A 'House For An Art Lover Shoot'. Designing the jewellery and accessories, part one.

Hallo everyone!

I was really delighted when Annabel, of Love My Dress, featured the House for An Art Lover shoot I was part of on her amazing blog. You can see the feature here.

I wanted devote a blog post to talking about how I designed all the jewellery and accessories for the shoot and to show you some of the gorgeous pictures that didn't make it onto Annabel's post. There were so many that I decided to dedicate one post to the 1930s part of the shoot, and another post to the 1950s part.

My starting point when designing any piece is the dress that it is to be worn with. My philosophy is to never overshadow the dress (or the wearer) but to emphasise the beauty of both, and to draw out, and play on, certain aspects of the design of the dress.

So Wendy and I met up one Sunday afternoon at the very beginning of the whole planning process, which was about two months before the date of the shoot. We talked about styles, fabrics and colours and looked through books of historical and vintage costume. At this point, I had a good idea of the shapes and styles of the dresses she was going to be making.

Wendy then decided on the fabric she was going to use and the specific colours. She posted me swatches of the different fabrics, and I could then begin to think about the colours for my own pieces. I felt I wanted some pieces to be tonal and some to be contrasting. I was also aware that I wanted to design some pieces that would be interesting for photographers to work with. This could be in terms of shape, or scale, or of certain materials.

With all that in mind, I set to work, and over the course of a couple of months designed and made a series of different pieces to go with the six dresses that Wendy had designed for the shoot.

On the day of the shoot itself it was incredibly exciting to see how the contributions from all the different wedding creatives we were working with came together, and in such a seemless manner as well.

So here is a small selection of the images from the shoot. They all show Wendy's elegant 1930s inspired dresses and the jewellery and accessories that I designed for them. They also show the very stylish contributions by all of the other creatives working on the shoot.

Zoë Campbell Photography

Zoë Campbell Photography

Zoë Campbell Photography

I really love this image by Zoe, as the shape of the headpiece echoes the beautiful ornamentation in the Macintosh chairs.

Zoë Campbell Photography

Zoë Campbell Photography

Mack Photography

Mack Photography

Mack Photography

This is one of my favourite images from the whole shoot, as it shows my work at its very best: the lines of the headpiece are beautifully framed, and the delicacy and ethereal quality of the earrings are also very evident.

Struve Photography

Struve Photography

I remember talking to Lindsey on the day of the shoot about how difficult I found it to get good photographs of my Swarovski rhinestone pieces. I was really bowled over when she emailed me this image!

Mack Photography

Struve Photography

Mack Photography

Zoë Campbell Photography

Zoë Campbell Photography

Zoë Campbell Photography

Zoë Campbell Photography

Struve Photography

Struve Photography

I really love this image by Kristin, as it shows the details of my work really clearly: the contrast in colours between the black and the silver; the contrast between the smooth regular lines of the main structure, and the irregular organic ones weaving their way around the structure; the contrast between the crisp, regular facets of the black Swarovski crystals and the irregular, angular ones of the black onyx chips.

Struve Photography

You're most welcome to pop by and try these pieces on, or come and have a chat about your own ideas...just drop me a line!

Email

Email Gioia Mia here

Shoot Contributors

Photography

Struve Photography

Mack Photography

Zoë Campbell Photography

Make-up Artist

Sophie Edwards

Hair Stylist

London Ross

Dress Designer-Maker

Flossy and Dossy

Jewellery and Accessories

Gioia Mia

Menswear

A Suit That Fits

Flowers

I Heart Flowers

Stationery

Caroline Hill Wedding Stationery

Car

Nuvo Limousines

Gramophone

Butler and Taylor

Venue

House for an Art Lover, Glasgow

Models

Emily Morton

Caeley Elcock

Jamie Hillen

Omar Zingaro Bhatia

Real Brides: Lynne

Hallo everyone!

I'm really delighted to bring you another post in my series of interviews featuring some of the beautiful brides for whom I have made jewellery and accessories.

Lynne commissioned a tiara, hairpins and a necklace and earrings set for herself, and co-ordinating necklace and earring sets for her bridesmaids.

At what stage in the whole wedding planning process did you start thinking about your jewellery and accessories?

As soon as I had my dress ordered I started thinking about jewellery and accessories and having a look online to see what was available.

How did you hear about Gioia Mia?

I heard about Gioia Mia through The Scottish Wedding Directory website using their search page.

How did you decide what jewellery and accessories to wear?

I wanted to keep my jewellery simple as I wanted my dress to be the focal point with the orchids on it but also wanted some sparkle to catch the light, especially for my tiara and hair pins. I also wanted by bridesmaid's jewellery to be the same as mine, but to match the colour of the dresses they were wearing.

I met up with Lynne in her lunch hour one day and we had a good chat about her beautiful dress and about the ideas she already had for her pieces. She wanted a high tiara with an organic feel to it. So I designed a piece with lots of little leaves and branches made from small, white Swarovski pearls and clear crystals to catch the light as she moved. Her necklace and earrings were simple Swarovski pearl drops, perfect for the understated elegance she was after. We matched the colour of her bridesmaid's jewellery to the sample of fabric she had brought along.

What did you enjoy most about having your jewellery and accessories designed and made for you?

I knew I was getting what I wanted both in style and colour match for my bridesmaid's dresses, and also I knew that I was getting a one off tiara that I adore! All my jewellery tied in beautifully with the day and what my bridesmaids and myself was wearing. It was so exciting picking my jewellery up and seeing it for the first time.

Is there any advice about jewellery and accessories that you would give a bride to be?

Have a good look around before picking something, there are so many websites with such a large selection to choose from it can be quite a daunting task and if you have an idea and you don't see it anywhere or you want something special then you always have the option of getting it made especially for you.

If you would like to arrange an appointment to have a chat about your own designs and ideas please do drop me a line! You can email me here. Appointments can be arranged for afternoons and evenings, weekdays or weekends. I work from a light and airy studio space in Miller Street, in the centre of Glasgow.

Credits

I am really grateful to Suzanne Hodgson of Natural Weddings

for allowing me to use her images of Lynne and her bridesmaids on my blog

Lynne's elegant hairstyle and makeup were by Ruth Chalk of Beautiful You

Gioia Mia featured in 'The Scottish Wedding Directory'

Hallo everyone!


I'm really delighted to have some of my jewellery and accessories included in the current edition of The Scottish Wedding Directory. I really love these images...I hope you do too.

The Scottish Wedding Directory, January 2012, 134

Arco headband in Swarovski crystal and pearl

Earrings in sterling silver, Swarovski crystal and pearl

Both of these elegant pieces can be made in any of the many different colours and shades of Swarovski pearls and crystals available.

The Scottish Wedding Directory, January 2012, 118

Venus headband in Swarovski rhinestone and pearl

This such a beautiful headband, and absolutely perfect for those brides who are looking for a little understated glamour.

The Scottish Wedding Directory, January 2012, 139

Duo necklace and earrings in sterling silver, Swarovski crystal and pearl

This beautiful necklace and earring set has been hugely popular with both brides and bridesmaids alike. They are pretty and delicate pieces which add a touch of elegance to any dress, and can be made to order in any of the different colours of pearls and crystals made by Swarovski - the perfect way to match up a bride or bridesmaid's jewellery with her dress.

I was very excited to see two of the images from an amazing photoshoot that I collaborated on recently in the Directory.

The shoot has also just been featured on the stylish Love My Dress blog (you can see the feature here).

The Scottish Wedding Directory, January 2012, 150

Photograph by Zoe Campbell Photography

Sinamay and Swarovski crystal hat

This feature in the Directory on some of the most popular colours for this year was aimed at bridesmaids in particular, and suggested jewellery and accessories to pick out particular themes, such as the bracelet below:

The Scottish Wedding Directory, January 2012, 151

Sterling silver, Swarovski crystal and glass bracelet

The second image from our shoot that was included by the Directory, was in a feature on bridal hair styles:

The Scottish Wedding Directory, January 2012, 200

Photograph by Struve Photography

Arco tiara comb in Swarovski pearl and crystal

Duo necklace in sterling silver, Swarovski pearl and crystal

I'll be posting some more about this beautiful shoot in the near future, but in the meantime, you're most welcome to pop by and try these pieces on, or come and have a chat about your own ideas...just drop me a line!

Links

Email Gioia Mia

The Scottish Wedding Directory

Love My Dress

Zoe Campbell Photography

Struve Photography

New Gioia Mia blog button

Hallo everyone


Have you been featured on my blog? Would you like one of my lovely new blog buttons? Drop me a line and I'd be delighted to send you one!

Gioia Mia featured on 'Love My Dress'

Hallo everyone

I'm unbelievably excited to let you know that an amazing shoot I collaborated on, and contributed to, has been featured on the wonderful 'Love My Dress' blog. You can see the post here.

I'll be posting some more of the images over the next few weeks, and a little more about all the different collaborators to the shoot. I hope you enjoy it!