Noaki Jewelry Giveaway
I hope you woke up this morning ready for some serious eye candy. We’re thrilled to bring you gorgeous new accessories from one of our favorite designers, Noaki Jewelry. I’ve always loved Noaki’s amazing hairpieces, beautiful bouquets, and exquisite jewels… but this photo shoot from her spring collection made me weak in the knees. Total dream.
Noaki is a jewelry genius. Not only has she created a stunning new collection of fresh designs, but she routinely transforms previously loved pieces into one-of-a-kind wedding accessories for brides. Naoki uses upcycled family heirlooms to make unique jewels a functional, memorable, and totally beautiful part of your day.
To celebrate her new spring collection, Noaki is giving away a custom bridal set (earrings, haircomb and cuff set) valued at $500 to one of you lucky readers. But to earn your shot at winning, we need you to do just one teeny-tiny little thing in return. Just leave us a comment below telling us a little about about a heirloom that’s special to you… see I told you, teeny-tiny. We’ll announce the winner this Friday, April 16th.
Jewelry: Noaki Jewelry / Photography: John Schnack / Model: Aimee Manuell / Makeup: Janice Johnson / Hair: Michelle Pace London Calling Hair Salon
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My grandmother is giving her pearls to me to wear in my wedding. My grandfather bought them for her when they went to see the olympics in China! So, not only do I get to wear a beautiful set of pearls, but I also get to tell the fun story behind them.
My mother gave me her antique pearl ring (that I have lusted after since I was 10!!!!!!) at one of my bridal showers. The whole room melted. It was so thoughtful that she realized how much I loved it and then saved it for one of the most special days of my life.
Growing up we had a huge slate chalk board that my dad had salvaged from his childhood schoolhouse before it was torn down. He and I spent many hours in front of it playing Tic-Tac-Toe! We're going to be using it for the seating chart and it's going to work perfectly with our rustic / vintage theme!
My engagement ring was actually owned by my great aunt, who I was named after. She left her beautiful antique diamond for when I got married. My fiance and I are having it reset onto a different band (the existing one was getting worn down and we worried about the diamond), so our local jewelry designer is moving the antique illusion setting and stone to new band, and then we're going to put a new emerald stone into the old restored band for my little sister who will be my maid of honor. That way, we can both keep part of our great aunt close to us. How cool is that?
My mother has this GORGEOUS ring (white gold with a large emerald cut smoky topaz stone) that I constantly steal from her jewelry box everytime I go home. It's a big joke between us when she catches me wearing it. It turns out that it belonged to my grandmother and because I love it so much, she'll be passing it on to me on my wedding day!! It will of course go on my right hand, but I've incorporated brown into my wedding colors just for this ring!
i'll be wearing my great-grandmother's pearls for my wedding. they were a graduation gift from my grandmother (who also wore them), and one day i hope my daughters or granddaughters will wear them at their weddings as well.
Recently, while rummaging through my mom's old jewelry box, I discovered an awesome Oneida spoon ring. When I asked her about it, she said that it had actually belonged to my late grandmother who tragically passed when my mom was only 19. Because I never got to meet her, wearing her ring is like getting to know a part of the woman I wish so desperately I had the chance to know.
A yellow duck tie pin. I guess I wouldn't really consider this your average heirloom but it's still very special to me. I chose it from a bowl of tie pins that belonged to my grandfather, "Pop" as we called him. He was a great man and I wish he was still with us so he could attend my wedding. I attach the tie pin to whatever purse I'm using that day so it's always with me. When one of my cousins got married, she borrowed it and pinned it to her garter belt. I plan on having it with me on my wedding day. It's small and silly but it will always remind me of how lucky I was to have him as my Pop.
My mother has a beautiful strand of pearls from Russia that I have alwats loved and she recently told me she would love to give them to me as a wedding dress so I can wear them on my wedding day.
As every little girl is infatuated with diamonds. I was always in love with a pair of diamond studs that my mother had. A few years before she passed away, she gave me those studs. On the day she did that, I learned that those earrings were the very first diamonds my father gave to her in their almost 30 year marriage. She passed away almost 10 years ago and every time I wear those studs, which is almost daily, I feel her with me.
My engagement ring, a marquis diamond, was passed down from my maternal grandmother. It was purchased by my grandfather when he was on leave from the army during World War II. My grandparents were married for 46 years, until my grandmother's death, and their marriage is everything that my fiance and I aspire to.
When I was in high school, my grandmother gave me an amethyst ring that her father gave her when she graduated from 5th grade in the late 1930s. That ring is my favorite piece of jewelry because it reminds me of my grandmother's love for me and her father's love of her.
I have a beautiful ring that was given to my mother when my sister was born. It was a present from her mother in law. It is a very sweet and beautiful saphire ring. She passed away a couple of weeks after my sister was born so I was not lucky enough to meet her. I feel so special to have it because I always feel like I have a little bit of everyone with me! I am also wearing it as my "somethine blue".
I have a locket from my grandmother that I would love to incorporate into my wedding day. I was originally planning on attaching it to my bouquet, which will be wrapped in lace from her wedding gown, but we're having a destination wedding, so I don't think it will be possible to coordinate this with the florist. To have the locket transformed into a wedding accessory would be perfect!
My most precious heirloom was given to me by my mother and belonged to her great-grandmother. It is a necklace made from a ring. My great-grandmother's fingers were so small that the ring would never fit me so my mom had a loop put on it so that I could wear it on a chain. The ring is gold and has pave-set rubies all the way around (except for one that was missing which is where they put the loop). I only knew my great-grandmother for a short time, but she was a lovely woman. I love having an opportunity to wear this special piece. :)
It's not a typical heirloom but, my brother Chris was an amazing baseball player. He was set for the major leagues but he hurt his shoulder and was never able to throw as well anymore. Since high school, he wore a charm around him neck --- a batter in mid-swing. When he went into the Marines after college, he asked me to take care of it for him and I wore it all the time. I gave it back once he was done.
Chris passed away 5 years ago. The day of the funeral, I found the charm and wore it. I've had it ever since and wear it often, but especially when I need my big bro.
I have every intention of incorporating this charm into my big day though I haven't figured out how yet. But it'll be there. And so will Chris. :)
Does an heirloom have to be jewelry? My mom just gave me the same handkerchief she used at her wedding (over 35 years ago) for me to walk down the aisle with, for tears of joy. The idea alone is enough to get me crying...
I love Naoki!! My grandfather meant the world to me and he passed away at my house on Thanksgiving in 1999. He raised me and was always there for me. I met my fiance in early 2000, truly believing that he was a "gift" from my grandfather. My grandmother gave me the ring he proposed to her with, my fiance had the antique setting cleaned and re-plated, purchased a diamond for it, and then proposed to me with the beautiful ring. Now I wear it everyday, knowing he is shining down. I'm getting married late summer and would be honored to wear Noaki jewelry, as I am honored to wear the engagement ring my grandfather picked out to ask my grandmother to become his wife.
I don't own any heirloom jewellery, but I love my nana's harmonica. Knowing I was musically inclined, she made sure to leave it for me when she died.
My grandfather was a WWII Lieutenant who loved his sweetheart just as much as he did his country. Right before shipping off, he gave my grandmother a gold locket for her to wear while he was overseas. I was given that very locket when I graduated high school and carry it with me as a reminder of their love and the promises honored to each other throughout their lifetime.
My mother's engagement ring has been on my finger since I graduated high school. The reminder of where my parents came from always bring an instant smile to my face and the fact that they have been together for thirty years also reminds me that the world can be made for two.
My grandma's wedding ring had a single, tiny diamond in it. It's now the sidestone to my engagement ring and it's marked with a heart shaped file mark underneath so I always know which one was hers.
We're planning to use a gorgeously ornate sterling knife set for cutting our cake. It has been in our family for ages and even though we had to polish it for cutting, I hated to. It looks so lovely with pantina!
I would love to have a new heriloom piece from Noaki to pass on in my family <3
When my parents were married they created their wedding bands out of gold from a ring my dad wore often. The ring also had a large stone, which when I was born my dad said he would have the stone made into a piece of jewelry for me on my 18th birthday (he had given my mom a bracelet when my older sister was born that my mom wore until my sister turned 18 and it was given to her). Well, for one reason or another my piece of jewelry was never made. Now I'm 31 and getting married. My dad said he'd like to have the stone made into a piece of jewelry for my wedding day. I would absolutely love this. My parents have been happily married for 38 years this June -- to wear on my wedding day a piece of the original ring that became their wedding bands would be very special to me.
My grandmother died last fall, and when I was organizing her things for the memorial service, I found a set of postcards. I realized they were correspondences between my great-great grandparents when they were courting, at the turn of the last century. Everything from the handwriting to the short sweet sentiments that were written, are a reminder of generations of love in my family. I hope to display them at my wedding.
My favorite heirloom is a charm bracelet from my mother. She had it as a teenager and gave it to me in my teens. It's got all sorts of random charms on it from a lucky penny to a bunch of bananas from a trip to Mexico. I like that every charm on it has a story to go with it, it really helped me to understand what my mom was like when she was younger.
The diamond in my engagement ring belonged to my grandmother, who passed on when I was in college. Having her diamond in my ring makes it all the more special.
I was so fortunate to inherit my grandmothers diamond ring. My finance used the diamond as the center stone in my engagement ring. Having my grandmothers diamond on my hand everyday helps me to feel that much closer to her. I wish she were here to see me get married, but I know she is here in spirit.
My grandparents didn't really have much jewelry. I tried to get my grandmother's wedding ring, but while in the nursing home she lost it. However I do have her cookoo clock and all the wonderful memories that go along with it.
I collect teacups and saucers and have for a while now.
While visiting my great aunt one day she gave me one she had received as a gift from her husband when she still owed her ranch and her husband was still alive. She even has a little note on the bottom of the cup as a reminder of where she got it from.
She gave it to me and told me the story of where it came from and how much it meant. Its truly cherished every day in my china cabinet.
I have transformed a rhinestone brooch that has been worn by both my great grandmother and grandmother into a hair comb that I will wear in my hair the day of my wedding. The brooch reminds me of how beautiful an elegant each of the women who wore it were.
My grandfather gave me his gold Italian horn necklace before he died. He wore it on the boat from Italy when his family immigrated to the US. It's going to be very special to wear it at my wedding in Italy this fall.
Those big flower hairpieces are so amazing. I don't have much money to spend on my wedding, so it would be awesome to have a knock-out piece like that. Unfortunately any heirlooms that I might have received were stolen during a break-in to my house when I was a child. My mother was so upset about the priceless heirloom jewelry she (and I) lost.
When I was in second grade I made my first communion. My grandmother gave me an old, beautiful set of rosary beads made of turquoise and silver. She passed away about a year after that. Throughout my life, I've carried them with me when I travel or any other time I feel like I need to be comforted. When I get married, I'll incorporate the rosary beads into my bouquet as a way to honor her and my faith.
Before my Grandmother passed away, she was the "keeper" of the family heirlooms and traditions. After she passed a few months ago, that role was passed on to me. My favorite piece is a necklace that was given to my grandmother by her uncle, an antiques dealer, when she was 13 years old. It is a smooth circle of amber that has a beautifully detailed carving of a Roman soldier. Every time I wear it, I feel closer to her and our family history. Her memory inspires me every day.
My grandmother has a beautiful crystal red rose in a glass case that I've eyed since I was a little girl. It was often overlooked in my grandmother's large house full of memorable heirlooms, but the moment I saw it I couldn't keep my eyes off of it. When my grandfather passed away 8 years ago my grandmother sat me down and told me that when she passes, she would like to give me the red rose that she cherishes so much. I can't wait to display the rose in our home and one day tell my daughter the story of its significance.
Well, I don't have the good fortune of having an heirloom but I have a daughter who made me something very special. Shes only 6, but in her effort to 'help' me work on the wedding, she strung together little beads and charms to wear on my ankle. I think that counts as its cherished, from the heart, and in this case, passed from daughter to mother.
Thanks for a great giveaway! Her jewelry is beautiful and any bride would be lucky to wear it.
Good luck to all!
My fiance gave me a very special birthday present about a year and a half after we started dating. His grandmother, who is an absolutely fabulous woman, gave him the diamond from her engagement ring to give to me, which he made into a beautiful pendant. I wear the pendant every day, and it makes me feel loved by both my fiance and his family. My fiance will be wearing his grandfather's wedding band as his own. I love that we'll always be wearing tokens of their love.
The necklace I'm going to wear at my wedding has the stone from my mother's engagement ring in it. It will be a very special piece to wear on my big day!
This is an amazing giveaway! I have been on a heated search for the perfect jewelry for my wedding....Naoki Jewelry absolutely fabulous!!
The heirloom piece I hold dear to my heart is a diamond bracelet from my grandmother. I inherited the piece after my grandma passed away. We had a very special connection, so I cherish the bracelet. I was my grandmother's birthday present, as I was born the day before her. She passed away on her birthday--the day after my birthday :( Therefore, it holds a special place in my heart and is a continuous reminder to cherish the ones I love while they are still here! Plus, it is a GORGEOUS bracelet and what girl doesn't LOVE diamonds!!
My grandmother had a really pretty beaded necklace. She took it apart and made 3 bracelets, one for my mom, me, and my sister, so we could each have one without fighting over it. ITS BEAUTIFUL.
When my grandparents passed away (within a year of one another), my aunt took their wedding bands and had them melded together. They had been married for nearly 50 years and the ring has been a symbol of that love and longevity in my family for almost 20 years now. I don't remember much about my them (they died when I was really young), but I know that when I see photos of them, I get that warm fuzzy feeling inside, and throughout my engagement I have frequently wished they could be with me on my wedding day. And I just learned that, in a way, they will be! My aunt is letting me wear the ring as my "something borrowed" on the big day. I could wear that piece alone and be happy as a clam. Well, that, and my own wedding ring of course!
My grandmother passed away when I was in Second Grade. Going through the jewlery she owned, my mother aquired a beatiful large and incharge Blue topaz ring. My mother having much larger fingers than I, she had passed this down to me. With this being my something blue, I am very excited to be keeping an herloom in the family and wearing it on our special day!
My grandmother gave me a beautiful opal necklace. It is a soft triangular shape that is just beautifully set. My finance and I are going to Australia for our honeymoon and will be visiting an opal mine! The jewelry that Noaki makes reflects that vintage feel that the opal has and I would love to incorporate that into my wedding ensemble.
I wear my grandmother's delicate Art Deco wedding band quite regularly. When I inherited it years ago, the stones had fallen out but I wore it anyway, because it reminded me of her. In honor of my college graduation, my mom had a jeweler put diamonds back into it so it sparkles.
My dad's mother passed away when he was 17. Before she did, she gave my mother (my parents are high-school sweethearts) a beautiful pearl necklace. When I was young, I used to so admire the necklace when my mother wore it. Today, I wear the necklace, knowing that it represents more than just beauty, but signifies my grandmother who I never had the chance to meet.
i will be wearing my grandmother's opal ring at my wedding (as well as her small diamond studs that i wear daily). my mom, both aunts and my sister also wore it. my grandmother passed away last year from a 1-2 year long battle with cancer, so it is very special for me to wear it for my own day.
My most precious heirloom is probably not worth anything of monetary value but it means everything to my sisters and myself. It is my grandfather's gold #1 necklace that was given to him by my grandmother. It was supposed to represent that he is the #1 Husband, #1 Grandfather etc. It reminds me of my youth and of my grandfather who wore it on a gold chain every day that I can remember. My grandfather passed away in 2003 and I miss him dearly. I'll wear the #1 on my flower bouquet the day I get married and so will my sister who is getting married in August. He may not be with us on our wedding days but he will still be #1 in our hearts and #1 on our minds.
My grandfather inspired me so greatly to pursue photography as a career and passion throughout my life. My mom remember when they were little, how my grandfather would pose everyone everyone just so, and so sparingly take a few shots at each important family milestone (as developing film was so expensive). It would sometimes take a year or more to finish a role of film. Imagine the excitement when they finally sat down to watch the slide show! My grandfather passed this past Christmas and my grandmother proudly handed me a brown paper bag with grandpa's 4 vintage cameras in it. I love them. They inspire me every time i look at them and think of my grandparents carefully looking through the viewfinder and composing each shot and how in turn each print is such a treasure. I can almost see the smile on his face when he caught the perfect moment on film!
My most precious heirloom is a gold filigree ring my grandmother gave me to when my family visited Romania (where we immigrated from). She gave it to me herself when I was alone with her, that was the last time I visited Romania and the last time I saw her. It's very previous to me; filigree in jewelry has meant a lot to me ever since. When I got engaged, I hunted for my own engagement ring and it took me ages to find the right filigree that matched her ring.
I guess it's not an heirloom yet, but it will be. My grandmother every year bought me one pearl bead for my birthday to add to a necklace. I'm getting married this year and have no question I'll be wearing my string of pearl beads on my big day. When my family grows, I can't wait to pass along this tradition.
thanks Noaki and Style Me Pretty for such a fabulous giveaway.
my ring is a combonation of stones from my great grandmother in poland, my grandmother, who gave the stone to my mom, and a stone i was given at my christening. 4 generations, all in one!
For my 18th birthday my Grandmother gave me a simple gold chain with a coin pendant. When I asked her where she purchased the necklace she told me that her grandmother had given it to her. She told me that she used to wear it when I was much, much younger and that during the time when I was teething I used to pull on it from around her neck and bite on it. She swears that the coin has marks from this -- I'll be wrapping the beautiful necklace around my bouquet at my wedding.
When I was 16, my mom gave me the same antique gold and garnet ring that my grandmother gave her on her 16th birthday. We are both the oldest child, and I will hopefully pass it down someday as well. It is beautiful and reminds me of the amazing women that wore it before me.
My grandfather was known for bringing home jewelery when my mother was just a little girl. He'd bring home tiny diamond earrings or gold necklaces. My mother kept them, even though so many of them were tarnished or broke. She adored a turquoise cuff he gave her in her 20's and would wear it almost everyday. My grandfather passed 5 years ago. My mom and I take time every year to go through all the jewelery he brought home through the years.... we'd laugh, cry and remember James Rocco. On my 30th birthday, she handed down that alpaca turquoise cuff to me that my grandfather gave her 40 years ago. It's beautiful. It reminds me of my grandfather every time I think about it, touch it or wear it. It's going to be a fixture on my wrist as I walk down the isle- he picked it out so many years before for his beautiful daughter and now his granddaughter is wearing it as she walks into the next chapter of her life. What a tribute!
my mother recently gave me her original wedding band so that i could take it and somehow make it into my own. when my parents got married, not only did they barely have $50 to their name - their gifts were stolen from their banquet hall. my uncle/my mother's faux father for the day (my grandpa didn't show up for her) cashed in all the money he had in the world so they could still go on their honeymoon. since then my parents have worked very hard and built up a fantastic life for themselves and of course for my sister and i. this gift from her instills a work ethic and determination in me to create just as great of a marriage as her and my dad had - no matter what the circumstances. i'm so proud to be using that band as a symbol of the good things to come
After my Grandfather died, my Grandmother had his wedding band melted down and she created a new band from his wedding band and added the diamonds and sapphire that were in her wedding band. She then gave me the ring to remember them both by. Since the ring has a sapphire, I will proudly wear the heirloom of my grandparents wedding rings as my 'something blue' during my wedding next month. It's very special!
I am going to be wearing heirloom earrings that have been passed down through generations of women in my family. Every person who has worn them has had a long and successful (loving) marriage. I can only hope that they do the same for me! I look forward to having them as my something old.
My mom's engagement ring is very special as at the time my dad's church collected their money, bought the ring, and sent my dad away to get engaged.
Our most precious heirloom isn't related to the actual wedding ceremony but it treasured nonetheless. 3 generations of Hardaway women have come home from the hospital in a dress that my great-great-grandmother made. Once it's determined that a baby-girl is on the way, the dress is driven, mailed, hand delivered, you name it, to make sure that the tradition continues. I've had 2 boys in my previous marriage and hope that a girl is in our future so I too can participate in the tradition.
My grandmother, just a month ago, gave my sisters and me several gorgeous pieces. There's a turquoise necklace and earrings and a few pearl necklaces. One is particularly lovely- a big, heavy double strand of pearls. In the package with the jewelry was a handkerchief that my great-grandmother made. We'll be wrapping the bouquet in that!
My grandparents had a love story similar to the notebook. My grandfather wroter her a letter everyday for months until she agreed to go out with him. When they got married my grandfather didn't have money to buy her a ring, but promised to save every penny he could. When they immigrated to Canada from China he surprised her with a ruby ring on a yellow gold band. They were so in love! My grandmother would still get jealous when my grandfather would talk to another woman at the age of 95! She'd always refer to him as the man of her dreams. My grandmother died suddenly when I was 17 from lymphoma. The grandchildren were allowed to select one thing and explain to the aunts and uncles why this was important to us. I selected this ring. Besides the fact that this was her wedding ring I felt like it meant so much more. It was a part of both my grandparents (my grandfather passed away a year earlier from a stroke) and it showed the hardships the had, the strength in their relationship and how much they loved each other. my grandmothers hands are much smaller and more delicate than mine to ever wear it, but my florist will be tying it to my bouquet so I'll have them with me as I walk down the aisle to marry the man of MY dreams.
I was lent an antique purse from my grandmother before she died. It use to sit in her bedroom like a gorgeous piece of decoration. And, though it was never "given" to me before her death, I know she wanted me to have it. And now, I remember her, every time I look at it.
When my grandmother moved out of her apartment into a nursing home, she gave me her beautiful, art deco-style cedar chest, which I knew had been "an engagement present" to her. The chest has traveled with me from apartment to apartment, through all of life's twists and turns, and eventually to the place I now I call home with my own fiance.
I had, of course, assumed that it had been a gift to my grandmother upon her engagement to my grandfather; however, I found out a few years ago that it was actually given to her when she was engaged to a different man, before she met my grandfather! This was a young man who had, as my grandmother mysteriously described it, "changed" after his involvement in World War I and they eventually broke up. It wasn't long afterward that she met my grandfather.
The chest is an important heirloom, something I will keep and use and, hopefully, pass along to my own daughter. But it's also a reminder to me of the unexpected twists and turns that my own life has taken, and how they have led me to where I am now.
Both my grandmothers (now passed away) made me crocheted baby blankets. I plan on bringing them to the hospital for when I first hold my future children.
I have a broach that was my great grandmothers. My older cousin would call her Grandma Great because he was so young and said it backwards. It became a tradition and I love being able to have a special piece of jewelry that was once Grandma Great's.
My fiance is from Virgina and on our trip there last fall I had expressed a love for vintage chairs. The morning we left, we went to have breakfast with my fiance's uncle who took me to his attic and gave me a perfect set of SIX antique dinner table chairs that were his (uncle's) grandmother's. They are a beautiful cherry wood color with wine colored velvet seat cushions. I plan to use them in our engagement photos as well as seating for the head table at our reception.
I felt so honored to be given something so special to my fiance's family as Boo Boo Nana (as she was called) was a very matriarchal and respected woman. As important as family is to my fiance and I, I cannot imagine not including Boo Boo Nana in our wedding.
I have my great grandmother's (who I am named after) engagement ring. It has been handed down through the women in my family. It is so tiny and delicate and immensely special to me. I never met my Nanny, but I feel so special knowing that I will be able to wear it during our wedding weekend and think of how lucky I am to have come from such a great line of women.
My most precious heirloom is not jewelry, but a photo of my mother. It was the passport picture taken of her as she got read to immigrate to the United States from Taiwan. She looks so young and vulnerable and I can only imagine what she was feeling...leaving her family and country to begin a new life in America with her husband and baby girl (me!). Looking at her new beginning inspires me as I am about to embark on my new beginning. :-)
I have a bible and an Amethyst brooch that once belong to my Great-Grandma Strong. When she pased five years ago, I asked for a book and a piece of jewlry. So, my Grandmother gave me a small bible and the pin. I love them...and I wear the Amethyst brooch on my jean jacket...so my Great-Grandma si with me all the time!
My beautiful engagement ring belonged to my fiancé's grandmother Elizabeth. It is an honor and pleasure to wear this ring in her memory. She was a beloved wife, mother and grandmother, and she is missed. Thank you for the chance to win!
On my 18th birthday, my grandma gave me a gorgeous set of colored diamonds (earings + pendant). Apparently, I saw her wearing these when I was about 4 years old and I made her promise to give them to me someday. I guess I had awesome taste even way back then, because I love them and wear them to almost every special occasion!
The diamonds in my engagement ring are from my fiancee's grandmother's engagement. My fiancee had the stones reset into a vintage band with beautiful engraving and filigree on the sides. I LOVE it and I am so honored to wear something so important to my new family.
Ever since I've graduated from high school I have worn my mother's watch that she had after she graduated. Recently my aunts also gave to me beautiful glassware that was my grandmother's. I'm so excited to have it be part of my home!
.....my grandmother actually mined for gems here in Maine......she collected many different tourmalines.......she designed rings and other jewelery for herself....when she became ill and was dying I sat with her at the hospital.......she took off all her rings and told my mother to give them all to Debbie....my oldest sister......I was so sad and upset.......for my 30th birthday my sister Debbie had one of the rings refurbished by a jeweler and gave it to me.......
When my grandmother got married, she barely knew how to boil water, and she had to learn to cook all on her own. She's deceased now, but last Christmas my aunt passed my grandmother's first cookbook down to me. It's from 1943, and it's full of her own little notes in the margins, as well as some favorite recipes that she wrote down and tucked inside. As my mom and I went through it, she even recognized some of the recipes as favorites from her childhood. Reading the book and seeing the notes in her familiar loopy handwriting is like getting special messages from her.
My heirloom is a pair of tiny little white bird earrings that my mother gave me, they are so simple and quite hippy - when my mom gave them to me she said they were her favorite when she was younger. I love them because when I wear them I am reminded of my mother at a time when she was happy in life, young and carefree. It reminds me that she was once that way.
I wear a gold bull pendant that belonged to my grandmother. We're both May babies so the bull signifies our Taurus-ness. I love it!
I am so close to my parents and I love to hear the story of how they met (on a blind date) and all the struggles they had financially when they first got married. My father came over to this country from Portugal when he was only sixteen and soon met my mother, fell in love on their first date and they married. My parents had barely any money when they first got married and they have worked so hard for everything that they have today. After saving for quite some time my father bought my mother a beautiful cameo that she wore on her wedding day. I have always LOVED this cameo ... not only because it is so beautiful but because of the story behind it. My mother gave me the cameo right after my engagement with the most beautiful letter. She told me that she wanted me to have this special piece and to always remember that as long my fiance and I have our health and love for each other then we will always live a rich and fulfilled life as my parents have for over 35 years! I plan to wear the cameo on my bouquet and hopefully someday be able to pass it down to my son or daughter.
I own a delicate, rose colored glass candy jar that my great grandmother brought over when she immigrated to the US from Ireland. It is one of the few things that has been passed down in our family. I have it out on display on my grandmother's coffee table that I also inherited not long ago. The jar is a wonderful piece that reminds me of the sweet, little things in life. It's such a treasure because so few people own and display candy jars anymore, and its presence a feels like a daily reminder of the wonderful women in my lineage that paved the way for me and passed their secrets of womanhood and tradition down to me.
My maternal grandmother was a Russian, German immigrant to America. She came here on a ship, and nearly died during the journey. When she arrived at Ellis Island my grandmother had only two possessons with her: a rag doll ( which was taken from her, for fear of disease), and a gold necklace she wore around her neck. The necklace was made by my great grand father. It is gold with elaborate filagre work, in the shape of a Russian cross. Two years later my great granfather was able to make the journey to America. He settleed in one of the many "German Towns" in the Midwest. He lived on a farm with his children and granchildren (including my grandmother). Great Grandpa Nick was a master iorn worker, as well as a jewelry maker. Today his work can be found throughout rural Midwestern farming communtes, in cemeterys. He made beautiful crosses, angels, and other figures. Today, many of the cemeterys in which his work has remained have been deemed historical landmarks. Tours are given to historians, Russisan/German immigrants, and artists . My great grandfather's work is a major attraction.
On my wedding day I will be honored to wear the gold necklace, with elaborate filagre work that my greatgrandfather made so long ago. In a final iorny I met my fiance, when I was visting some of my cousins, last summer in the Midwest. We took a tour the local cemetery to visit our grandparents and great grandparents graves. My fiances name just happens to be Nick. He was conducting a tour to a group of artists from around the world. He told me he felt he had known me all his life, because of my greatgrandfather Nick's influence on him as an artist.
When I turned 11, my grandmother presented me with her confirmation bracelet. She had received it as a very little girl living in occupied Italy during WWII. It is a simple thin gold chain with a small circular confirmation charm. It is so amazing to me that this beautiful piece of jewelry is still in such pristine condition. She also gave me her 2 miniature confirmation books, both of which are in Italian. I cherish these small pieces of my family history. Every time I wear it, I feel close to her and am touched that she chose me to be the caretaker of such beloved items.
I don't have much of a family to get heirlooms from. My dad's family has a tradition that most of someone's treasured jewelry is buried with the mother of the family. My mom and i have never been close, but I did get my aunt's anniversary ring. Her husband, my uncle, was there for me when my parents weren't. I was like his daughter. I hope to have that ring attached to my bouquet, but I'm afraid of losing it and may just leave it sitting at home.
Thank you everyone for sharing your stories! I've read about 6 of them so far and I'm already tearing up. What amazing tales these little pieces of history hold. Thank you and I really look forward to working with whoever wins :)
When my grandmother died she left turquoise with my dad. He has made it into different necklaces and earrings and I love them! The turquoise stayed with my grandma for decades, and she wore it in different necklaces and earrings. My dad had them reset, and they are gorgeous.
I treasure my great-grandmother's rosary beads. My mother gave them to me on the occasion of my confirmation. They are the most beautiful and delicate cut crystal, a smokey gray color that looks bluish from certain angles. Growing up I heard countless stories from my mother about my great-grandmother who was a model and stage actress in New York in the 1920s. The stories made her into a kind of idol for me as a little girl and when my mother gave me her rosary beads I was beyond thrilled. I plan to wrap them around my bouquet on my wedding day in September. Maybe some of her glamour will rub off on me!
My grandparents eloped when my grandfather was leaving for the war and they didn't get wedding rings until ten years later. This was something that they saved for years to get. Ten years ago when my grandmother died, I was in her bedroom with my mom and her sister and they told me I could have her wedding rings when I'm ready for them. Last year my mom gave my boyfriend the rings and now, everyday, I get to wear this beautiful ring that holds so many amazing memories and represents so much love. My grandparents initials are engraved in the band and we'll have ours engraved next to them. It's my most favorite possession.
The stone in my engagement ring belonged to my fiance's grandfather. He left it to his oldest daughter, Diane, when he passed away. When my fiance told his Aunt Diane he was going to propose, she promptly went and got the diamond and gave it to him. She told him that the whole family was so happy to welcome me that she thought I should have the diamond. Plus, she felt that her father would have loved me. My fiance had the diamond re-set, but my favorite part of the ring is all of the history attached to it. His grandfather had a long and wonderful marriage and I hope the diamond brings us just as much luck in our marriage!
My parents divorced when I was 8 but my mom saved the ring my dad gave her and had the stones divided into two rings one for my sister and one for me. That why I always carry the love that they once had with me.
My grandparents eloped after dating for only 4 months, who would have thought that would be the whirlwind beginning to a beautiful 50+ year marriage. Both coming from families who had been hit hard by the depression they did not have much money starting out so a simple gold band was all my grandfather could afford at the time. For their 50th wedding anniversary my grandfather gave my grandmother a beautiful waterfall setting ring, saying it was the ring she had deserved all along. Their love inspires me and I will be so honored to wear that ring on my wedding day as my something old.
For my tenth birthday, my dad gave me a ring. It had a thin gold band with a small round ruby and two spec-sized diamonds on the side that were framed by gold hearts. I thought it was the prettiest ring in the world. I still do. Yes, I now have a gorgeous engagement ring from my fiance, but my "big girl ring" from my dad will always remain on my right hand, for he had my heart first.
My most precious heirloom are my mom's pearls. She has always been the epitome of elegance and femininity and her double strand pearls are simply divine (just ask my friend who wanted to buy it from my mom after she borrowed them). I hope to pass these to my own daughter too some day!
When I turned 16 my mother gave me a necklace created from my grandfathers wedding ring. He has passed away less than a month before I was born.
My german grandmother will give me the family necklace for my wedding day. It is very simple - a beautiful golden cross. But the story behind it isn't simple at all. For generations the women of my family wore that necklace for their wedding and passed it on to their daughters when it was their turn to walk down the aisle.
My Grandmother Margot got married to my grandfather Günther right after World War II, when he got back from Russia where he was a prisonner. Beeing able to wear that necklace was very special to her as it was all she was able to keep when her house was taken away from her family by soldiers. She had to leave within hours, but she managed to burry that necklace in the garden, hoping she would be able to return to her home in which she was born some day.
When she did, she cried for hours seeing how everything she grew up in had disapeared, a part of her house was even destroyed by a bomb. She went to the spot she burried the necklace 4 years earlier and found it. For her, it was the only thing left of her life before the war shuttered everything.
So beeing the next generation after my mum to be able to wear this necklace makes me feel very proud of the strong women in my family who had to live through very though times.
I hope my english wasn't so bad and you could understand my story...
By the way I LOVE what Naoki does! It's so different from what we can find in Europe, I really wish I could win to show these beautiful objects to all of my friends who are getting married soon, too!
When I got engaged, my grandma gave me a gold & diamond ring that had been her mother's. It has now been through four generations. I wear it on a regular basis and everyone needs to know where I found such a unique ring. It is truly a timeless piece! I love to tell them about the history of the ring, and I love that they can't find anything similar in a store!
My grandmother had the most beautiful diamond and pink saphire ring that was a gift to her from my father. She knew how much I loved the ring and always let me wear it when I visited her. For my graduation from university she let me "borrow" her ring to wear. However, she would never let me give it back to her after that day. She would always say things like, "You can give it to me the next time I see you" or "Just keep it on for today". My grandmother passed away recently and I cherish that I still have this "borrowed" ring to wear to remind me of her.
My Grandmother was very special too me. She was the sweetest woman, and hardest worker i have ever met in my life. She never really had any fine jewelry, but she did have a few pins and brooches (costume jewelry) that were handed down to her from her mother. I when I was little i would sit on her bed with her box and take each one of them out and she would tell me the stories about where they came from and who they belonged to, which i just loved! Grandma passed away just two months ago, but before she died gave me the box of brooches. I like to look through them and remember her stories, and when I wear them and get compliments on them, I love sharing the stories and sharing my grandma with other people! :)
My Grandmother's engagement ring. I have waited my whole life to receive this piece, and I will finally receive it on my wedding day. It is a gorgeous vintage setting, and I love that I will always be able to carry such a special reminder of her around with me everyday.
I have my great-grandmother (who I was named after)'s engagement ring. It is a gorgeous piece of jewelry that was passed to her daughter first and then down to me. I feel so honored to own this piece of history.
My grandma collects antique buttons and I hope to use some in my bouquet. This jewelry is GORGEOUS!
My family's not much for heirlooms, but one thing stands out in my mind. My great-grandmother died a week before I was born, so I never got the chance to meet her. However, I've always gravitated towards things that belonged to her (figurines, jewelry, frames). She had a gold monkey see/hear/speak no evil statue that I absolutely fell in love with when I was about 5. The statue inspired my grandmother to start collecting see/hear/speak no evil figurines -- she has about 50 of them now.
My grandmother's health is rapidly declining (she's been in the hospital for the past couple weeks) so we're having to decide who is going to get what. She had 2 daughters and they've decided to split the collection. My mom's getting the non-monkey statues and my aunt's getting all the monkeys. Except for the one that started it all -- the gold monkeys. That's mine.
I find it amazing that what started as just one little piece has become a huge part of our family. Once my grandmother passes on I'm planning on continuing the collection.
I love these pieces I hope I win! My grandmother left me her mother's ring that had 9 stones on it, the birthstone of each of her children. The setting is really worn out so I am trying to thing of a creative and mondern way to re-make the piece using the same stones. I'd like to hopefully pass it down to one of my children someday.
My fiance proposed to me with his mother's engagement ring. She passed away in 2004. When he got down on his knee and proposed, he looked at me and said, "Only a special woman like you can wear my mother's ring." It was the most amazing thing he has ever said to me.
i've got a cameo necklace that was my grandmother's. i don't wear it very often, but it always makes me smile when i spot it in my jewlery bowl...
My grandmother's teeny tiny engagement ring. It's absolutely precious.. I have 2 sisters, we take turns wearing it :)
My grandfather made a jewelry box which he gave to me on my seventh birthday. It has stained glass window doors that open onto little soft satin shelves and the wooden roof opens up to reveal the magical ballerina spinning slowly to music. Not having much in the way of jewelry as a seven year old, I filled it with shells from the beach. But the fantasy of the jewelry that I might one day own made for years of entertainment, and when I recently got engaged, I came home that night and put my ring to rest beside the little ballerina.
I will be wearing my mother's veil on our wedding day. This veil was sewed by my Nana as my mother's parents did not have much money at the time. This veil was worn by my sister at her wedding 13 years ago. We plan to have my sister's daughter wear it at her wedding as well. We want to keep this great tradition going for many, many years to come.
After my grandfather passed away, my dad had given me a box of items from his life. Always being fascinated by WWII history and his stories from the war, I looked through and found many pieces from when he was in the Navy, including a patch that read "USS COURTNEY" Still to this days, some 7 years later, don't know why he had that patch since I can't find record that served on that ship. His stories from the war could have been part of the Forrest Gump script, he was an amazing man. I love this patch with all my heart and It will be pinned to my wedding dress as I walk down the aisle this September. One day, I'll find out the story behind why it was important to him!
My most precious heirloom is something gifted to me from a family friend, not actually from within my own family. To celebrate being born, my father's best friend gave me a set of pearls that had been passed down through his family for 3 generations. They were his grandmother's, which she gifted to him. His grandfather had been a business executive, sent to Japan with his family for a business trip. While there, the emperor of Japan gifted my benefactor's grandmother with these pearls from Mikimoto. I have not yet had the opportunity to set them, but I treasure them all the same. I plan to carry on the tradition, and pass them down to my daughter should I be fortunate enough to have one.
My family has a gorgeous amethyst pennant. It is oval with gold antiqued design surrounding it. Every woman in my family has worn it for the last 100 years. With older high neck dresses it was worn as the traditional pennant. I will be the first to wear it from my generation and am planning on wearing it in my hair. I have three other girls in my family and 2 boys whose future wives will wear it also. Since my grandmother is no longer with us this is extremely important to us. I also have a single gold band from the other side of the family. My grandmother, who is 96 years old, gave it to me when I turned 20. It is from 1884 and was my great great grandmother's. It is so old we thought it was copper because of the discoloration. We took it into a jeweler who told us it is 18 karat gold, just very very old!
My maternal grandmother passed away when I was 6. At my mother's house, we have a box of her jewelry and I can remember getting that box out as a child and just looking at all of these pieces she had: her old class ring, diamond earrings and an old brooch. I am hoping to wear the earrings on my wedding day in July.
My parents both came from families who weren't very well off and there really aren't any time of heirlooms, pertaining to jewelery or furniture, to pass down but there were memories. In fact, my grandmother who passed away eleven years today loved making quilts and I have some of the ones she made and still cherish them but as her cancer progressed towards the end, this became difficult for her. She spent her final days writing out her memories in a three-ring binder, filling up over 90 pages, front and back. I don't think I could recall how many times I've read those words over, even more so now that I'm planning a 1940s inspired wedding and she would have gotten married in that decade. It's nice to still feel like she's right there beside me as she guides me through how life was like for her during those years. I sometimes envy those that have physical heirlooms to use in their wedding, always finding it to be a great sentiment. Maybe one day I'll be able to pass one along to future generations.
*My parents both came from families who weren't very well off and there really aren't any heirlooms, pertaining to jewelery or furniture, to pass down but there were memories. In fact, my grandmother who passed away eleven years today loved making quilts and I have some of the ones she made and still cherish them but as her cancer progressed towards the end, this became difficult for her. She spent her final days writing out her memories in a three-ring binder, filling up over 90 pages, front and back. I don't think I could recall how many times I've read those words over, even more so now that I'm planning a 1940s inspired wedding and she would have gotten married in that decade. It's nice to still feel like she's right there beside me as she guides me through how life was like for her during those years. I sometimes envy those that have physical heirlooms to use in their wedding, always finding it to be a great sentiment. Maybe one day I'll be able to pass one along to future generations.
My childhood years were spent in my grandmother's custom bridal headpiece shop (I was raised by her and we lived above the store located in Chicago). My grandmother has long passed, but my sister has taken over her incredible talent of designing hand-made beautiful wedding accessories. I am 42, and not following my family’s Italian-Catholic big-wedding tradition – my fiancé and I will wed privately on a beach in Carmel, but I truly wanted something special with me on that day. Last week my sister designed me the most beautiful hair flower. What is so amazing is that she was able to find ALL the materials from my grandmother's stash of random supplies dating back well over 20 years. The fabric, pearls and veil were all there "waiting for her", including random feathers she plucked from something she stumbled upon. I wish I could post a photo – the end result was amazing and is so incredibly special because I know my grandmother was there to guide my sister in creating what is likely the most cherished piece of work, and I know in my heart I will have pieces of the people I love so much with me on the happiest day of my life!
My Fiance's grandmother gave me her wedding band about 5 years ago, way before we ever got engaged. She knew I would be family before I did! We will be using it as my wedding band at our ceremony in June!
My great-grandparents were elderly and on a tight, fixed budget when I was born, but wanted very much to give me a pretty keepsake to celebrate my birth. They gave me a brass and gold ring that has a faux peridot heart on it. I am so blessed that I got to know my great-grandparents -- I was 8 and 11 years old respectively when they passed away in their 90s. Even though it is not a "real" gemstone, it might as well be the most beautiful peridot in existence for the love and sacrifice it represents! I still cherish that ring and will tell my own children about it and stories of my great-grandparents and their love.
My grandmother had 6 thin gold wedding bands that complemented her engagement ring. When she passed away each of the 6 granddaughters received one band from the set. There were originally 7 bands and 7 granddaughter's but one band was lost and one granddaughter died as an infant; I think all of us felt a connection to the bands. I am the only granddaughter who can actually wear the band because I am pint-sized like my grandma and up until the day I got engaged I wore it on my left hand (just always felt that is where it should be) and now it is on my right hand. It has always meant so much to me to know Grams is always looking down on me. We have since found out the bands are actually copper (blackmarket purchase during WWI by my grandpa? we will never know!). They have no monetary value but the sentimental value far exceeds any monetary value. Just this weekend my Aunt offered my grandmother's engagement ring to me as a wedding gift, which brought me to tears. Until I got my grandma's band I never realized how much family heirlooms mean and now I do. I would love to win the Noaki jewelry so I can continue the tradition!
An heirloom that's special to me is a fake pearl necklace from my Grandma Phyllis. It's the 50s kind of necklace where the pearls start out small at the ends and get bigger in the middle. I asked my mom to have them re-strung when the clasp broke, and she wondered why I'd bother for fake pearls -- but they remind me of another era, and also that my grandmother couldn't afford much (she was a single mother raising four sons, no alimony) -- but she still wanted to feel beautiful. I love that fake pearl necklace.
I have two items that mean a lot to me: my grandmother's strand of pearls and my mom's cameo. My grandparents had worked hard all of their lives on the farm, and I remember the year that my grandfather gave my grandmother the REAL pearl necklace for Christmas. She loved it. And I remember always getting into my mom's jewelry chest to play with the cameo. It always drew me.
My great-grandmother's wedding band. It's a small, beautiful white gold band and my mother was given it on her wedding day. It is so special, not only because it was my great-grandmother's and because of the tradition of it being passed down to each daughter on her wedding day, but because it is the only piece of jewelry my mother has. My parents have struggled everyday of their lives to give me and my younger brother a good life. When things got really bad my mother sold all of my great-grandmother's jewelry and her own wedding ring just to pay bills. She only kept this one band. It is so special because it both signifies growing up and getting married, but even more so for me it signifies how much my mother loves my brother and I. How she'd do anything and everything for us.
I am asking each of the special women at my wedding (my mom, step mom, grandmothers, Mother in law, sister in laws and bridesmaids) to each bring one flower to make my bouquet. It has special meaning because each of them have added up to who I am, which is exactly what I want to carry with me as a reminder as I change from single to married.
My fiance Erik's father passed away a few years ago--him and his wife (my fiance's mother) had been happily married for 30+ years and his death was especially tragic. That's why I was genuinely surprised and grateful when Erik's mother passed on her engagement ring to me. When she first tied the knot with her hubby, they weren't so well off but he managed to give her a beautiful Harry Winston diamond engagement ring. Now that diamond is the center piece in my tri-stone engagement ring. It's especially meaningful to me that I will be wearing it; I almost feel like it's a blessing for a 30, 40, 50+ years of a happy marriage with Erik, just like his parents had. I am definitely looking forward to passing the diamond on to my daughter or daughter-in-law in the future.
In 2007 I was home for Christmas. My grandmother had recently died, and almost all of her jewelry had gone to her only daughter, my aunt, naturally. There were just a few trinkets left unclaimed, and my stepmother urged me to see if there was anything I would like. I came across a simple, unadorned gold wedding band, that no one else had noticed. Always curious, I checked to see if there was an inscription, and I found the names of my great-great-grandparents, and their wedding date, December 25th 1861!
I began wearing the ring on a chain around my neck, and one day, not long after I found it, I made a (very silly, at the time) declaration: "I will be married by December 25th 2011!" (150 years after the date on the ring.) I don't know why I said that, since I was single at the time, and not especially looking to get married.
That summer I met my now fiance. He--without having noticed the date on the inside--used the ring to propose to me....on December 25th 2009! We are planning to wed in May 2011. I am wearing the ring until my diamond engagement ring is ready, and during the ceremony I plan to wrap the ring around my bouquet with a gold ribbon.
On my mother's birthday as a teenager in Japan (family was there because of the Air Force), her mother gave her a beautiful gold smoky topaz cocktail ring. I had always loved that ring and would put it on all the time while going through mom's jewelry box. On my 25th birthday, my mom gave me the ring. I wear it all the time, and plan on wearing it at my wedding. I can't wait to one day pass it on to my daughter - for its fourth generation.
Before she passed away, my grandma gave me my great- great-grandmother's wedding ring. Her husband died before my great-grandmother was born and her mother saved it, even after she re-married, to give to my great-grandmother since she never knew her father. It has been passed along in my family and I will be wearing it on my wedding day in order to honor my grandma. It is my very favorite thing that I will be wearing because it means so much to me that my grandma chose to give it to me, out of all of her grandchildren.
A bracelet that my mom wore at her wedding - its breathtaking. I will carry on the newly created tradition by wearing it at my own!
What an awesome giveaway! Made even more perfect by the fact that the one piece she's not including is a necklace- which is the most valued heirloom piece I have and which I plan to wear on my wedding day. It was given to me for my high school graduation by my grandmother. Unbeknownst to me, she had had a jeweler take the diamonds out of her wedding band and her mother's (my great grandmother) and make it into a beautiful circle of diamonds in pendant form. She has since passed, but we were very close and I treasure that pendant as a link to her and the women of my past that I never got to meet. I will keep her with me at my wedding by wearing that pendant, as well as the history of those stones and the marriages they saw as I make my own vows.
Though it doesn't sparkle and I can't wear it on my wedding day, I am the proud owner of the first book my grandparents ever read to me: "I Am A Little Mouse." The binding is frayed and the spine is in rough shape, but the memories of sitting in my grandfather's lap while we read together are still in perfect condition. Now, I look forward to reading this book to my own children and grandchildren. I can't wait to pass the tremendous love that I felt from my grandparents down to them!
My favorite heirloom is my parents wedding day picture. It's a wallet size black and white photograph. They were married in the former Yugoslavia after only knowing each other for 3 days (no, it wasn't an arranged married and yes, they are still married). My mother always says she knew she wanted a husband and knew when she found the right one. There was no wedding dress, no flowers, just my parents, in front of my grandfather's barn, posing for a picture. To look at that picture today, I feel it takes me back to forever ago...
My Grandparents met during the war, and decided to move to Canada after the war ended. They bought together a mantle clock at auction, and brought it all the way over to Canada on the boat. That clock always stood on the mantle at my Grandparents home, then later when my Grandmother came to live with us, it was on the mantle in my parents home. My parents recently gave the clock to me, and now it resides in my home, and every time I look at it, I think of them. I know they are there with me, for every day of my life. I am as sure of that as the ticking of that clock.
My grandmother's bracelet. Inscribed it says "Rose love Jack". Its very vintage and funky. I always think that they were the original Jack and Rose from titanic. The morning before I found out my grandmother had passed, I had a dream that she was dancing with my grandfather in a smoke of clouds. I woke up to hear the news. This bracelet makes me think of them dancing together everytime.
I am very fortunate in that my family has saved their jewelry for generations. As the only daughter/granddaughter, I am reaping the rewards of their storage! Every day since it was passed down to me at my college graduation, I have worn my maternal great-grandmother's diamond flower ring on my right hand. I am now privileged to wear my paternal grandmother's engagement ring - as my own engagement ring - that was given to me when she passed away. On my wedding day, I will wear the same pearl and diamond necklace that my mother wore on her wedding day. Heirlooms mean a lot to my family and I will certainly continue the tradition - including, hopefully, a Noaki bridal set!
My lovely grandmother passed away 5 years ago at the age of 96. She was such a great influence on me and my dad. Before she passed away, she left me w/ her antique cameo necklace. I will incorporate this into my bridal bouquet to remember her and all the things she gave me.
I have my grandfather's old Canon camera. He passed away many years ago, and I acquired this camera. He took all the family photos and road trips on this, so it makes me happy to have it!
My family is really into astrology -- I'm a Taurus! When my grandmother passed away she left me with a gold pendant of my astro sign which was also her sign (she wore it everyday). I will be pinning it to my bouquet. It's perfect cause it has that vintage feel!
when i turned 21, my parents gave me a special gift-- my mom had the diamond from her engagement ring reset into a beautiful necklace for me to wear. my parents have been married for 35 years, and are such an inspiration to my fiance and me. One day, I hope to keep the tradition going and pass on the necklace to a daughter of my own!
To the outsider, my grandmother was a very proper and traditional woman but with me she was always incredibly hilarious and completely sassy. I loved knowing this side of her - and came to feel like we had this amazing bond because I knew the real "woman." She would always wear this beautiful ruby and diamond cross necklace and I used to think it fit her so well - a petite, 90 year old woman walking around with this bright and shiny red cross on. After she passed away, the necklace was given to me and every time I wear it, I can't help but think that a little bit of her personality was passed down to me as well :)
I love old pictures of my grandparents and great-grandparents. I'v always been very close to my family and have the antique images up in my home. We are going to incorporate them into our wedding by using the images (and names) of our grandparents as table numbers, with one of the old pictures on each table. Since most of our beloved grandparents have passed away, it's a way for us to honor them and have their presence at our wedding.
I have a silver tie tack that I have from my late grandfather, he was really been the only grandparent I ever had in my life and I would like to incorporate it into my wedding as a great memory of him and what he meant to me.
After my grandmother passed away, we were thumbing through her favorite book and my mother and I found a note that said, "Amy get's the ring". The ring she was referring to was her prized gold, black onyx and diamond ring. I hated gold jewelry and when I got the ring I was a little disappointed....I put that ring on a year and a half ago and I have not taken it off since then. I love this ring, I literally get compliments every week. It's a very special piece of jewelery that reminds me of the legacy that my grandmother left!
My grandmother passed away when i was young and left my mother her diamond ring. When I was little, I used to stare at this ring with big round eyes, because it was the biggest diamond that I'd ever seen! It was a princess cut and encrusted in platinum...it must have been so expensive at the time and just shows how much my grandfather loved and cherished my grandmother. A couple months ago, to my surprise and delight, my mother decided to give me the ring. I'm planning to have it resized, so I can wear it one day as a cherished keepsake. It's amazing to think that something that I used to stare at with awe is actually mine now. Whenever I touch it, I remember my childhood days and it always feels like a part of my grandmother is with me. In that way, the ring is priceless!
My fiances grandmother is giving me the pearls that her father made for her to wear on her wedding day. His grandmother was a war bride and moved to America with her new husband. The pearls made the trip with her and have only been worn by her (both of her children eloped). When she learned that my fiance and I planned to get married with her and all of our family in attendance, she was ecstatic to offer me her pearls. She wrote the story of their love, placed it in the box that holds the pearls and told me to do the same.
I feel like they are also my good luck charm because the bride that last wore them on her wedding day will be sitting in the front row with her husband of 65 years.
I can't wait to pass them down to my own daughter to wear on her wedding day and for her to read the stories of love that acompany them..
My great-grandmother gave me a porcelain doll when I was a baby. She lived in poverty her whole life, and had to save up for months to be able to make the purchase. She mailed it from England, but she passed before I ever met her. Though it hasn't been passed to my children yet, I plan to make it an heirloom, showing my heirs for generations the inexplicable strength of my great-grandmother's love for her heirs, even though she will never meet them.
My grandmothers wedding band. It's very special to me because I was born after she passed on and she & my mother were very close. Mom has always told me how much her mother would have adored me...so I asked her if I could have the ring for my wedding band. I know my mom was really touched that I wanted it. It fits perfectly & I had it cleaned up so it sparkles again...it's just a perfect way to honor my mother & grandmother.
My grandmother's perfect attendance medal to Catholic school is definitely a treasured family heirloom. It's unique and one of a kind and represents a truly difficult and spiritual commitment. It would make the beautiful center to an ornate gold brooch or a unique bangle bracelet. I love the upcycling concept as well as Noaki's original jewelry pieces.
I have a peach and ivory cameo that my grandmother gave to me. It was my great great great grandmother's. My grandmother passed away in January, and I wore it for the first time to her memorial service. I plan to use it on my bouquet on my wedding day.
My heirloom is actually not jewelry! It's a cedar hope chest that was owned by my great grandmother. It was passed down to me when I was 15 and since then, I've been storing things for my home in it. It's been filled and reorganized and stuffed full of things I love and will put around my home. As my wedding draws closer, I almost feel like my great grandmother is here, even though I never met her.
My grandmother has a beautiful gold mesh clutch that we used to play dress up with when we were kids. I'm guessing it is from the 30's or 40's and it is so glamorous and playful. I love to imagine cocktail parties it used to accompany my grandma to. I plan on asking her if I can carry it on my wedding day!
For my high school graduation I was given a ring that was designed by my dad. There are many things that make this ring special, there is an inscription on the inside of the band, and one on the outside of the band. It has a beautiful aquamarine in the center, and has a unique design. However what makes this ring the most special is that it has two very small diamonds on either side of the aquamarine stone. These two diamonds come from an heirloom ring that belonged to my great-grandmother on my mother's side. My mom's mom's parents were Jewish jewelers from Budapest Hungary prior to WWII. When the war came to Hungary they lost everything, including my great-grandfather. Only my grandmother and her mother survived, and for a few pieces of jewelry from their once large jewelry store. These heirloom diamonds in my ring, are a constant reminder of my grandparents and my heritage.
Both of my grandmothers have passed away, each while I was young. My mom's mom, Grandma Lee, passed when I was 8 yrs old. My dad's mom, Grandma Ruth, passed when I was 21 but spent the last 10 yrs of her life with advanced dementia and had not been a true "grandmother" to me for quite some time. Both of my grandmother's left their jewelry, most is costume. They each left cameo pieces which I am having made into charms for my bouquet. Although they were not in my life for long, it is important to me to remember them for my parents and to honor their lives while starting a new life of my own!
Coming from a large family of farmers, we dont come by much jewelry. But simple and lovely furniture we do have. My grandparents passed away and my mother's 10 siblings all had to divide up the contents of that house between themselves. My mother was given that cabinet. We are getting married on that farm because it means so much to me...I guess that land is something I want to forever keep in the family. When my fiance's parents passed away, they gave him their log cabin his father built with his own hands, and everything inside. This is something I beleive will stay in the family as long as it is able.
Our special heirloom is from my fiance's side of the family. It's a picture that hands in his parents house of his grandmother and grandfather on their wedding day. My fiance was very close to his grandfather as a child before he passed away. He also looks a lot like his grandfather! We will have the photograph on display at our reception.
I am using my grandmothers brooch in my wedding. She has had it since the 1940s and I remember admiring it growing up and always using it to play "dress-up" when she watched me. It is my something "old" and "borrowed" for the wedding and I am so looking forward to wearing it!
My special heirloom is my grandmother's sapphire ring. It will walk down the aisle with me as my something blue and as a memory of her on our special day!
My grandfather was holding my hands while he passed away 10 years ago and he handed me his gold ring. Ever since, this gold ring has become the most precious thing to me. I'm planning to tie it to my bouquet just so I have a feeling that he'll be there with me on my big day. I don't want to sound too depressing but writing this makes me cry a little. I miss him so much!
My engagement ring was once my mom's ring. I love that it is meaingful and that I now wear something that was hers. I also love to wear my grandmother's pearl earrings she gave me. I am so lucky to have these two wonderful women in my life!
It's not jewelry, but my grandmother saved a button from HER grandmother's wedding dress. This button, along with pieces of wedding dresses from other women in my family, are being sown into a fabric that will be the chuppah covering my fiance and me during the wedding. I get emotional just thinking about how special that moment will be.
I have a handkerchief that my great-grandmother embroidered with her initials. I'll be carrying it with my bouquet on my wedding day.
My mom is letting me wear her antique opal ring. It originally belonged to my Great great grandmother and will be either my something old or something blue!
a gorgeous old cedar chest... Growing up, it was my mother's favorite thing, to open the lid and just smell the comforting cedar. I've always loved that chest. It was the first thing we saved when my family made an unexpected, last minute move. Anything else could stay, but the cedar chest had to go with us.
My heirloom is a sewing machine, first owned by my grandma, then my mom, and now, me. I wish I could use it for some DIY for my wedding but I don't think I will become a pro by September!
My father was always in and out of my life but on my elementary graduation, he showed up with a small wooden box. That was my first and las present from him. On my wedding day, it will be holding our rings
My most precious heirloom is my mother's diamond ring. My parents were young and didn't have much money when I was born - they hadn't even been able to afford wedding rings or a wedding for that matter - but my father saved money to buy my mother a diamond ring that he gave her on the day of my birth. My mother gifted me this ring last month, and it is so so precious to me!
My fiance and I are going to be toasting our marriage with the same glasses that my parents and grandparents had used to celebrate the start of their new lives together. I know this is not something that one can carry or wear, but it means so much to me to be able to toast the start of our lives together as a family the same way my family had done in the past. A celebration of love past, present and future!
I have an old ring that my grandmother gave my mother on her tenth birthday. I received it on my tenth birthday. It's a large beautiful aquamarine, but the band is brittle yellow gold and needs to be replaced. I have considered having the stone reset into a pendant. The blue is so lovely, and I want to wear it somehow on my wedding day to represent the lovely women in my life line.
The antique diamond set in my engagement ring belonged to my fiance's grandmother. We are both extremely close with our families and it's so sad to me that none of of our grandparents are still with us to celebrate at the wedding. Wearing this ring is a constant reminder that our marriage is about family!
i adore my grandmother's star sapphire ring - ive worn it for every important day in my life (graduations, etc) and my wedding will be no exception :)
My most special heirloom is something that my fiance's mom gave to me. Approximately two years after we started dating (so about three years ago), I was celebrating my first Christmas with my fiance's family. Wrapped up as my final gift from his mom was a small pendant hand made out of a melted nickle and a pearl. She told me that my fiance's dad's dad (so her father-in-law) had made that pendent for her 30 years ago, and she wanted me to have it. It was such a touching way of her telling me that I was already part of the family, long before her son and I were engaged.
I'll be wearing my mothers beautiful wedding dress. Wearing it will make me feel like she's there with me on my special day.
My engagement ring.
It belonged to my fiance's aunt, who has passed away. I never thought that I woulld be blessed to have her ring. My fiance's mother gave him the ring to use for me and we choose to use just the center stone for my ring. We want to use the band for a gift for his mother. I also have an aquamarine ring from my grandmother. I absolutely charish this ring, and think it will be the perfect "blue" to wear on my wedding day. I am so blessed to have these items from family members!!
I have this perfect little gold necklace with a small disk (the size of the end of a pencil eraser) with the initials of my grandmother stamped on the back and my mother stamped on the front. I love its simplicity and to think of my grandmother and mother wearing it as little girls. It is such a treasure.
We are creating the heirloom now - my dad, a former jeweler, is working with us to create unique wedding bands! We are doing a beach destination wedding and are trying to work the flower/leaf theme into the rings, so this would be the perfect complement - fingers crossed!
My parents are letting us use the beautiful solid wood bench made from my Great Grandfather's circa 1800's farmhouse barn that was torn down within the past few years. Though it is not a piece of antique jewelry, it is a special piece of my family's history and I am honored that we will sit on it at our wedding reception!
I never got a chance to meet any of my grandparents before they passed away in Vietnam many years ago. My mom was able to flee the country by boat, with nothing on her back except my eldest brother at the time. There was no heirloom to be passed to me or my sister who were born here in America. The fact that my family will be there on my wedding day is touching enough for me, and hopefully my generation will be able to start the tradition of passing down an heirloom to the next generation.
one of things that I love most that has been graciously passed down to me isn't something that I can wear on my wedding day, but something that I can use for a lifetime, my grandmother's pasta machine. In our family food is always a time for laughter and good memories. Family meals bring us together without fail. I am so grateful to have this little piece of her that she used to make memories, and that I have and will to make many more!
When my grandmother moved into the nursing home, I was a teenager. I didn't really get much of value, but I got my pick of her costume jewelry. My favorite was a simple gold band, thin, almost pointed on top, with a clear round stone. The whole thing was plastic but I really liked it. I wore it until it really started showing wear and I put it away for safe keeping. A year later, my now fiance gave me one that looked just like it, but the diamond was real. Grandma's gone now, but I love having such a happy memory of her attached to my engagement ring.
I'm incorporating in our wedding a bunch of odds and ends my family has passed down over the years. My grandmother's wedding dress was destroyed in floods, but a few of the covered buttons that lined the back are miraculously in great shape and will be wrapped around my bouquet. I am using the teeny diamonds that were in both my grandmothers' wedding bands in my own band. My parents still have the cake topper from their wedding (which is fabulously 70s) and we'll be using that on our cake as well. We are also using "heirloom" dessert recipes for our dessert table - grandma's German chocolate cake, Aunt Cubby's thumbprint cookies and my fiance's grandmother's Polish pastries.
My heriloom that is special and so dear to me is my fathers wedding ring. He passed away only a month ago, and at the hospital visiting him on one of his last days - barely able to speak he said, "I know I will not be able to walk you down the isle, but keep this with you, and I will always be standing right next to you, smiling and supporting you the whole time." I will be melting down his ring this summer and making a custom wedding band. I miss him so much.
My grandmother passed away before I was born, but we are jewelry soulmates. My engagement ring is hers and just about every other piece of jewelry I own. My favorite is a stunning watch necklace. A simple gold chain with a rustic gold purse attached - inside a pop up watch. It's a ladies' spin on the pocket watch. It's simple and a statement piece wrapped into one. I have yet to wear it without getting a compliment.
My heirloom is a recently inherited one - my future Grandmother in-law's engagement ring. I feel so beyond honored to have it gifted to us for our wedding and I couldn't imagine wearing anything else. She was married to my finance's Grandfather for many wonderful years and still speaks of him as if they were newly in love kids. We aspire to be like them!
My fiance turned my grandmother's diamond ring into my engagement ring. My grandmother died when my mom was 4 months pregnant with me, so I never got to meet her. The fact that I have every element of her ring turning into mine is amazing to me. The stone is over 100 years old, and they believe it was cut in Europe. My grandfather purchased this ring when he was in Europe during WWII. This ring means so much more to me than just a typical engagement ring. It's a sign of everything my grandfather sacrificed in order to marry my grandmother.
My engagement ring is a heirloom from my fiancé's side. It was his grandfather's class ring, small, simple, gold. When his grandfather passed his mother wore it everyday. When his mother died, much too young, he started wearing the ring himself. He has wore the ring everyday for 10 years, and when he proposed he said, "Marilyn you are the most important person in my life and I want to give you my most important object." I love the history behind the ring and how wearing it makes me feel connected to a side of his family I never had the pleasure of meeting.
I will be wearing my grandmother's wedding dress that she wore when she married my grandfather 56 years ago :) Both my of dad's sister swore this dress and since I am the oldest cousin I will be the first cousin to wear this dress... my grandmother is one of my very best friends; it is such an honor!!!
I actually don't have one believe it or not
When my grandmother passed away a couple of years ago all of my aunts and cousins got together and each chose a piece of her jewelry to remember her by. I chose her beautiful pearl necklace with a gold and ruby clasp that my grandfather purchased for her early on in their nearly sixty-two year marriage. The necklace was lent to my aunt to wear for her wedding thirty-five years ago and I knew immediately that I would wear it for my wedding both to establish a family tradition and to keep memories of my grandmother close on my wedding day.
When my mum was diagnosed with Cancer, my family went on one last holiday to Jersey, Channel Island UK. Jersey was where my parents went on honeymoon back in 1980. Whilst there my mum revisted a jewellers she found on her honeymoon. She bought a beautiful mother of pearl necklace, with three irregular pearls encrusted in the pendant. My mum is not with me any more, but every time I need a lucky charm I wear mum's necklace.
i have two very special heirlooms. the first is a locket that belonged to my great grandmother. she and my mom were extremely close and i only met her once when i was three years old when my mom took us to visit her in england. i have some wonderful photos of the two of us picking blueberries and spending time together that i will always treasure. when my sister got married last month, i sewed the locket onto her bouquet with a love quote inside for her something old and something borrowed. my second heirloom is from my grandfather (my mom's dad). he passed away when i was about seven years old, but i still remember all the times he came to visit us. we were very close. when i was confirmed, i was given the rosary he was given when he was confirmed. i will treasure it always and when i get married next year, it will be wrapped around my bouquet so i will have them with me as i walk down the aisle.
Both my grandmother and my fiance's grandmother (unbeknownst to each other) passed on heirlooms to us, that were made by our great great grandmothers. My fiance's grandmother gave us a beautiful quilt (an eternal ring pattern) that has been passed down to each of first-born son's wives for the past three generations. My grandmother gave us a beautiful lace table runner that was hand stiched by my great great grandmother in Romania and which my grandmother had been saving for my wedding since my birth. Surrounded by these beautiful creations, I am reminded of the richness and support that we are so blessed to be a part of, and I am so thankful for the preservation of such wonderful gifts.
The one heirloom I have that I love is an necklace that was my grandmother's. It is very simple yet very beautiful and I never fail to get compliments on it.
The gorgeous center diamond in my engagement ring is an heirloom in my fiance's family. It first belonged to his great aunt, who left it to his mother, who gave it to him, to give to me! So special!
My grandmother brought over a gorgeous carved blanket trunk from Hong Kong when they emigrated 45 years ago. It's in my mom's house now and it will be mine after I get married. We don't have much because of the Second Sino-Japanese War-- my family lost all their valuables.
in reading previous entries i see how varied and yet fundamentally similar our lives are - we all have a story to tell about something precious that has been entrusted to us. i also had a pair of earrings given to me by my grandmother, just a speck of diamond dust enrobed in warm pinked yellow gold. her husband did his utmost in order to offer them to her as an expression of the value of her place in his life. since the day i received them for safekeeping, and the occasional display of my fourteen year-old silver screen imaginings, it seems we've separated ways. during my last move at my parents they went missing. reading these stories reminded me of how important it is, and how I want to offer that to my children, my grandchildren.
When I was 18 my grandmother passed away. My grnadmother LOVED jewlery. I can remember going to different jelwery stores with my granparents looking for the perfect diamond and saphire tennis bracelet. In her will she had designated that 2 very specific jelwery items were to be given to me, and my mother. She had stated that the jelwery would get split between the grandchildren, but these two specific things would be give to us. She left my mother her engagment ring (which was beautiful- but small... perfect for my grandmothers petite fingers) And she left me her anniversary ring. I dont acutally know which anniversary it was from, they were married for 50 years... so it had to be a big one. And I am positive she got other jewelery on her other anniversaries, but this ring was special. It has 18 diamonds going in a circular shape till it reaches a point. Its was always really big for her small hands, but I think she knew it would complitment my hands perfectly. (I have much bigger hands than she did) I wore it everyday for years, untill the band broke, and I brought it to jewelers and they said it needed some serious work. (retipping all the prongs- there are 72) and it needed a new band. It is going to cost $750 and I just havent had the money to have it done. But I am determined to wear it on my wedding day... so while money is still tight in the midst of planning the "perfect" wedding. I will make sure to save a little extra on the side to have the ring fixed so I can have her with me on my special day... in hopes that my wedding and marriage will be just as fabulous as hers was.
A different sort of heirloom... I will be wearing a gold anklet my Grandma gave to me when I was 10. I remember I had a hard time with it when I was young; it was too big and it was always falling off or breaking. I recently found the anklet in an old jewelry box. It needs a little polishing and a quick trip to the jewelry shop, but now I have something special to wear. And I will be able to say my Grandma was with me every step of the way on my wedding day.
My grandmother and I were very close, and when she passed away a few years ago i was devastated that she wouldn't be there at my wedding. I wanted to incorporate her into as many parts of the ceremony as I could, so I'm using her old 1940's clip on diamond earrings as my shoe clips, I'm putting a locket with her picture on my bouquet, and I am honoring her heritage by incorporating the smashing of the glass that they have at Jewish wedding ceremonies. Most important to me though, is the earrings because I can still remember her wearing them when she would dress up and helping me use red-dyed pistachios to stain my lips.
Recently my aunt gave me my great grandmother's old sewing basket just as it was when she last used it. It had candle ends, buttons and buckles from old dresses, and beautifully engraved sewing scissors. It was so special to see that bit of someone's life who I never got to meet.
I actually have two very special heirlooms. One is my engagement ring which belonged to my great grandmother. The other is sort of a two-in-one heirloom. It is a ring that my mother always wore - which she had made out of my late grandfather's cufflink. She used to wear it everyday and when she passed away I started wearing it everyday too. When I look at my hands I am filled with so many memories and reminded of their love.
My favorite heirloom is a music box that belonged to my grandmother Maggie. She collected music boxes her whole life, and she had some of the most amazingly intricate ones I've ever seen. When she passed away I was unable to make it to the funeral, so I asked if my sister could pick one music box from her collection for me to keep. It turns out my sister picked my favorite one, and still every time I see or hear one I think of Maggie.
I'm going to tie my grandmother's vintage peace sign necklace onto my bouquet and wear her wedding ring on my right hand. Even though she passed away when I was six years old, her spirit has always been with me. My mom has told me stories about her strength, talent, and desire for social justice. I love that she was wearing a peace necklace before they became "cool" in the 60's and 70's. I want to share her social awareness, and I wish that I had been able to spend more time with her and my grandfather before they passed away.
For my 18th birthday, my grandmother gave me 16 gold charms that were given to her as a child by her father in the 1930s. They're really beautiful antique charms and each one is different. There's a seahorse, a ballerina, an acorn, a shovel, a high chair, a tambourine (and even an outhouse)! Some of them have moving parts! They're really cool and I've never seen anything like them. I had them placed on a gold chain link bracelet that my mother bought me and I love it! It's so unique, and reminds me of my grandmother whenever I wear it.
Recently, I have inherited an old skeleton key from my Grandmother's treasures. For me, it is symbolic on many levels. The key to her house? The key to an antique trunk lock? The key to the old jelly cupboard? Keys are a theme in our wedding, as my fiance said I always held the key to his heart.
my mother in law to be is giving me her 0.5 carat diamond stone to be used to make me a necklace. this touched me more than anything else she could have given me and i plan to pass this on to my daughter if i have any... :)
My heirloom comes from my grandmother. We will be using the ornate bell cake topper she used at her wedding to my grandfather more than 60 years ago! My grandfather recently passed away and since he won't be at our celebration, I'm excited to use this heirloom to honor my grandparents and their amazing love at our wedding. They loved each other so much, I am so happy to have a way to aknowledge their love story!
My most precious heirloom is a white gold and diamond eternity ring.
My mum and my stepdad were together for about 3 years, from when I was 7, and split up when i was 10. My mum gave me the eternity ring that my step dad had given her, and, other than when i was at school and not allowed (A long time ago) I have worn it constantly.
Four years ago, after 9 years apart, they met up again, fell in love again, and were married two years ago in Italy.
Everytime i look at that ring i am reminded that love really can last the distance, and there is a lot to be said for fighting for your relationship, and not taking it for granted, because you can lose your soulmate, and if you're not very very lucky, you might not get him back.
My "something borrowed" on my wedding day will be a necklace that my Dad got for my Mom years ago, on his very first trip abroad. I remember admiring it as a young girl and it means the world to me to have it as part of my wedding day ensemble.
Reading all the other entries fills me with a pang of jealousy! You are all so lucky to have these beautiful little mementos imbued with so much meaning. My parents are first generation immigrants to the US and did not/could not really bring anything of value when they started their new life here. I always dreamed about finding something old and beautiful and well-loved among my mom's things, but perhaps due to immigrant sensibility of embracing the new, she does not really find value in "heirlooms". Funny that I turned out to be a vintage/antique loving, a-chronological romantic. I still dream about an exquisite heirloom turning up one day, but would also love to own jewelry that I can love and pass onto my children and the generations to come.
I actually don't have any heirloom pieces. My father recently passed away, and my new "heirloom" piece that has new meaning is my last name. I know that even if I decide to take my husband's name, I'm going to have to keep mine in some was, as well. It is my new part of family history I want to cherish...
My grandmother died the day before my 16th birthday. My father gave me her opal ring. He said she wanted me to have it. It means a great deal to me not only because it's my birthstone, but because she wanted it passed on to me.
I'll be incorporating my mother's wedding handkerchief into my bouquet. My mom passed away when I was 15, and although I have several meaningful items that I hold on to as memories of her, the fact that she used this handkerchief on the day she married my father (who is also deceased) means so much to me. It not only brings a piece of my mom to me, but it will keep both of my parents in my thoughts on such a big day in my life.
when i was little, i used to play in my mother's jewelry and was always drawn to one particular ring - the egagement ring my father had given her. it was beautiful - white gold with a vintage art deco design. it was sparkly, dainty, and perfect for a little girl playing dress-up. i used to let it dangle on my finger and pretend that i was gettig married to my dream guy of the moment. as i grew older and was able to appreciate the ring for what is really was, my mom told me that she would pass it on to me when i became engaged. unfortunately, my parent's home was robbed (a year shy of my engagement) and all my mother's jewelry, including the ring, was stolen. It's such a shame because I loved that ring so much! So really i guess this is an "heirloom that wasn't meant to be an heirloom" story.
Oh my goodness! Those pieces are lovely.
I very much cherish a pearl and diamond ring belong to my late grandmother. I come from a small family and unfortunately we don't know the full story of the ring, but as my grandmother and her mother fled Austria before the Holocaust, the family liquidated their business and put everything into diamonds, which my grandmother smuggled into France and then Palestine in cold cream jars. I love having a reminder of my much-loved grandmother on my finger each and every day. (And we have just the same taste! Which gives me another really neat feeling of connection.)
My great-grandmother was bequeathed a breathtaking aquamarine pendant by her lovely aunt. The pendant will make its appearance at my wedding, marking its fifth wedding ceremony foray. It's still on its original chain, and in its original setting. Best of all, it's marked the beginning of five successful and (thus-far) lifelong marriages of women in my family. I couldn't imagine walking down the aisle without it. I feel lucky and blessed every time I glance at it.
How dreamy! Thank you for the opportunity. I have a set of women's blouse tacks from the 1940s that my grandmother gave to me. They are adorable flowers made out of (fake) pearls and crystals. While they probably aren't worth anything, they remind me of my grandmother every time I wear them (as I do often) and it gave me the inspiration for my "romantic natural" wedding. I plan on wearing them on my wedding day and I know she'll be looking down on me!
I have my great grandmother's flapper dress from Paris. It is seriously unlike any flapper dress anyone has ever seen. It it made of a nude mesh and COMPLETELY covered in pearl beads and black and tan sequins in what seems to resemble leopard print (not in a bad way), it has a faux belt made of pearl beads. It's strapless and has a gorgeous scalloped hem. It's seriously an insanely beautiful piece of art. I feel so lucky to have it. I grew up very poor, so I never had nice things, but I think it must be worth quite a bit of money. I have yet to get it appraised, but there is absolutely no way I would ever get rid of it. I wore it to my Junior prom in high school and even lost 40 pounds to fit into it!
My family unfortunately does not have any heirlooms. I would love to wear some beautiful jewelry on my wedding day that I could share with my children!
My grandfather is not a man who parts with his belongs, especially those with significant meaning to him. So you can only imagine my surprise when I opened a gift from him at my son's baby shower and there was his pewter baby spoon that his mother bought him when he was born and who died shortly after. That is probably the most valued heirloom I have within my possession and I can't help but smile everytime I see it!
I have 5 silver barrettes from my grandmother. They mean the world to me, I keep them hidden away and they only come out on a rare occasion to adorn my hair or be slipped onto a chain and wore as a necklace. They remind me that even the most plain and simple items (silver barrettes!) are made more special when they remind me that my grandmother was a young woman once just like me.
I actually have an heirloom from my dad of all people. Every day of his life he wore a gold chain with various charms related to important events or people in his life. The chain did not have a clasp so, a lot of thought went into adding the charms, and once they were added, they could never be removed. He had a gold baseball player that reminded him of his dad and I'd also like to thing me (he was coach on the field and off); a model train - collecting trains was one of his passions and after he retired from being a teacher he became a train conductor - one of his life's ambitions; and finally a penny. The penny is probably the most meaningful because when my parents got married they placed two pennies to a railroad track and waited for the train to roll by and reform the old shape into something new. Then each took a penny and wore it every day as a reminder of their bond together. My father passed away a few years ago and my mom gave me his necklace to wear in my graduate school ceremony. So now I have a new tradition to wear it at big events in my life, so that a little piece of my dad is still with me.
My family was never well off enough to make big purchase on jewelry. However, there is a pearl necklace that my mom wore that's made of real, unprocesses, and uncut pearls. She loved it and gave it to me. I cherish it so much because I know that's some expensive piece that my mom had ever owned. It means so much because it reminds me of the hardship my family has gone through and that I could never forget about my root.
My favorite family heirloom is an assortment of beautiful Fenton glass and depression glass vases, candy dishes, dessert dishes, cake stands, and bowls. My grandmother collected them, and gave them to my mother, who is giving them to me (piece by piece). They are dainty and feminine, and they add a wonderful vintage charm to the table. We've used them at every family get-together in the past, and I plan on continuing that tradition in the future--in fact, we will be using them at my upcoming wedding in September!
My mother gave me a beautiful pair of diamond earrings and a ring that she wore on her wedding day (given to her by her mother) for me to wear on my wedding day...and although this part isn't considered an heirloom, I also wrapped fabric from the boxed hat veil that she wore at her wedding around my bouquet.
my engagement ring is by fair my favorite and the most special heirloom. it belonged to my grandmother, who is no longer with us. this ring dates back to the early 1950s and and i don't think it would have been possible for me to purchase a ring this beautiful even today. i am honored to wear it and know that a piece of my grandmother is with me every day, and will be such a huge part of the rest of my life.
As a photographer, my most cherished heirloom is my grandfather's camera collection. He was an amazing hobbyist photographer, had his own darkroom in his retirement home. He taught me to photograph when I was a teenager, bought me my first camera, was truly an inspiration and has shaped my life. When he passed away, I inherited his collection of vintage cameras. . .a Brownie, a Rolleiflex, and many others. Some of them still work, many don't, but I proudly display them in my home to inspire me and remind me of my Papa.
We dont' really have a lot of heirlooms in my family. In fact, I don't really think there are any but my mother and I decided to start one after my dad passed away. We took her engagement/wedding ring and made a small necklace out of the diamond that my m other wears and made the gold into a simple gold band that I wear. The band will eventually be passed down to my son and the necklace to my daughter and so on and so on...we really wanted to start something rich to remember my father since our family really don't have much of a history.
I will be wearing my mothers wedding shoes at my wedding. It is so special to me to have this heirloom part of our day...her and my father have enjoyed a long and happy marriage together so it is like I am following in her footsteps literally!
I am using several heirlooms at our wedding but am particularly fond of our cake topper. When I was little I would look at my parent's wedding album and often stop on the photo of my Mom feeding my Dad cake. He's in a fantastic 1973 frilly gray tux, smirking, as my Mom is smiling and trying not to get frosting on his Tom Selleck-like mustache. The little cake topper is standing on the 5 foot high multi tiered cake, fountains spouting, with a little light display in the middle of it all. I'm not kidding. A few decades later and a turn towards a "simpler" cake, that same topper will get to be part of another great celebration. We can't wait.
I don't have an heirloom that was passed to me, but I want to pass down my engagement ring as an heirloom. It's kind of exciting to be at the beginning ... one day, my great grand daughter will say, "this ring belonged to my great-grandmother Song." I'll be so happy to be part of her life.
My grandmother wore a beautiful gold bangle everyday for almost 50 years. When she passed away my mother had
it split into three, a bracelet for my sister, my mother and myself. To honor my grandmother I wear the bangle everyday and will be wearing it on my wedding day (June 12, 2010).
Our family heirloom is my great grandmothers wedding dress! It was passed down to my grandmother when she got married and when my mom got married she cut a piece from the dress and used sewed it on her dress as an accent piece. My aunt used it for her wedding and cut a piece of the dress and made a garter from it. My mom passed down this piece of fabric to me when I got engaged and I plan on using it to wrap my bouquet.
I also look forward to starting a new heirloom for my family
I have my great grandmother's fresh water pearl necklace. It is beautiful!
A necklace with an emerald pendant, passed down by grandmother
After my fiance proposed, we visited his family in the country Georgia. His grandmother (from his mother's side) approached me and handed down an antique diamond ring that she had gotten when she was a young girl. She was saving it for her grandson's wife. It was the most emotional and thoughtful gift I have ever received. Almost everyone teared up when she put the ring on my finger!
My family heirloom that I will incorporate into my celebration is an old silver bracelet with several beautiful blue topaz stones. It will definitely take care of the something blue requirement and I think the old feel that it has is beautiful and gives it a lot of character.
Along with my engagement ring, my (now) husband gave me a diamond band ring that his father gave his mother the day he was born. It is so beautiful and delicate, and goes perfectly with both my diamond solitare and wedding band. Now, when people ask to see my wedding set, I tell them I have a ring from the day my husband was born, the day he proposed, and the day he was married. I carry his life story each day on my teeny little ring finger!
My most precious heirloom is a matching set of sapphire cuff links and tie pin that was given to me by my grandfather just before he passed away. There were no grandsons in my family to pass them on to, so I am planning on giving them to my fiance on our wedding day as a gift, and if we have sons, they will go to them. Because my grandfather won't be with us, it will be a wonderful way to honor him on my wedding day.
My most precious heirloom-to-be is a mass produced plastic red cherry brooch. My beautiful brave friend Katy wore it on the lapel of her jacket every day. She succumbed to Secondary Breast cancer on April 1st this year, aged just 38, leaving her daughter, Bethany aged just 8. I am due to get married in August this year, and Katy's brooch will take pride of place tied to the ribbon of my bouquet. Katy's brooch might not be made of diamonds or cast in gold or adorned with pearls but her friendship and her love was far more precious than anything money could buy. Love you Katy Rose xxxx
My grandmother's engagement ring. It was given to me by my uncle who finally had the chance to give it to me at my sister's wedding this past summer. He lives in Alaska so it was not something he was willing to mail. I wear it on my right hand as a reminder of the wonderful woman my grandmother was and to inspire me to be like her.
My most precious heirloom is my 'bad luck dragon' pendant. My mother gave it to me when I was in middle school, and it got nicknamed 'bad luck' because I kept on walking into walls when I wore it. While I suspect now that that was more my looking into books instead of watching where I was going, I still love it.
Grandma's locket is my most precious heirloom. After my grandma passed away, my dad gave the locket to my mom, who then had it cleaned up. It is gold with diamonds that shape a four-leaf clover in the center. The locket always brings me warmth and happy memories. Even more precious, the original pictures my grandmother kept inside (my grandfather and father) are still there.
My mother passed away 6 years ago. In one of our last conversations, she told me how regretful she felt that she wouldn't be able to see me get married and have babies (I literally tear up as I'm writing this!). But I know she WILL be with me as I walk down the aisle because I will be surrounded by those who loved and treasured her. I will also be wearing a pair of pearl and crystal earrings she left me. It's costume jewelry, but her earrings are priceless to me.
I ADORE Noaki's work-- in fact, I recently inquired about a beautiful bracelet in her Etsy store (unfortunately the one-of-a-kind design was already sold). I would love to wear her designs on my wedding day. Her pieces are stunning and definite conversation-starters! :)
Wow, those are romantic and dreamy Jewelry... Especially the flower hairpiece, it's very eyes catchy!
I am a bride of May, my mom gave me a tranditonal Chinese gold bracelet. She said that it's from my grandmother and the bracelet is represent happiness and blessing to my marriage. Although i know the bracelet doesn't have a long history background, but i still consider it as my heirloom because it's from my be-loved mother and grandmother.
All of these pieces are beautiful! Most people wouldn't consider antique costume jewelry an heirloom, but my grandmother treasured her pieces and always let me play with them and play dress up with them when I was younger. She didn't own many pieces of expensive jewelry - but these pieces looked real and made her feel beautiful. I am proud to have a few of her treasured heirlooms in my collection now and hope to share them with my children in the future.
I've inherited a woven hair brooch (looks kind of like this, without the enamel: http://www.penelopespearls.com/assets/images/brooches/victorianhairbrooch5.jpg ) from my grandmother when she passed away, who inherited it from her grandmother, who made the brooch from her own hair. The brooch is stunning and represents where my family has come from.
When I was a teenager my great-grandmother gave me her engagement ring from the 20s. I thought it was the most perfect ring I had ever seen, and wore it (on my right hand) until the day that my fiance proposed and gave me a perfect ring of my own. I still adore that ring, and I cannot wait to pass it on to my daughter some day so that she can have a connection to the great-great-grandmother she will never get t meet.
We don't have many heirlooms in our family at all but I recently discovered an old rolliflex camera that my Grandpa left behind for my Dad. I had no idea he had an artistic bent and it suddenly clicked as to why my Dad and I love photography so much. I didn't know my Grandpa for very long so it was really nice to make that connection.
My favorite (and only) piece of heirloom jewelry is a ring that was given to my mother's godmother in 1896, and then given to my mother on her 16th birthday in 1960. This year, my mom gave it to my fiance to give to me, and I wear it as my engagement ring. Not only does it have special sentimental value, but it really is a gorgeous ring. I love the sense of history that comes with heirloom jewelry.
love this.
the thing that;s most special to me is my grandmother's ring. it has a tiny stone set inside a wide band, patterned (i'm bad at desribing rings)-- the stone in the middle was all he could afford when he proposed to her back in the 40's!! they had it reset for their 25th. i love love love it and rarely take it off.
Something that I hold very close to my heart is my engagement ring. I know I know it sounds very common but mine is unique. It was given to my fiance from his Grandmother, which was given to her from her late husband as her engagement ring. I know that it meant so much to my fiance when she gifted him with to to give to me. It is a beautiful one of a kind piece that doesn't look like anything I have ever seen!
I have a beautiful gold bracelet that my great-grandfather gave to my great-grandmother on their wedding day. It is engraved with their names and wedding date. It is something special I wear often and plan to wear on my wedding day.
My grandmother recently gave me her engagement ring. My grandfather didn't have much money at the time of their engagement, so he had the ring made out of one of his great grandmother's diamond earrings. I can't express in words how much it meant to me when she gave me this. I felt so honored, and will now be wearing it on my wedding day.
My dad passed away a few years ago & I will be getting his gold ring sewed into my bouquet handle. So when I walk down the aisle, he will be there with me.
Well, here it goes:
When I was growing up, my father loved to talk about his grandmother, whose name I inherited as my middle name, and how much she loved him(she spolied him). Through many stories, I grew fond of her. One day- some years ago- when my grandma passed away, my father went back to his homeland and when he returned he gave me something: a very old book and a beautiful pearl ring. My father's grandmother had given my grandma this, and my grandma had left it for me. The pearl ring was on a thin silver band, with small diamond flowers surrounding a gorgeous pearl. What I love most about the ring is how simple it is, how gorgeous the pearl looks surrounded by those little diamond flowers. However, that is not what I love most. What I am enchanted with is the book, and the stories told by my great-grandmother in those old and secret pages, the crisp feeling she wrote with and the grace that exuded from within her into these pages. I have re-read the journal/poem-bearer so many times that her words have become imprinted in my own heart. The most gorgeous part is yet to come, though.
What I am talking about is the story of the romance and love that led to her marriage. It all began with a boy's love for her golden locks(though I have no clue where those golden locks went...or the green blue eyes!) and the pursue of her heart. He gave her this ring as a promise that he would build a life for them, together, in 4 years. This ring would not mean quite as much to me as it does if I had not read how she describes the moments that passed between them as he made his promise, gave her his heart, and then this ring in symbol of all they stood for.
This is, by far, the best gift I will ever recieve. This woman, who I never even met in real life, gave me my passion for writing, for reading, for signing, for loving, for smiling, and for giving. I wear her, or should I say their, ring proudly every day, as a remainder of who I wish to be, what I can become, what love is meant to be like.
The pearl ring has become more than a gift but a part of me, as have her words in that wonderful journal I cherish.
This is just a 'little' something of my most priced heirloom, though I was also graciously given a stunning, and I use that word with all of its true meaning, wedding dress of my lovely grandmother, along with a love birds brooch, the one pinned to her veil.
~Andrea Lopez
p.s. I think it's safe to say my grandma and great-grandmother were wonderfully magnificent and lovely, wouldn't you say? ;)
from my grandma, the angel christmas ornament from 1979 (my first christmas) that says in her handwriting on the bottom "grandma's little angel"
in my many, many apartments and homes over the years, this small clear ball with an angel inside always makes it on my tree.
i have this bracelet, given to me as a child from my grandmother. it is antique looking, not my style at all but it holds such a deep meaning in my heart. when my grandmother passed away last year that was the one thing that i have that is a reminder of how much she loved me.
My mom collected butterflies broaches after she got married and she recently passed them along to me. The sang, 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree,' is true because I've had an infatuation with butterflies since I was a little girl. I was honored when my mom passed along her collection, because with it came a responsibility to remember all the special people that gave one to her, and the story of how they did. I hope to expand her collection and wear them!
my mother passed away and one of my most cherished heirlooms is her charm bracelet! It is gold so I don't get to wear it that much but every time I do, it makes me smile. There are charms from each milestone in her life - from graduating from college, becoming a teacher, getting married, and having children!
Of all the things I have ever owned in my life, jewelry heirlooms have to be the most precious to me. Most of the pieces that I own have been passed down through four generations at least, although some were directly given to me by my grandmother. Having so many special pieces makes it rather difficult to only pick one, so I'll have to describe two. One was more precious to me when I was younger, and another now that I'm older.
As a young fantastical dreamer, I was ecstatic when my grandmother gave me my first gold necklace. I couldn't believe that she would give me something so beautiful and expensive, and to top it all off the golden charm was in the intricate shape of a unicorn with wings, which was an icon that I had been obsessed with at the time. I wore it everywhere and all the time, throughout highschool and college, up until my fiance gave me a new necklace for my first birthday which we shared together.
The other piece is a silver spoon ring, and that had also became an instant favorite of mine. It's what really inspired me to have a love of all things victorian and vintage. I wore that ring all the time, and coincidentally most often on my left ring finger, because that was the finger that it fit best. It almost got me into an awkward situation though, because I happened to be wearing it on the night that my now fiance proposed to me. Fortunately, I had been playing around with it during dinner and happened to put it on another finger. It was quite ironic at the time.
Both pieces I only wear occasionally now, although I do plan to wear the ring in my wedding, but when they're not in use, I store them lovingly in an antique jewelry box which was also given to me. I consider all my heirlooms to be wonderful treasures that I wouldn't ever trade anything for. They symbolize the love and family unity that we all share.
<3
My Mom recently gave me a jewlry box with photos in it. When I miss her I open it and look at pictures of me as a kid. My favorite is us on the beach.
My favorite heirloom? Maybe some wouldn't consider it an heirloom I guess, but it would be my two dressers. Since college I have moved from apartment to apartment with two dressers that were made for my Mothers parents over 50 years ago. They have deep drawers and are really heavy - just like furniture use to be made. They are in great shape! Aside from the fact as a kid I put a few "Garbage Pail Kid" stickers on one side (hidden thankfully!). Sometimes I think about my Grandmother standing there in front of it putting her jewelry on like I do every morning. I didn't know my moms family at all, so this feels like my connection to them. I will never get rid of them!
While not exactly an heirloom, I treasure the pearl necklace my mom bought for me back in 2003. My mom started an add a pearl necklace for me when I was little, and slowly but surely over the years the necklace materialized. When I was finally old enough to appreciate it and anticipate wearing it on my wedding day, my necklace and my sister's, along with a couple modest heirloom pieces, were stolen from our apartment. It was very upsetting losing that necklace- each pearl representing a birthday or important milestone. The Christmas before my sister's wedding, my mom decided to get us both a strand of pearls with money she had saved. My sister and I opened our gifts at the same time and immediately started crying at the sight of the necklace. It meant so much to us, and I look forward to wearing it on my wedding day.
i have a sweet little pearl ring from my mom... i love it, it is so me! a strand of pearls from my grammy :) and the hankie my mom carried on her wedding day!
My grandmother worked for Pepsi, and on her 25th anniversary at the company, they gave her a gold pocket watch on a chain. After she passed away, I would wind it and listen to it ticking when I was upset. I still pull it out on days when I'm feeling down or missing her.
The cameo brooch my Grandfather brought home from Italy (where he was stationed during WWII) for my Grandmother. That, and his Purple Heart medal, also from WWII. I'm so proud of him...and so thankful he came home so he could marry my Grandmother and have my mother and be the fantastic Grandfather he was to me!
My heirloom would be the jade heart necklace my grandma gave to my mom. On my 16th birthday my mom gifted me with the necklace to me to wear and treasure. The gold chain and jade pendant is still in excellent condition. I can't wait until its my turn to pass it down the family line.
My special heirloom is a pearl necklace that was my great grandmothers. She gave it to my grandmother, and my grandmother gave it to me. It has a beautiful amethyst clasp on it that just so happens to be my birthstone :) I wear it and I think of all of the strong women that wore it before me. I do plan to wear it on my wedding day as well and hope to pass it on to my future daughter one day.
I wish I could say the heirloom in my family was a precious gem sourced from the sea or land but my family is from simple means and the sole piece of family jewelery we have is a blush pink cameo. The size of a half-dollar and set in brassy-gold my family's cameo tells the story of my namesake, Margaret, and the single impractical possession she owned. She wore no wedding band. As a young farm wife gold was too expensive and quite simply an impediment to toiling the rich and fertile Kansas soil. Her cameo, though inexpensive, represented the woman her economic, social, an educational means, would not allow her to be. Margaret treasured her simple cameo and when her only daughter-my grandmother-reached adulthood she was gifted with the brooch. My grandmother bestowed the cameo to her only daughter-my mother-and I the keeper of my great-grandmother's name received the heirloom on my 16th birthday. Of my great=grandmother's 20 grandchildren and uncountable great-grandchildren I am the only one with a worldly reminder of the tenacity that paved the way for my success today. To me the cameo is a reminder that I am the product of a family history rooted firmly in the immense Kansas prairie.
This is sad now that I think about -- I don't have an heirloom. So hoping that I can make this my heirloom to pass on to the next generation in our fmaily.
An heirloom that is special to me is my grandmothers engagement ring (I love that its engraved with my grandparents names & their wedding date on the inside) & also my grandmothers religious medals....I will be pinning one of the medals inside my dress.
When my mom got married, my relatives gifted her with engraved gold bracelets (it's tradition for Chinese brides). I had never seen these bracelets until recently...after I got engaged, my mom and grandmother brought them out and gifted them to me. It has such special meaning because they are a reminder of our growing family and a keepsake that I hope to pass down to my future daughter or daughter-in-law. I can't wait to walk down the aisle, wearing pieces of our family's history.
When I graduated from law school my grandmother gave me a diamond ring that my grandfather used to wear. IHe died of cancer some time before and did not attended my graduation. I went to law because of him, and i never stopped wearing it since. He was a wonderful person and very important to me. Strangely enough my fiancée proposed on the day of the birthday of his dead. It was a wonderful day as he surprised me by taking me to Paris, my favorite city. I've always felt the ring to be something of a lucky charm and i like to think that the coincidence is a way of him giving me his blessing.
I will wear it on a string in my wedding day, as my "something old".
I always thought that when I got married I would wear my grandmother's pearl earrings. It was my dream.
Ironically and when looking for my wedding dress I saw that those earrings didn't match with the dress and so I bought new ones and a cousin off my also gave me her's so I could decide which ones would suit me better. It turns out that when I was "final dress testing" things changed a little bit and I had to choose a new jacket to wear with the dress and therefore I also had to change the earrings and the ones that looked prettier were, in the end, my grandmother's pearl earrings. She was so happy and proud that finally one of her granddaughters would wear something from her. Her earrings were a gift from her. Lovely.
For my university graduation, my great-aunt gave me a college ring -- the same ring her mother had given her for graduation. This was my great grandmother's college ring from 1922, and all three of us went to the same school. It's amazing how one little piece of metal can carry not only fond memories of undergrad, but also the strength, courage, and intelligence of the women in my family. And yes, should another woman in this family go to that university, I will pass the ring along to her.
The jewelry I will be wearing for the rehearsal dinner and my day after shoot is jewelry that my great grandmother, grandmother, mom, and older sister all wore in their weddings. 5 whole generations! I won't be wearing it for my wedding because it doesn't go with my gown, or our wedding colors, but the gown I will be wearing for the day after shoot goes with the necklace and earrings perfectly.
It’s very difficult to fully express what this piece of jewelry means to me, especially in as little as a paragraph or two. My all time favorite material possession in this world is the engagement ring my dad gave to my mom.
My parents were young when my dad proposed and didn’t have much money. My dad wanted to give her the very best diamond he could afford. He saved up and researched stones for months and months and ended up presenting her with a very beautiful round solitaire and a seriously cute proposal.
My parents aren't together any more; they divorced when I was 8. Though it was a very difficult time for us all, they never put me in the middle of their differences and never used me as a bargaining tool (as many do in the midst of a divorce). From the moment they found out they were pregnant with me (their only child), they have loved me unconditionally. I think of this ring (which my mother gave to my as a high school graduation present) as a sign of the love they have for me and the awesome relationship that I have with each of them. A few years ago, I had the ring reset into a more appropriate right-hand ring and with the exception of cleaning it, I have never taken it off. I don’t think I ever will. And I can’t wait to pass the ring on to my own daughter one day.
I think that most people automatically think of divorce as a horrible. It’s definitely no picnic, but I honestly couldn’t be happier with the way it affected my life. Both parents eventually remarried, and now I’m lucky to have an even larger family and support system. I even have a brother and sister now (10 and 7) who I love tremendously! What can I say, I’m a lucky kid…thanks mom and dad<3
I was named after my great, great aunt. When I turned 16, my grandmother gave me one of my great, great aunt's rings. It's so ornate. The band is white gold. There is a white gold bow on top with little diamonds on it. Ironically, we had the same ring size -- a very small size 4.5! It's as if the ring was made for me! :)
I wear the ring only on special occasions because I am nervous that I will loose it! I've had it appraised. It is not worth a tremendous amount of money. The fact that I own something from the woman I was named after- means the world to me!
I wear my grand mothers engagement ring as a right hand ring. I love seeing it everyday and thinking of my grandparents 55 year marriage and just how extraordinary that is. The ring is beautiful and I always get compliments on how unique and pretty it is. When my fiance proposed, it was important to him to buy me a ring that was truly mine. He knew how much my grand mother's ring means to me, so my engagement ring is very complementary of my grand mothers. That way I can always wear both and have a reminder on each hand of how I am loved by so many people.
My mom was a single mother and raised my brother and I by herself from the time we were both very little. My mom and dad's families were very poor and did not have any heirlooms to pass on. When my mom was married to my dad he gave her a pearl ring that was one of the few jewelry pieces she kept and did not sell when she was struggling as a single mother. When I graduated from college my mom gave that ring to me and although she doesn't really like to talk about my dad or what makes the ring special, I know that it is very special to her and will be wearing it as my "something old" on my wedding day.
My favorite heirloom is the antique blue and white willow ware china that my great aunt gifted to me my senior year of college. Now, as a new graduate, living far away from family and friends in a new place and my first apartment, I take comfort in eating dinner every night off my beloved willow ware... even if what I'm eating is chicken nuggets!
LOVE Noaki and would be thrilled to win this contest. Thanks for such a great opportunity!
Oh My God! I LOVE this jewelry!!! I'm getting married in Mexico in July and I HAVE TO HAVE IT!!!! My favorite heirloom is a ring. My great-grandmother actually paid for my grandmothers engagement ring. It has been passed to my mother and when I graduated college, my Mother gave it to me. It's gorgeous, old and blingin'! And, it would go PERFECTLY on my wedding day with Noaki Jewelry. ***PICK ME***
Growing up I was a vivid animal lover. I had dogs, cats, fish, and even convinced my mom to let me hatch a baby shark in my bedroom!
For Christmas one year in high school, my dad gave me his present.
He insisted that I open it first that I was going to love it.
He was so proud and excited.
When I opened it, it was a ring.
A gaudy ring that has a mother of pearl back and a small gold cat on top.
He grinned form ear to ear.
He had specially picked it out for me because for my love for animals.
I wore it every day after that, even though it wasn't my style....at all.
It eventually grew on me and now I LOVE it.
I don't wear it as much as I used to anymore but it doesn't mean i love it any less.
It reminds me of where I came from.
It reminds me that there are people thinking of me.
It reminds me to think of others.
It may not fit into the definition of a typical heirloom, but it is one to me.
And I hope to pass it on to my children one day telling them the same story.
About how someone's good intentions became a life lesson.
My favorite family heirloom would be "the rocking chair." It belonged to my grandmother for some time until she passed it down to my parents when they moved into their new house (and out of hers :). Mom rocked me and my silbings to sleep in that chair and years later I spent many a lazy Sunday reading and looking out the window in it. It's made even more special by the fact that when two rungs were destroyed my dad whittled replacements for them. Those two whittled rungs are my favorite ones, they don't stand out until you really look and notice the rough knife marks.
These sets are amazing. I would love to have them!!! My favorite heirlooms are my grandfathers service medals from World War II. They are being tied in to my bouquet.
My other favorite is a "new" heirloom. My fiancé took my mother's engagement diamond that she wore for 35 years before my father bought her a new ring, he also took a diamond from his grandmother's engagement ring , and another diamond my grandfather gave my mother in a necklace for her high school graduation. All of these modest diamonds have being set in to my engagement ring. This is an expression of our love and the love our families have for us by offering these treasures to us for my ring.
My grandmother who is near and dear to my heart won't be able to make our wedding this fall. We made our engagement period less than 8 months in the hopes that she would stay healthy enough to be able to be here for our special day. However, she is rapidly declining and no longer has the capacity to be able to come to our wedding. So, my heirloom piece will be a beautiful gold Cartier bracelet that she handed down to me as a Christmas present a few years ago. Since my grandfather passed away about 5 years ago she has been regularly handing down little pieces of jewelry that he bought for her through their 60 years of marriage. Each piece has been handed down with the story of how and when it was given to her, we cry and laugh at the memories and stories she is handing down. This makes each of these presents all the more precious to me.
My greatest hope is that my marriage will be as long and stable as hers and that I will be able to pass down these pieces to my children complete with both my stories and hers. Though she won't be there in person she will be theree in spirit and I will think of her each time I look at my wrist on my special day.
My heirloom isn't jewelery but means more to me than any little thing ever could. My mom used to paint and she was great at it. There is a picture of an old fashioned car she made out of painting small little dots. She received tons of awards for it.
It was sitting downstairs in my grandparents house since the 80's until my grandfathers death last summer where I took it to my home. It may not be hundreds of years old but it tells more stories and gathers more memories than anything else I own.
My Grandmother has given me a set of diamond earrings that she wore at her wedding 40 + years ago, they are not only special but they are also a piece of good luck. She has given me the advice that all marriages go through tough times but to keep your marriage going is compassion and work. Makes my special day that much more special!!!
Wow what a great giveway and Noaki's creation is so unique. I don't know what I have counts as a family heirloom but I wish to turn it into a heirloom in the future. When my family moved to the US to live, my mom had set two tiny oval pieces of jade into earring studs for me to wear. My mom told me that the jade was given to her from my grandmother when she got married. She kept the stones for a long time before setting it for me to wear. Unfornately I lost it while showering not too long after I got it. My mom was very upset for losing those gems. After that my mom started to collect loose gemstones and when I got engaged I became more interested in gemstones and diamonds. When I asked my mom to let me see her stash and to see if I can have one of her stone to have it set into ring or an earring, my mom gave not one but all of her gemstones to me. I was beyond excited! I haven't decide to set any of the stones yet but when I do, I hope to turn it into a family heirloom.
My Grandmother started working early like most children way back in the day.She started saving her hard earned money for this beautiful amethyst ring she had always hoped for.On her 18th birthday she treated herself to an amethyst ring at a local family owned jewelry store.She cherished that ring and always kept it safe.When I announced my engagement she gave me that ring.We both had tears in our eyes and that is a day I will never forget.When my daughter gets older i will pass this ring to her ;) Thanks for this wonderful beautiful giveaway.
So begins the story of lore
On a snowy day in late December 1944
During a time of turmoil and the Second World War
A young girl slipped on ice outside a department store
Suddenly before her a hand magically appeared
One belonging to a handsome uniformed US Air Force bombardier
He neither laughed nor jeered
Only her heart he immediately commandeered
An encounter by chance
He smiled and asked her if she liked to dance
So began my grandparent’s whirlwind romance
The outgrowth, a marriage of happenstance
With the war calling
My grandfather saw no sense in stalling
To the courthouse they went
Without either parents’ consent
Each purchased using their very last cent
Two plain gold bands expressed their intent
My grandmother was at a lost of words to say
As he prepared to ship out the very next day
He swore to her that not even Hitler could keep him away
All she could do was stare at her plain gold band and pray
So he flew
Over Italy and France as the war ensued
Hoping that my grandmother knew
That to his words he’d stay true
Each day he’d kiss his ring
And to the memory of her love, he’d cling
Then one day as he’d done so many times before
He opened the plane’s bomb bay door
Cursing the war
And wishing that it were no more
In an instant he knew something was not right
The plane began to twist and turn through the night
His mind filled with fear and fright
And the bomb bay door on his left hand clamped tight
He cried out and prayed
His undying love for my grandmother he conveyed
He struggled with the door, as death he attempted to evade
All the while hoping God would take pity and come to his aid
As if by magic his hand was suddenly free
No blood, no broken bones, how could this be?
Looking around he all around him slain
In his heart he felt their pain
But without a pilot to fly the plane
He knew it would be his death to remain
Grabbing a parachute and strapping it tight
Into the dark he jumped out of his plight
Falling from such great height
He knew God and his love for my grandmother had protected him that night
Once on the ground
He was amazed by what he found
His plain gold band once so perfectly round
Was now nothing more than a smashed gold mound
Off his finger came what was left of his ring
And around his neck he placed it on a string
For sixty more years, until his death there it would remain
Closer to his heart, string replaced by chain
Proving his love for my grandmother never did wane
A simple wedding band, gold and plain
A symbol of undying love from a young bride to her groom
To me, nothing less than the most cherished family heirloom
My fiance asked his mother if it would be alright to give me his grandmother's wedding wing. He proposed to me with it in its original box from the 1920s. I feel so special to have been given such a family treasure. I really value family history and vintage items, so to be given something old instead of new makes the ring all the more perfect and meaningful.
My grandfather gave my grandmother a beautiful opera length set of pearls years ago. When my grandmother died, my mother inherited them and has worn them almost every day since (I was two years old). One day, the pearls will be mine. I love the thought that they have been against the skin of beautiful, strong women, and I can only hope to carry on that legacy.
My grandmother was a Holocaust survivor. Her and my grandfather got married right after they were liberated from the camps. They first got married in Romania, and then again in Israel so that it would be considered a legal Jewish marriage. They weren't able to have a celebration because of their situation. Their homes in Romania were destroyed and most of their families were gone. Under the Chuppah, the bride and groom are supposed to get married wearing a solid gold band with no engravings. My grandmother left me her band, and that is the band I am going to be married with. It is almost seventy years old, and carries huge meaning with it.
My favorite heirloom is definitely my engagement ring, which came from my fiance's great-great aunt Molly. Molly was engaged three times; her first two fiance's died before the wedding and the third engagement was broken mutually. To remember each of her loves she had the three diamonds, which are from the 1880's made into a ring (platinum setting and yellow gold band) in 1940 and wore it for the rest of her life. The ring was passed down to my fiance's great Aunt Genevieve, then his Aunt Jeanie who gave it to his Aunt Mary who was so happy to pass it down to my fiance. I've never been interested in brand new jewelry and normally wear costume/vintage pieces so this ring means so much to me... I love its history!
My grandmother was my best friend my entire life, she was my grandma, my second mom, and my best friend. She had a simple gold locket that I never saw her take off. The locket was given to her by my grandpa when they were enganged and he was leaving to go off to world war 2. Inside are 2 pictures of them as little kids. He was 12 and she was 10. They lived on neighboring farms and were always together and as little kids they always knew they were going to get married to each other. They got married when he came back from the war. And had 7 kids together, 6 boys and 1 girl. My grandma passed away when I was 17 yrs old and left the locket to me. Now I never take off the locket. I have my grandma close to my heart for the rest of my life.
One of my favourite heirlooms is a piano my grandfather bought a long time ago. It used to belong to the family who founded my hometown, and now will stay in my family.
My heirloom is actually not a piece of jewelry, but rather a family photo album that my grandmother has, I love looking at these pictures, the black and white and sepia tones, of my grandmother, her mother, father and aunts whom I never got the opportunity to meet, ist breathtaking. I'm in the process of copy these images in order to make a quilt, and add all the newer generations,and present it to my grandmother on my wedding day in June.
The heirloom that will be used starting on our wedding day and from that point forward is my Fiance's father's wedding band. He father passed away very unexpectedly about 11 years ago. His mom who has never dated since and talks about him as if he is still here and that they have only been apart days, gave him his father's ring for his own band. It means a lot to us, because it is a symbol of undieing love and we know it had to be difficult parting with it.
I have a few special pieces. The first are a few pearls from my great-grandmother's set. The pearl were divided amongst the grandchildren and we each received a few. Another is a special brooch given to me by a former employer (who became like a second mother to me), L. She had a matching brooch that she kept for herself. The brooches were purchased by L's mother and grandmother many years ago so that they would have a matching piece and a connection. It meant so much to me that she thought enough of me to share her family.
I have an old photo album from the late 1800's. We found it in my great-grandparents attic, and thought maybe they bought it at a yard sale or something. When we researched it further, we found out that it is actually filled with our ancestors. Sometimes I look at the album and think about them living in a different time, and still living on as a picture in my album.
My Great grandmother's gorgeous Art Deco platinum wedding ring. When I look at it it reminds me of her stories of partying it up at the dance halls back when Buffalo was wealthy and industry was roaring, and of how strong her spirit was. She was one of the few women in a management position in Satler's which was a big department store. And I also think of how she didn't sell it during the depression when two of her babies had to be put in an orphanage because she couldn't afford them. Crazy times. And the ring survived it all. It even was the inspiration for my engagement ring! I think jewelry is such an amazing thing to be able to outlive you and pass on to your family and represent you.
Thirty-five years ago, my Dad lost his wedding ring. He never replaced it, because he feared he would just lose it again. My parents moved away from their home, and never looked back. One night at a holiday party, my mom ran into an old neighbor who said "I have something of yours" and pulled out my Dad's wedding band. My mom didn't recognize it at first, but then noticed her initials and wedding date etched inside. My neighbor was gardening in her backyard (which bordered my parents' bakyard at their old house), and said she'd found the ring underneath the soil. It had been there for 35 years, and was relatively unharmed.
I will proudly wear my dad's wedding ring on my wedding day! It made its way back to my parents after being away for 35 years.
I don't have an heirloom. My family isn't big on them I guess. But something rather someone that means as much to me is my grandfather. He passed away almost 10 years to the day that i'll be getting married. In order to honor him I'm going to have his picture printed on a handkerchief and tie it around my bouquet. I hope to make this an heirloom for my future daughter some day.
Wow. There are a lot of amazing stories on here, but I'm very proud to share about a piece of jewelery I almost never got. My grandmother, from what I can remember, was a fiery woman. She lived hard and she lived loud. Unfortunately, she passed when I was about seven years-old, so I don't remember very much about her. I can recall her cooking up frogs legs, the best cornbread ever consumed by human kind and my father's favorite buttermilk chess pie. And I can remember sitting on her lap, with a turban on her head and a pretty gold and blue stone leaf broach twinkling down at me (she'd been through chemo, again, after suffering a relapse of lung cancer, but she'd be damned if she wasn't going to go through it fashionably). She told me, "Kiddo, you don't know how proud I'm always going to be of you. I know you're going to do great things."
After she passed, most of the family divided up her goods and I didn't really have much to do with it. Then, around my 16th birthday, my step-grandmother gave me an old jewelry box with mis-matched earrings and the like that, essentially, no one had thought of any real value. Inside, was that same gold pin with the little blue stones. To this day I've known that I would have that pin on my person on my wedding day, to honor such a strong woman and carry her spirit with me into a new chapter of my life.
The two heirlooms most special to me will soon be around my finger for the rest of my life: We had diamonds that belonged to two of my great-grandmothers made into rings. We're picking them up tomorrow morning in New York City, where we live.
A solitaire was my great-grandmother Helen's; the baguettes for my wedding band were my great-grandmother Dorothy's. My aunt passed them down to me at separate times, 10 years apart.
Last night, I spent an hour on the phone with my father, listening to stories of both women. Dorothy was born in 1900, Helen in 1899. They could not have been more different, he said, and both were incredible people. Helen was a great listener, kind and caring; Dorothy was boisterous, witty and a storyteller for the ages.
To me, having these heirlooms means living in a way that would make my great-grandmothers proud. I can't wait for the love of my life to slip them on my finger tomorrow.
Love is the greatest heirloom I have received!
My favorite heirloom comes in two forms, a family tradition and an item.
The first: Growing up my family lived across the country from my grandparents, aunts and uncles on both sides of the family so I didn't have quite a strong sense of belonging to another group of people by blood (don't worry my parents made up for it by surrounding use with incredible friends who I now consider my family).
All but one grandparent had passed away by the time I reached 15 so my connection to my grandparents generation was not what I have seen in my friends lives. However my grandmother has left an heirloom so to speak for my family.
The main times when you meet as an extended family are usually religious or holiday celebration. Easter, Thanksgiving etc.
My mom grew one of 5 kids and every major holiday her mother would invite not on their family but also strangers.
These would be people she met at church mostly who also did not have any family to celebrate nearby. Some were new arrivals to the country, some would not be physically close to their own relatives and others were possibly estranged.
For as long as I can remember, Christmas especially but also Easter we have had strangers over for supper. They are uncomfortable at first with the invite thinking they are encroaching on our family time which is when my mother explains that we live to far away to realistically do mass family dinners and when they leave they are no longer strangers but friends. One set in particular we have spend every holiday with now for the last 20 years. A pair of siblings who immigrated from Russia during ww2. Only one is left now (aged 90) but she is as sharp as ever and it has been a treat for my and my siblings to grow up in their loving presence. Proving you don't have to be blood to be a family. This traditional "heirloom" I plan on continuing with my own family.
The physical heirloom is from that same grandmother who started this tradition. It's a Amethyst square cut ring she gave to my mom as a teenager, who then passed it on to me. It gives me a connection to my past even though I didn't have a lot of time to get to know her.
Thanks
sarah
My grandmother makes the most wonderful quilts.
I have a bunch of them from over the years celebrating our birthdays, christmas's and milestones (graduations etc)
My heirloom is recipes. I am studying to be a nutritionist and getting married this summer after my best friend Erika does in May.
Food is so important to me, the social aspect and the nutritional aspect and I have inherited some great Mennonite recipes.
The heirloom that I will wear on my wedding day is an ivory heart necklace that my father gave to my mother on their wedding day in 1969. On the ivory he scrimshawed the church they got married in and their anniversary. It's a really beautiful and unique piece that will add a special touch to my wedding day!
I was lucky enough to get eighteen fantastic years with my great-grandmother, who taught me, among other things, how to live with grace and bake the most amazing scottish shortbread (the secret is kneading the last cup of flour in by hand). When she passed away, I was left her stunning art deco engagement ring. It was the first piece of jewelry I ever loved and I absolutely treasure it. Knowing this, my fiancee proposed with a vintage ring from the same period, and every time I look at it I think of how blessed I am to be marrying such a wonderful person and how blessed I have been to be raised by such a wonderful family. Someday I hope to pass on my great-grandmother's ring to my daughter, and I hope she loves it as much as I do.
My grandparents married in San Francisco during WWII. He was a dentist and she was a nurse, both from small Midwest farm communities. Grandma had just recovered from tuberculosis and had spend 13 months in an iron lung. My grandfather visited her everyday and eventually proposed. Their marriage lasted for their lifetimes, as did the hand-beaded blue purse that Grandma carried on her wedding day. I'm looking forward to carrying it myself in the near future.
Heirlooms are so wonderful - they keep us connected to the past and mindful of the experiences of people who came before us.
I had always admired a painting that my grandparent's had purchased on a trip to Italy many many years ago. On my birthday this past February my grandma was too sick to go out and buy anything for me and wasn't even able to write out a card like she usually did. She said I could pick something out from the house and that would be my birthday present for this year. I asked for the painting and she said "of course, of course." She passed away a week and a half later. I have the painting prominently displayed on my wall and I always think of her when I see it. It will be a treasured family heirloom for years to come.
Just a few short weeks after becoming engaged, my great-grandmother passed away. As family members were rummaging through her keepsakes, the only item I asked for was one of her embroidered handkerchiefs. See, my grandmother never left the house without one, and that is something that I will always remember about her. The blue flowered embroidered handkerchief that I received is now my "something blue" for my wedding this July.
An heirloom that's special to me is my grandmother's pendant... she has advanced Alzheimer's now and would have been so happy and excited about my wedding... but now doesn't even recognize me. It's such a cruel disease :(
I have a lovely cameo set from my great-grandmother.
When my fiancée (a fellow starving-artist type) proposed to me last year, he presented me with a beautiful ring of blue topaz set in yellow and rose gold and said this:
"My great-grandfather was a farmer. He was poor and it was the Great Depression, but he loved my great-grandmother and wanted to marry her. He managed to give her this ring, and now I want to give it to you."
My great grandmothers icing recipe! She told no one but my mother when she married my father (with much envy from my father's sisters!). My mother passed it along to me :) I've never bought store-bought icing in my life.
My mother's charm bracelet is my most precious heirloom. It is covered with charms collected throughout the years, with hardly a chain link left to add any others. Each charm has such special meaning that brings back sweet childhood memories (from the heart given from my dad to my mom on their anniversary to the moose we picked up on a road trip through Jackson Hole). Irreplaceable.
Sadly, my family doesn't own an precious heirloom. :( I can only dream of starting this tradition when I have my own family.
When my grandmother passed away, she left two rings and a note in an envelope for my brother and me. For my brother, she left a diamond ring, that he was to give to his future wife. For me, a diamond and emerald cocktail ring, which she told me in the note that I "should not wear until age 35 because it might intimidate suitors." classic! it was so funny and touching and perfectly my grandmother. I actually think I value the note more than the ring itself.
Growing up one of my favorite things every time I went to my grandmother's house was to head to my grandmother's closet and pull out her jewelry box. Of course it wasn't jewelry she wore, it was all costume jewelry that had belonged to her mother and grandmother.
There was one set that I adored the most. It was incredibly shiny and covered in faux diamonds on the huge earrings, bracelet and necklace, but the ones that fascinated me most were the high heel jewelry. They're incredibly ornate diamond style jewelry that hooks onto the back of a pair of heels. To this day I've never seen another pair in a store, antique store or on television.
About a year ago my grandmother gave me that set. I keep them in my own jewelry box now, and sometimes I just open it up to watch them shimmer in their velvet box. As much as I adore the jewelry, I love what it symbolizes more. Every time I touch it or put it on I'm reminded of my grandmother sitting with me patiently as I re-tried on her jewelry a hundred times every time I came over and asked the story behind it like I'd never heard it before.
I cherish the heirloom jewelry because it truly is one of a kind. Its classic, unique and has so much sentiment attached to it.
My grandmother's handkerchiefs!
My family doesn't have many heirlooms, but one that is very special to me is my grandfather's wedding ring. My grandfather passed away in 2007 and left the ring to my younger brother. Sadly, my brother passed away unexpectedly in 2008 and I got the ring. I had my brother's name engraved on it and it is very special to me because it reminds me of both my lost loved ones, my brother and my grandfather.
my family is kind of odd in that we don't have *any* heirlooms! none at all!
Both of my parents have recently passed, so heirlooms are incredibly important to me. I plan on wearing one of my mother's rings on my wedding day, so that she is there with me in spirit. I will also be carrying my maternal grandmother's hankerchief with me, as she did on her wedding day (as did my mother and my grandmother, it was a gift from my great grandmother). My bouquet will be adorned with a locket of my paternal grandmother's that has a picture of my father and my paternal grandfather in it.
My mother and I are not very close, actually, it's been almost two years since we last spoke. I remember when I was a little girl, seeing her engagement ring. A silver ring, with a raised butterfly. I remember seeing her work bread dough, or comb my hair or unload the grociers with those hands; always hoping someday I'd get ot wear it on my wedding day. Maybe, if she reads this...maybe we can over come our past and she can be there. Whether I wear the ring or she does, I know it will mean she has decided to change her life....to be a part of mine.
My grandmother sent me a handerchief with our last name embroidered that was from her mother to carry with me on my wedding day.
My most treasured heirloom is a small pair of diamond earings that belonged to my mother, who passed away when I was 14. I was given these earings on my 16th birthday by my father. I have worn them on an almost daily basis since receiving them. And I make a point of wearing them on special occasions, so I know that my mother is there with me, and I plan on wearing them on my wedding day so i know that my mother will be there with me. My mother was actually a jewelry fanatic and I have some other pieces of her costume and art and craft jewelry that I would love to incorporate in the wedding in some form. I actually hadn't really thought about how until I saw this post.
My favorite heirloom - if you can call them that - are my tan, leather, cowboy boots. I'm a college senior at Seattle Pacific University and I have a pair of the coolest boots ever. My mother bought them in 1977 here in Seattle when she was entering into her freshman year of college, and I've grown up borrowing them from her. I think my Halloween costume was a cowgirl for 6 years in a row when I was a teenager. I remember I would stuff socks in the toes of the boots since they were entirely too big for me (size 11!)... and then high school I started to borrow them outside of Halloween, as well. Well her feet have continued to grow (to a size 13...) and mine have arrived at 11. They fit perfectly and she's officially passed them down to me. I'd say I wear them at least 3 times a week - with dresses, skinny jeans, skirts, shorts, and trousers. They're definitely my favorite possession. And they've stayed in incredible condition all this time. They're the only thing I own from my mother - so they mean a lot to me.
And I've been toying with the idea of wearing them under my wedding dress this August. It would sure be fitting.
The most personal, and my favorite heirloom isnt actual a thing - its my name :) Johanna is a family name but specifcally I am a namesake for my Aunt (who kept her madien name when she got married because our name is so special). Though not positive, I think I will do the same with mine when we get married in September!
My special heirloom was handed down to me by my mother that was handed down from her aunt and godmother that past away a few years ago. It is a very special brooch pin that is over 100 years old. I will have it pinned on my bouquet just as my mother did on hers :)
I have 2 heirlooms that I adore. I never met my grandmother, she died before I was born. I have a bug broach, and an art deco ring that are amazing. She always wanted grandchildren and died before she had any, I would have been her first one. Every time I wear one of them I can feel her so close to me. She was an amazing woman and I truly wish I could have met her.
Growing up only a quarter mile from my grandparents made me the luckiest kid in the world. I was very close to my loving, relaxed grandma. After she passed away, I inherited my great great aunt's wedding ring from my grandma. It's a beautiful, antiqued, three stone ring that's always been very precious to me. My fiance really wanted to have a ring (different from my heirloom) when he proposed, but the jeweler made a mistake, and the ring wasn't going to come in before the intended proposal date. My fiance knew how much my family ring meant to me and used it when he proposed instead. Although I now have the new ring that he intended for me to have as my engagement ring, I feel as though we've added our own history to the wedding ring that has been a symbol of two previous loving, enduring marriages. I feel even more blessed to wear it.
My favorite heirloom is my mother's original wedding band. A few years ago she upgraded her band to white gold with larger diamonds for her 20th wedding anniversary. While on a mother/daughter cruise, she asked me to pick out a semi prescious stone, which i had no idea what it was for. On my 18th birthday, my mother gave me her original band with the stone from our vacation in it! It is by far my favorite piece of jewlery besides my own engagement ring. I always have a little piece of my mother and father with me!
My favorite heirloom is similar to one a few posts above me - my middle name. I share it with both my mom and her grandmother, who passed before I was born. If I am blessed someday with a daughter, she will carry on this tradition!
I am MADLY inlove with the jeweled bouquets!
Everything about this is just stunning.
The model is gorgeous too. She has a very unique profile.
Beautiful set of photos. Thank you for sharing!
My aunt gave me a beautiful emerald ring on my sixteenth birthday - I have kept it in my drawer and will wear it for the first time at my wedding!
My grandfather [who passed away a few years after I was born], took my mother around the world when she was younger since he was a pilot for pan am. She flew to Germany, France, Ireland and all around America with him. While he wasn't the most respectable man, he did try his best to make up any lost time he didn't spend with her and got a bracelet charm for each place he visited without her. One day, hopefully far into the future when I am without my mom I can think of all the places she has been to or heard about and plan to visit them throughout my life too.