There are days when the sun would be shining so happily. The clouds would be softly bobbing along against the direction of the wind. The twitters of birds can be heard blending harmoniously with the songs of the insects. This is the kind of day that everyone would want their birthdays, weddings, anniversaries to fall on. Unfortunately, today is not that day.

Instead of its normal carefree demeanor, big dark clouds can be seen instead as it slowly overshadow the whole sky. The hot sun rays are completely obscured from the view, and for the first time, it seems that the sun is terrified of them. As though there was a psychic connection between them, the wind starts to pick up its speed and began to howl. Baby trees are barely able to hold on to its roots while clothes from the laundry line seem to have picked up a life on its own.

Of all days, it was this very day which Mary Jane Watson chooses to be wed. Clad in a white satin wedding gown, it was a vision of pure white amidst the calamity. Peter Parker was waiting in the very front of the garden. He looked up and let out a sigh. Of all days, he thought, it had to rain. His neatly combed hair was a tousled mess. Even the industrial strength hair spray could not suffice the force of the wind. He looked anxiously at his bride-to-be’s. Will her hair resemble an African lion’s mane?

Ah! There she was. Surprisingly, despite the rough winds around, her hair was neatly tucked in a bun. There was not a single strand out of place. Did she use a better hairspray? He glared at the man who was giggling with the other bridesmaids. Little did Peter know that it was not the hairspray that kept Mary Jane’s hair in place. It was a tiny bridal comb that was gently tucked on her bun which held her veil and hair in place.

Who knew that this minuscule device had the power to defy the massive power of howling winds. Did you know that the comb was on e of the oldest archaeological finds? It was already in its refined form with its history dated back 5000 years ago among the settlements of Persia, probably at the height of the major Indo-European migration. Since that period of time, the comb was only made for the hair. Hair straightening and keeping the hair in place has been, is now and will be the major purpose for hair combs. However, the comb has also been used for other purposes. Of the entire most unlikely one is it was the inspiration for several musical instruments. It was discovered that hair combs that are of different length, material and weight has the ability to produce different notes and frequencies when picked. This was the mechanism behind the workings of the thumb piano and the music box.

From keeping hair in place and making music, the comb continues to fascinate us. Someone decided that since the comb was used by ladies not only to straighten any fuss, but it was also used to make sure that their hairdo is not blown apart, why don’t we make it into a bridal accessory? Traditional combs are made of wood and plastic. This would be rather unsightly for a woman to walk around with a piece of boxwood on her hair. So, the comb went through a massive makeover. Instead of using synthetic material and products from the forest, the comb’s frame was constructed from beautiful metals. Silver, platinum and gold are such examples. It was then decorated with rhinestones and gems to make it even more glamorous. Thus, the bridal comb was born.

The bridal comb has ever since been used to hold the veil. Gently tucked on the hair bun, it also serves the purpose to keep the hair strongly in place and to prevent any strands of hair from escaping. Bridal combs has an exaggerated feature which is its combs are longer than any other typical combs. This allows the bride to have a choice of either wearing it up front or in the side of a French twist. The wealthier would opt for bridal combs that resembled a wedding tiara, a thin piece of wire that is embellish with pearls and crystals. Princes and princesses from the royalty would not allow anything below diamonds or rare stones.

Mary Jane snigger to herself. Come hail, come wind, come snow. She thought. My hair will always be in place.

No doubt as the bride, you probably would have already spent a small fortune on the rest of your wedding preparations. Planning a big event like that certainly doesn’t come cheap. So when it comes down to the decision of having to spent a fair bit on bridal bouquets, you would probably be a little reluctant to splurge. Why throw away all that good money on a bunch of flowers which are going to wither and dry up in a few days? All you’d be left with are some brittle leaves and brown petals as a reminder of the once beautiful blooming bouquet.

Well thank goodness then that for every expensive thing out there nowadays, there is also the cheaper, inexpensive counterpart. Only setback is that, most people tend to associate the word “cheap” or “inexpensive” with tacky, shabby, and tasteless too. And no sane bride would even dream of having anything that comes remotely close to looking cheap or tacky at her wedding. No cheap-looking wedding gowns, no cheap-looking bridal accessories and most definitely no cheap-looking bridal bouquets or silk flowers to substitute for the real thing. A silk bridal bouquet instead of the real deal? Most brides would opt for real flowers instead because they could be worried that silk flowers could look plastic-like or tacky.

But cheap or inexpensive silk bridal bouquets do not necessarily mean that they have to look shabby at all. You’d be pleasantly surprised to find that with the kind of quality that many suppliers produce and come up with nowadays, they are about as close to the real thing as you could get, except you don’t have to end up paying an over-the-top price for them as you probably would have to if you were to purchase a bouquet made of real flowers instead. In fact, some brides are slowly beginning to realize that these cheap silk bridal bouquets aren’t all that bad really once they get used to the idea that it is possible to get something beautiful for the wedding at a reduced cost.

The silk wedding bouquets that are handmade especially are the ones that actually turn out to be the most beautiful of the lot. And because they are handmade, you can be sure that each would be as unique and different from the next one. Many online websites offer to customize your bouquet for you according to your specifications at no extra charge even. Now that’s what I call a real deal. Something beautiful yet inexpensive and looks like the real thing, and you can have it designed in exactly the way you want it to look? That is much, much better than splurging on a bouquet of fresh flowers that are only going to last a certain time.

In fact, some brides will actually be thrilled to learn that many stores and online websites especially offer beautiful looking cheap or inexpensive silk bridal bouquets. They look so good and so much like real flowers that you could just not buy the real thing and no one would know the difference! You can especially find these at online websites which offer a much wider selection than the bridal boutiques or florists probably do.  All you’d have to go is take one look at the vast selection online and you’d probably think “Why pay a small fortune when I could get something just as good for much less?”

Cheap or inexpensive silk bridal bouquets are a great way to save on some money.  When you think about it, there is no sense in spending all that money on real flowers which probably will not last more than a few days, or a week at most. When they wilt and dry up, the only memory you are going to have of the beautiful bouquet you carried at your wedding is going to be in the wedding photographs. The good thing about these cheap or inexpensive silk bridal bouquets is that they not only cost less, but they last much longer too. They can last for years and years depending on how well you take care of them. And because they can last such a long time, they are a much better way to preserve the memory of your big day (other than your wedding photographs of course). Maybe you could even hand them down to your daughter one day if her wedding theme happens to match yours.

Seems that no detail on the wedding day can be considered too small to ensure it is nothing but perfect. From the dress, to the hair, to the make-up and even down to probably the smallest detail the bride will adorn about her person on the wedding day – the bridal hair pins. Hair pins have been used by women for many years (even dating as far back as the women of ancient Egypt and Assyria!)  and have proved to be quite useful little items, so it is no wonder that they would be used by the bride and perhaps bridesmaids on the wedding day as well. These pins are usually made of a metal grip (depending of course on what type of pin you select) and are used to hold the hairstyle firmly in place.

The beauty of these bridal hair pins is that they can be of any size, shape, style, design or color you could probably imagine. As the bride, you could either opt to go for plain looking hair pins which would simple be of no more use that to secure your hairstyle in place and would virtually “disappear” into the hair (this is probably advisable if you are going to wear a tiara on that day because you would not want to overdo the accessories on your head), or you could choose to go for more elaborate looking hairpins. The pins could perhaps be covered with a small sprinkling of jewels and ornaments, just to make it a little more attractive.

Bridal hair pins could even be adorned with pearls, Swarovski crystals and tiny little rhinestones, which are often popular choices among many brides as it would really add some sparkle to the hairstyle and attract attention. Plus they look really pretty too!  This of course, only applies to brides who are opting to forgo the bridal tiaras in favor of these fancy hair pins instead. Remember too much of a good thing can in fact have the opposite effect, so the bride should either choose one or the other and never combine both.

Probably one of the best things about hair pins is that they are made from various lengths of wire, they can be bent, twisted, turned and knotted into practically any shape! It really does not matter as long as the outcome serves two purposes – to hold the hair in place and look attractive at the same time. And because they can be shaped anyway you want, this means that they could also come in any size you want too. They could be as small as 1.5cm perhaps, or as large as 3cm, and maybe even bigger if you wished.

So the bride is free to choose exactly the type of bridal hair pins she wants to have out of the vast number of selections made available not just at the bridal boutiques but through online stores as well. For instance, she could select just one large hairpin that would be used to decorate a section of her hairstyle, or she could choose instead a few tiny hairpins which could be scattered here and there according to what would look best with the hairstyle.

Before picking out the bridal hair pins the bride would of course have to already have chosen the hairstyle she would want to have on that day. If you are a future bride and are stuck for ideas on how to wear your hair on your big day, then pick up a few bridal magazines, browse online or go to your most trusted hair stylist and ask which hairstyle would suit you and your face shape best.

From there, it is much easier to work out what kind of hair pins would be suitable for use and if it would match according with the hairstyle. Again and again, remember that nothing about your entire ensemble must clash on your wedding day and this includes even details as tiny as the hair pins. Don’t think that just because you choose to go for tiny hair pins for instance, that no one is going to notice if it happens to be out of place with your hairstyle or completely mismatched from your dress. You’d be surprised exactly how alert people can be, especially when there will be hundreds of pairs of eyes focused on one individual.

The best advice for a future bride before she goes about selecting the hair pins she wants is to start off with research, research and more research. You can hardly ever go wrong once you’ve done your homework right. Plus it would give you a much better idea of exactly what you want, and with all the stress from various other things you are going to experience preparing for your wedding, it will be a relief not to be confused about something as simple as selecting hair pins.

A Touch of Personalization! That’s what our jewelry is sure to add to all your special occasions. It’s the ideal gift for your friends, bridesmaids, sisters and, of course, yourself! Browse through the many items below and have fun shopping…

Bridal Jewelry from Cathy’s Concept