow them down by the key details of your wedding. Whether elegant, vintage, chic, rustic or contemporary, your venue, your personal style and your initial ideas should set the scene.

One of our favourite jewellers here in Mallorca is Angela Marshall. Her creative and romantic pieces in freshwater pearls and a plethora of gorgeous semi-precious stone have been a delight from 2012 when she first started out.

This week, I visited her in her beautiful mountain studio, tucked into the hills between Soller and Deia. Over an afternoon coffee, with the warm wind gently rustling in the olive trees, we talked about the inspiration for her  pieces.

Angela is entirely self-taught and started out when she couldn’t find jewellery she liked. She began by finding vintage pieces in thrift shops and de-constructing them to recreate new pieces. Soon afterwards, she displayed her work at Mood, a beach club in Portals, at a group sales show, and a friend asked if she made wedding pieces. That sowed the seed for her wedding range and she began to explore the stones and designs that have become her signature style.

For couples wanting to commissioning a piece of jewellery- how do you start?

Often, a bride will approach Angie directly via her Etsy online shop or by Facebook.

The first question is often “could you make me something for my wedding next year?”

Angie takes up the thread. “The first step is to establish the colour palette. This might be blush, rose gold, ivory, peach or even navy. Sometimes the bride will send me a photograph of the dress or other wedding elements so that I get a flavour of the wedding style.”

“Next, I ask if she has seen anything she likes from my collection, perhaps from Pinterest or Instagram, which hones down the elements of the style and the shapes she likes. From there, I begin to select the stones that we’ll use in the finished piece.”

“Then, I’ll send a photograph of the stones to check we’re on the right track. For a headband, the bride might ask for it to be larger or smaller, more delicate or more chunky. When I make a start on creating the piece, I’ll send a photo and ask if we are are going in the right direction.” So it’s a truly collaborative process, and the resulting piece can be completely in tune with the bride’s ideas.

Pearls and stones

I ask if she has favourite stones that she loves to work with. “Freshwater pearls are my absolute favourites” she says. “there are so many amazing colours and shapes” she shows me necklaces of “stick pearls”, tiny flattened discs with lustres of blue and pink made into bracelets, and delightful hair slides combining shapes and colours into flower shapes. There’s a beautiful tiara, necklaces of pearls with twisted silver wire in asymetrical shapes and delicate bracelets. I want them all!

She continues, “I also love labradorites, opals and moonstones – these are stones you can really look into and see the depths within”.

Inspired by nature

Living in the mountains, surrounded by olive groves and lemon orchards, right between Deia and Soller, does she find inspiration in the Mallorcan landscape?” “Absolutely!” she say, “I love flowers, and here, we are part of the cycle of the natural world. High up as we are, we can see the sea in the distance and the foamy shapes of the waves, natural swirls and range of blues, from palest foam to intense topaz are echoed in the stones I love to use.”

Wedding jewellery made from freshwater pearls

Mothers of the bride and bridesmaids

As well as brides, Angela’s clients include mothers of the bride and groom, looking for something unique to match their outfit. The pieces she creates are perfect for the day but they can also be used for special occasions afterwards.

And for bridesmaids, she can make necklaces and bracelets which perfectly complement the bride’s jewellery without breaking the bank. Presented to the bridesmaids during the preparations just before the ceremony, these can also act as gifts given to thank them for their part in the day.

Prices range from €10 for a pair of freshwater pearl earrings and €25-28 for a bracelet to €55 for a necklace and €75 for a tiara.

To buy or commission a piece from Angela, contact her via Instagram or Facebook:

https://www.instagram.com/angelamarshalljewels/

https://www.facebook.com/AngelaMarshallJewellery

Or check out her collections on Etsy:

https://www.etsy.com/ie/shop/AngelaMarshallJewels