I can’t believe I missed this last year! Music producer and American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi got married last July at a very private ceremony in Maine. Her husband is actually someone far removed from showbiz – his name is Mike McCuddy and he’s a general contractor who built the house next to her summer house in Prospect Harbor . They met when she marched next door to complain about how the house he was building was too close to hers. She found him hot, they ended up dating, and they got engaged during a vacation in Mexico.

Kara DioGuardi said her I do’s in a strapless silk faille gown by Vera Wang. Her wedding dress is from Vera Wang’s fall 2008 collection and features a bustling mermaid skirt with a long train.

She also wore $250,000 worth of wedding bling from celebrity jeweler Neil Lane. Her jewelry consisted of candelier earrings with 20 carat diamonds and a 30-carat diamond and platinum bracelet. Personally, I wouldn’t spend that much on my wedding jewelry but hey, I’m no celebrity!

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Fourteen-year old girls everywhere (and fourteen-year-olds at heart) must have spent a good chunk of last weekend queuing to grab tickets to the New Moon, the next installment in the Twilight series. I’ve never even touched the book, but fans might be interested in this Twilight-inspired collectible I found. At the end of New Moon, Edward Cullen pops the question to Bella with an antique heirloom ring awkwardly described as a “long oval, set with slanting rows of glittering round stones.” Emitations designed a costume jewelry engagement ring based on the book’s description, which you can buy on Amazon for $49. It’s made of gold-plated sterling silver that forms a fragile web around faux diamonds. The ring is supported by a split band for a comfy fit, and is also available in silver (but you might want to get the gold-plated one for a more authentic piece, as the book indicates the ring as being gold).

I wonder if readers of Twilight would actually be thrilled to receive a wedding proposal with this ring.

Marilyn Monroe might think that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but who says decking yourself with shiny gems is the only way to accessorize your wedding dress? You’ll stand out even more if you finish off your wedding dress with a non-traditional object, like lace. Lace bridal jewelry is a gorgeous and creative alternative to traditional bridal jewelry. The same rules still apply – the more simple the gown, the larger and more ornate the lace jewelry. The more embellished the gown, the simpler the jewelry.

You can easily make lace jewelry yourself with lace from a craft store, or you can buy them from US-based Etsy seller Live in Style. They’re a little expensive, but the craftsmanship looks excellent and each piece is intricately designed. I’m absolutely in love with her creations; check out my favorites below!

Chloe features ivory lace blossoms asymmetrically arranged and held up by two antiqued brass chains. It’s a lovely way to dress up a simple wedding dress.

Follow the fall 2010 black accent trend with a strand of black lace blossoms around your neck. Amp up the style factor with a pair of black gloves.

Who says lace can only be used as part of a bridal veil? You might want to use a lace-adorned headband instead of the usual Swarovski crystal tiara or hairclip.

Photos from LiveInStyle

The company was born when the founders noticed that the only engagement rings out there are made of pricey diamonds, and that there there is no organized source of unusual engagement rings. Turtle Love Committe believes that the value of an engagement ring should not be placed on its financial expense, but on the love and commitment that it symbolizes. Thus, every single piece they offer is carefully selected for its quality and design so they can reflect your relationship and lifestyle best. If you look through the website, you’ll notice that the design of each piece really is truly unusual, and that not a single piece of jewelry has a diamond on it.

The Monhegan moonstone engagement ring was the first that caught my eye, mostly because moonstones are among my favorite semi-precious rocks. Their milky white color is beautifully understated and if you place it underneath the light, they reflect subtle hues of purple and blue. The Monhegan moonstone engagement ring is dominated by a large faceted moonstone about the size of a 3-carat diamond. It’s stunning but not tacky, and the lucky girl who receives this is sure to cherish the ring for many years to come.

The Kennebuck ring is a modern-day replica of the pierced filigree rings that were all the rage in the 1920’s. Featuring a sparkling six-sided amethyst set in the arch, the ring Kennebuck ring is also available in garnet and blue topaz.

The classic solitaire setting is one of the most popular engagement ring styles, and this ring follows tradition while staying unique. A lovely faceted peridot is set in the middle of this elegant ring, which can also be customized according to your needs. The ring is also available in garnet, amethyst, and blue topaz, and the band can be made out of sterling silver, white gold, or 14k yellow.

The Penobscot ring has a lovely retro design: a freshwater pearl inside a darkened silver cup, which emphasizes the radiance of the pearl even more. Not only is this ring a unique symbol of love and commitment, but it’s also a fashion statement that can be easily worn with different outfits.

Check out the Turtle Love Committee website to see the rest of their engagement, wedding, and organic jewelry.

Men don’t really wear a lot of jewelry and there haven’t been many options in men’s wedding bands, until recently. Scott Kay, one of the world’s authorities on bridal and platinum jewelry, has recently launched an alluring collection of men’s wedding jewelry. The collection features engraved cuffwear studded with onyx, as well as wedding bands that allow men to speak their personality beyond their wedding day. The tattoo-inspired rings in particular use an interesting process to bind ink with metal, creating quite literally a tattooed wedding band.

Who says brides get to have all the fun? Look under the jump for our top picks among Scott Kay’s collection of men’s wedding bands.

View the entire catalog at ScottKay.Com.

Classic Bride

Classic brides take their cue from Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Onassis, and Grace Kelly. With a fashion sense that’s timeless, traditional, and tasteful, the classic bride should go for delicate diamond studs to add some sparkle to her A-line wedding dress or sheath silhouette. Single-strand pearl necklaces and simple gold bracelets will look luminous and refined against an unembellished wedding dress, and will echo the gown’s graceful lines.

Glamorous Bride

Glamorous brides adore the spotlight and being at the center of attention, and their chic, sleek, dramatic style reflects that. Hollywood-inspired weddings and glam themes call for high-watt bling – the bigger, the better. Extravagant hairpins, oversized diamonds, cocktail rings, and dramatic chandelier earrings are the perfect touches to a wedding gown that flaunts your body and skins every curve. Top the look with a glamorous hairstyle.

Romantic Bride

Romantic brides spent their whole girlhood dreaming about their wedding and the price who will sweep them off their feet. Celebrate your romantic, feminine side with Victorian inspired accessories. Cameo pendants and heart-shaped lockets transport you to a time where lavish, ruffled gowns were the norm. Pretty up with precious pink gemstomes, and look like a princess with a jewel-encrusted tiara crowning soft curls.

Modern Bride

Your fashion-forward and slightly unconventional tastes mean you’re the one who always sets the trends, or is the first to try out new things. As a modern bride, you’ll look best in unadorned metals against a chic, figure-forming wedding dress. Minimalist finishes and geometrical shapes will complete the look of wedding dresses with architectural seams, pleats, and textural treatments. But make sure your modern bridesmaids look just as stunning as you do.

Bohemian Bride

Bohemian brides sport a unique style that’s partly a collage of cultures, partly earthy, partly out of this world. Go for art nouveau pieces inspired by nature’s shapes – leaves, flowers, and berries – will look pretty on empire-waist gowns in light, fluttery fabrics and delicate embellishments. You might also want to try hand painted jewelry and large ethnic pieces as a tribute to the poetry in nature. For more advice for the bohemian bride, check out our wedding theme suggestions, style tips, and bohemian wedding hairstyles.

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Every girl who has always wanted to be a bride must have already envisioned the glittering diamond ring her fiance would give as he asks for her hand in marriage. Every starry-eyed young man who intends to propose marriage is probably saving a considerable sum of their salary just to be able to afford the fancy engagement ring every woman desires. But did you know that women in Africa can’t wear wedding rings just so that consumers all over the world can?

Brand new diamonds, also called blood diamonds, are what funds and fuels wars in conflict-ridden countries in Africa. Not only does the sale and trade of blood diamonds maintain violence in nations like Zambia and Botswana; the mining industry has almost completely destroyed their natural resources while encouraging corruption in the government and back-breaking slave labor. Although the diamond industry has attempted to establish regulations to make sure that jewelers only buy conflict-free diamonds, the system is not entirely fool-proof. It’s easy to smuggle the diamonds across borders and sell them illegally. Chances are, the big shiny rock you’ve been admiring at the jewelery store window was mined by slave labor or child labor.

So how can you avoid patronizing blood diamonds? If you really must buy your fiancee a diamond engagement ring, make sure your jeweler sells only conflict-free diamonds. Ask the sales person or the jeweler where their diamonds come from, if their company has a policy on conflict diamonds, and if they have a written guarantee from their diamond suppliers stating that their rocks are conflict-free. Alternately, you can check out vintage jewelry stores and see if they carry diamond engagement rings. Vintage jewelry has more character and history than brand-new ones, and are just as elegant and classy as those you can buy from a store.

You can also choose to get your fiancee an engagement ring or wedding bands made out of semi-precious stones like opals, sapphires, moonstones, or your birthstones.

With a little awareness and ethical decision making, you can play a small but significant part in reducing the demand for blood diamonds and putting a stop to the blood diamond trade.

For more information on blood diamonds, check out the following articles and websites:
Combating Blood Diamonds: The Diamond Industry’s Failure
Stop Blood Diamonds
Measuring a Diamond’s True Price
The Consumer’s Guide to Blood Diamonds

If you ask me, antique engagement rings have more character and taste than modern engagement rings. They’re more than just jewelry; they’re a testament to history and good old-fashioned fine craftsmanship. Even with modern technology it is difficult to replicate the intricate detail of antique engagement rings, so they will continue to appreciate in value over time.

The best antique engagement rings are the ones from the turn of the century (the late Victorian era) up until the 1940’s. Jewelry from different eras have their own unique characteristics. Victorian era engagement rings and jewelry made until the 1920’s have fine, filigree detail on the mounting and were often made in platinum or white gold. Engagement rings in the 1930’s and 1940’s had smaller diamonds and intricate carvings on the ring shank. They were made out of yellow gold and white cold (or a combination of both) and the diamond is set in a gold, square-shaped box which enhances the size and color of the stone. Diamonds in a 1940-era engagement ring looks larger than diamonds in the traditional solitaire setting.

The carat and clarity of the diamond is still the primary determinant of an antique engagement ring’s price. The larger and clearer the stone, the more expensive it will be. If you don’t have a lot of money to spend on an antique engagement ring, consider an art deco ring, a style popular in the 1930’s and 1940’s. As mentioned earlier, rings made in the 1930’s and 1940’s were mounted in elaborate, square-shaped boxes that gave the illusion of a larger diamond, giving you the look of a bigger diamond for the price of a small one.

When looking at antique engagement rings, make sure that the diamond and other stones are secure and their prongs are not work. Watch out for thinning shanks or any breaks in the filigree work. To maintain and care for the antique engagement ring, have a trusted jeweler clean the ring every year.

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If you thought that the veil is the only thing you can wear on your hair during your wedding day, think again. To me, the most versatile hair accessory for brides out there is the bridal tiara – and I’m not talking about the ones that beauty queens wear on their head. A bridal tiara is basically a lightweight beaded band worn around the crown of the head or around the bun of an up-do. Any material can be used on a bridal tiara but the most elegant and romantic look can be achieved with Swarovski crystals – high-quality glass beads from Austria which are cut in such a way as to reflect light and make the entire accessory glitter and sparkle.

The best thing about Swarovski crystal bridal tiaras is that they can’t normally be bought off the shelves – you have to have one made by a jeweler. This means that each piece is unique and fully customizable. When choosing which Swarovski crystals you want on your tiara, I suggest that you look at the color combination of your bouquet and pick out beads that will complement and match your bouquet. For instance, a white and pink bridal tiara would look stunning on you while you carry a peach, white, and pink rose bouquet.

Ask your wedding planner if she knows of any local jewelers who makes custom bridal tiaras.

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Deciding what to wear on your wedding day does not end in choosing your wedding gown design – you’ve got to consider what bridal jewelry to wear with it! If you don’t know what kind of jewelry to wear, go for pearls. According to top jewelry designers, pearls are the best stones to set on bridal jewelry because of their versatility. The delicate luster and classic simplicity of pearls draw attention to the bride’s face while subtly complementing her white wedding gown, no matter what style it’s in. The best part about pearl bridal jewelry is that you can wear them with other formal dresses after your wedding.

Pearl necklaces are typically divided into six different lengths. A pearl collar is around 10 to 14 inches long and made of three or more strands of pearls. Since this type sits comfortably around the lower part of the neck, the choker is best worn with a strapless or off-shoulder wedding gowns, or v-necklines. A similar necklace to the pearl collar is the pearl choker. The choker is about two inches longer and sits comfortably on the collarbones – perfect for strapless gowns.

If you want a longer necklace to go with your dress, go for the princess pearl necklace. These necklaces are 17 to 19 inches long and look amazing on any bridal gown style. You can also combine your princess pearl necklace with other kinds of necklaces. The best type to combine with the princess pearl is the pearl matinee necklace, which is around 20 to 25 inches long. These necklaces look stunning on wedding gowns with high necklines.

Even longer than the princess and matinee pearl necklace is the opera pearl necklace at 27 to 36 inches. The opera pearl necklace can be worn as it is or wrapped into double strands. This type of necklace instantly glams up the simplest of wedding gowns. And if you think you still need more pearls to go with your wedding dress, there is the pearl rope option if you really can’t get enough of pearl jewelry to wear. Pearl rope necklaces are 40 to 72 inches long.

As for your earrings, the trick is to balance out your jewelry so you don’t end up looking too gaudy. Wear simple pearl studs if your necklace is heavy and intricate; opt for chandelier pearl earrings or more complicated designs if you choose to wear a simple necklace.

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