Customized Brides: Accessories

Now you know how to customize your wedding dress to make it just perfect for you, let's talk about some of the ways you can customize your accessories.

When it comes to shoes, buy some in a nice plain style and shade with no details. This gives you the freedom to completely add your own style to them and make them as individual as you are. You can’t be walking down the aisle in Target shoes that don’t quite match your dress. You can, however, buy bargain Target shoes and tweak them until they are perfect. Do it well and nobody will suspect a thing- you could always pass them off as designer! Try adding ribbon bows to the shoes to match your color scheme, or cover in a sprinkling of rhinestones. If you do plan to use rhinestones, bear in mind that they work best on porous materials as the glue bonds better with the fabric. If the shoes are a pale color, you can get them dyed to match your color scheme perfectly. Be wary of dying them yourself though- they could go blotchy and mottled if you’re not careful.

Once the shoes are sorted, have a think about your bag. If you have customized your shoes, you will be able to get your bag exactly the same. You can then use any leftover trimmings to make other accessories- tie a rhinestone- encrusted ribbon in your hair, or make a ribbon flower to pin behind your ear.

When it comes to creating custom jewelry, think vintage and take a look in your grandmother's jewelry box for old costume jewelry that you can use to create a fabulous new design. You could string a pendant onto a thin piece of ribbon to make an unusual necklace, or thread a brooch on a wider piece of velvet ribbon for a choker. Custom jewelry is great for bridesmaids presents too, and will carry extra special meaning because it was handmade by you. There are a huge variety of ideas and tutorials online, on sites such as jewelrylessons.com, to inspire and guide you.

Then of course there are the finishing touches for your bouquet. Get out some more of that trusty ribbon (you must have ribbon coming out of your ears by now!) and tie it around the stems. If you choose a simple bouquet of one color, you can add colored feathers, or even fake flowers, to add a contrasting or complimenting color for a fraction of the price. You can also use this theme in your venue flowers to carry the customized color scheme throughout the day.

Customizing is such a great skill to have. It’s not just useful for your wedding day but for years afterward too. If you haven’t experimented with customizing since you were 13, start now to get loads of practice in before the day. Practice with small cheap items that you can completely destroy without worrying and by the time your wedding comes around, you should be a complete pro.