When you speak of wedding jewelry for the bride, you always think of fine jewelry which is usually simple and elegant at the same time. Unless of course you are talking about a royal wedding where simplicity is not the name of the game, in these cases think diamonds and tiaras. But for the rest of us, when you speak of wedding jewelry, there is always tradition to think of. It can also mean culture and superstitious beliefs.

Pearls
Believe it or not, in the Western world, the bride is usually seen to wear a string of pearls but you can never see this worn from a bride coming from countries like the Philippines. In that country, wearing pearls would mean tears so no bride can wear them.

Diamonds
Of course wearing diamonds is never wrong and there are no cultural barriers with this precious stone either. However, again, culture can come in between buying and wearing of the diamonds. There are some cultures where diamonds can be worn by the bride, but they have to be borrowed diamonds.

Colored Stones Precious and Semi-precious
Usually the bride is never seen wearing colored stones, however, that is the traditional practice which is fast becoming a thing of the past. Just like the engagement ring which has to be a diamond, the older tradition of anything goes is fast coming back. In the middle ages and the Renaissance period colored stones symbolized the wealth of the groom and he had to give his bride his worldly goods in the form of beautiful jewelry.

Gold vs. Platinum

Finally there is the wedding ring to consider. Although gold (white or yellow) are traditionally the precious metals used for wedding rings, the groom who presents his bride with a platinum setting usually is the one who made a thorough research on the symbolism. Although gold is seen to be precious, it is too soft and the belief among many cultures is that platinum is a firmer metal so the hold of the bride and the groom to each other is firmer than gold.