Lia Sophia and Anita Ko gems for the bride and her party.

Between the guest list, the invites, the dress and the shoes, the last thing the bride has time to worry about are the jewels! Luxury jewelry lines Anita Ko & Neil Lane for ARCADEBoutique.com and lia sophia are just right for adding that perfect bit of sparkle to a beautiful bride. Easy and effortless, Anita Ko, Neil Lane, and lia sophia are the epitome of wedding elegance.

From top:

lia sophia “Estate Stretch Bracelet” $700, lia sophia “Runway Button Post Earrings” $130, lia sophia “Runway Hop Earrings” $65, lia sophia “Estate Chandelier Earrings” $300, lia sophia “Crystal Necklace” $220,
lia sophia “Crystal Earrings” $78
Available at: www.liasophia.com

Anita Ko “Double Wing Ring” $6510, Anita Ko “Yellow gold Pyramid Studs” $305,
Anita Ko “Rose Gold Pyramid Studs” $305, Anita Ko “White Gold Spike Bracelet” $5220, Neil Lane for ARCADE “$2,660
Available at: www.ARCADEboutique.com  

Holiday gift ideas for the bride or her bridal party

Ok, so you may have had a blast (or avoided) Black Friday, or taken to your keyboard (or decided it was time to hand-write all day) for Cyber Monday.  No matter what you did, the holidays and growing number of newly engaged couples are just around the corner. Here are some of my holiday gift ideas for the bride, bridal party and even the mom’s. Tomorrow there will be more. I hope you enjoy them. 

Joya perfume

Joya’s first foray into artisanal fine fragrance worked out wonderfully with ceramic artist Sarah Cihat to create two beautiful bottles filled with equally beautiful fragrances.  These so beautiful and a wonderful gift to the bride – is the handcrafted porcelain (Black is Comp #6 and White is Comp #5) bottle and 22k gold dipped wand.  Luxury by any other name wouldn’t be as sweet. 

Peggy Li Holiday Collection

Utilizing chains with shimmer and stones with saturated color, these pieces convey a sense of luxury and richness found during this festive time of year. I think some of these would be lovely gifts for the bridal party as well as perhaps something special for your future mother (and sister) in law.  Prices range from $39 to $220. The Holiday Collection is currently available on her web site.

Azuri Luxury

Azuri is my new favorite line of wraps, shawls and scarves created from the finest natural fabrics including silk, chiffon, wool, pashmina, cashmere, charmeuse, organic cotton, linen and bamboo. The Azuri range is perfect anytime but especially for brides and bridal parties as the wraps and shawls provide warmth, and add a touch of elegance to any outfit.  Remember just because you’re having an island destination wedding, it does get chilly.  Honestly, these are just perfect anytime for anyone.  They have over 110 color options, so there is a color for everyone.

Mar Y Sol

Speaking of destination weddings, these cute and colorful clutches are a great accent for the bridal party and ideal for a tropical island setting!  Mar Y Sol has tons on their website including some that are more ‘beachy’ if that’s the look you’re going for.

 There will be more tomorrow, so see you then...

You can eat, pray and your bridal party will love these gifts

Eat, Pray, Love - the key to finding your own happiness

The book by Elizabeth Gilbert, that swept across the literary world and had some woman booking their own trips to “Eat, Pray, Love”, has surely created another opportunity for gifts for your bridal party as their share your own adventure to love.

Fresh, known for their wonderful soaps, scrubs, and prettily wrapped gift items, has a new trio of fragrances that are inspired by the movie. Eat – lemon, basil and bergamot = sweet wine and desert anyone? Pray – spices and fragrances of India = exotic spices and silky undertones that embodies India’s serene sunsets and incense-laced warm wind. Love – Jasmine, mango blossoms that will instantly take you to the South Seas. I’m sure you can find a fragrance that will match each of your bridal party.

Dogeared my favorite eco-friendly company that brought you inspired SATC2 jewels, has designed yet another beautiful collection. The essence of EPL resonated with Dogeared whose philosophy is “Life is a journey”.

“Designing Eat, Pray, Love by Dogeared has been a profound and challenging adventure. We are huge fans of the book, and feel that it truly relates to what we do at Dogeared every day. It was important for us to create pieces that really reflect the beauty and honesty of this story. We wanted to offer fans of the book something they can connect with, to wear and take on their own personal journeys,” commented Marcia Maizel-Clarke, Dogeared’s founder. “It was a natural connection, because so much of Dogeared’s point of view is already aligned with the meaning and the message behind Eat, Pray, Love. We took our modern, handmade aesthetic, Earth-friendly materials, and quotes and inspiration from the book; and designed an extensive collection that evokes the spirit of Elizabeth Gilbert’s remarkable story.”

With a blend of some of their classics, like the Make a Wish necklace and charm, they have created everything from bookmarks, journals luggage tags, travel bags, and of course gems to be worn and adored. In my opinion, these are wonderful no matter where your wedding is, but if you are planning a destination wedding, these extremely affordable gifts would be a perfect way to start your bridal party on their own adventure. You can purchase them from their site but know that Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus Cusp, Bloomingdales, Fred Segal, ABC Home, and Scoop also sell them.

Finally, with so many lovely teas on the market, if you are planning a 'Eat, Pray, Love' themed shower, then you simply must have tea to go with it. I actually sampled it at the NYC Food Show a few weeks ago and it’s quite good. Made with succulent blood oranges from Italy, smooth black tea from India and heart-warming cinnamon from Indonesia a perfect blend. Try it iced for a cool refreshing drink.
Ahhhh, I do feel love in the air, I’m totally at peace and pass the pasta – with two forks of course.