I'd skip the crowns, on both the boys and the girls - they are going to play with them and they'll be all askew by the time 5 minutes go by. If you want to get them some baby's breath for their hair that's one thing but I'd skip the tiara's. If you want a tiara, that's fine, but I'd skip the cathedral veil - it sounds like your dress is lovely in the back, so why hide it behind the veil. Putting lots of jewelry on the girls - what is this supposed to accomplish because I can't come up with any reasonable idea that would help in your dilemma.

Princess wedding ideas:

Have the bridesmaids wear some nice, tasteful rhinestone jewelry - not over the top, simple is better. You can even incorporate some hair jewelry - clips or pins.

If you want, have the florist add some crystals to the bouquets of all the girls, including yours.

Pearl Rings: Crowning the Hand with Beauty

Pearl rings are perfect for weddings and deeper romantic occasions. For example, a man could give a pearl ring to his wife during their 30th anniversary, or a kid might give a cheap imitation pearl ring to his mom during her June birthday.

Where do these pearls come from? And how are they shaped for each type of jewelry? There are many different kinds of pearls, and almost all of them are cultured by man.

Fewer and fewer pearls nowadays are harvested naturally. This is because most of the mollusks that produce natural pearls are rare in themselves, and they have to be thoroughly searched tirelessly. For example, black-lipped oysters that produce the exotic and exquisite black pearls are predominantly found in Tahiti.

For many centuries since the ancient times, the Asians have been harvesting pearls from cultured oysters and mollusks. Today, the cultured pearl business is booming due to the demand and popularity of pearl rings, pearl brooches, pearl earrings and pearl necklaces, and other types of jewelry set with pearls. Cultured pearls dominate the pearl market.

Cultured pearls are grown and harvested in huge clam farms, either in saltwater pools or freshwater grounds, depending on the type of mollusk. A clam or abalone is pried open and the culturer inserts a foreign object into the flesh of the mollusk. The irritant is often a combination of shell beads and another mollusk's mantle epithelium. The clam is then closed and lowered in baskets around seven feet below the surface of the water.

After a period of six months to three years, the cultured pearl is then harvested from the oysters. These pearls are then treated and cleaned, or bored from the sides to make way for necklace or bracelet strings.

One very unique aspect about culturing pearls is that the cultures (usually the Japanese or the Chinese freshwater harvesters) can influence the shape of the final pearl by putting irritants of the desired shape. For example, for pearls to take the shapes of teardrops, one must put in a foreign object also shaped like a teardrop. There are varied shapes of pearl jewelry one has to contend, and most of them are cultured pearls.

As such, a person can culture pearls in one of eight basic shapes: round, semi-round, drop, pear, oval, button, ringed, or baroque. Of these eight shapes, the rounded pearl is usually considered the one with the highest value, since an ideally spherical pearl is of a natural shape. Others, such as buttons, pears, and ovals, are intended that way to customize all types of jewelry. Baroque pearls are made of unique shapes mainly influenced by the shape of the manufactured pearl core bead.

About the Author

Qifu Pearl Processing Co.,Ltd. combines the design with processing, domestic wholesale pearls and export of Akoya pearl cultivation, Akoya , South Sea Pearl freshwater pearl and pearl jewelry series of products. It is one of the earliest established and most competitive enterprises in domestic pearl process industry with over 20 years.