Dress Shopping

Since I've recently started shopping for a wedding dress I have to say that my best experience has been at City Bridal in Athens.   The boutique is located on the 6th floor at 21 Voukourestiou St. in Kolonaki.  City Bridal has a exquisite selection of American designer wedding gowns without the markup you find at other boutiques.  The owners and staff are warm, friendly, and very knowledgeable.  They were very good at helping me narrow down my choices.  With dresses from designers such as Monique Lhuillier, Carolina Herrera, and Lela Rose it is worth as visit for every bride who prefers style over trends.

Custom Crowns

This pair of stefana was a departure form the usual band like crowns I make.  It was a labor intensive crown which took me several days to complete.  All those hours were well worth it because I am pleased with the result, and more importantly, the bride liked them as well.  The bride was looking for stefana with some height to them, more like a crown.  I gave the stefana height by braiding three sterling silver wires together and leaving space between them.  I soldered the wires at every point that they met.  This resulted in a solid crown that had height but also remained light weight.  The bride also wanted crowns that weren't too feminine so, I did something similar to the His and Hers Stefana and weaved ivory freshwater pearls into one of the crowns.  Her colors were ivory, charcoal, and yellow.  I incorporated these into the design by using ivory satin and charcoal organza ribbons to attach the stefana to each other.

Something I Love

Recently, while searching on line for china patterns I came across this tray by Michael Aram.  Michael Aram creates gorgeous nature inspired server ware and table top items.  I think this the perfect piece to use as a tray for stefana.  It's not only beautiful, but the handles also symbolize  the joining of two lives by  depicting two different flowers growing on the same vine. This tray is part of the Garland Collection, which includes toasting flutes, a cake knife/server, and a wedding ring holder available in the same pattern.

New His and Hers Stefana

I think one of the best things about having an Etsy shop is that it's global.  It instantly puts you in touch with people all over the world.  I recently created these custom crowns for a buyer from France.  It is a variation on one of my newest styles, the His and Hers Stefana. 

I designed the His and Hers Stefana with the groom in mind.  Since the majority of wedding items are designed to be feminine,  I felt there was need for stefana that are as appealing to the groom as they are to the bride.  With these crowns, couples have the option of leaving one of the crowns unembellished. 

These crowns are also a nice choice for the bride who prefers something simple.  This bride decided to forgo the swarovski crystals on her crown and instead chose to add ivory colored pearls.

Hello and welcome to my blog!!! 

This my first entry and I thought I'd share some pictures I stumbled upon while doing research on the history of wedding crowns (stefana). The first picture is of bronze, tin-plated crowns from the 10th century.

Two inscriptions run around the outter surfaces of these crowns.  The first seeks the Lord's help for Romanos and his family, Possibly the donor of the crowns.  The second quotes a passage from Psalm 20/21 "Thou settest a crown of precious stones on his head; he asked for life of thee and Thou gavest it him, even lenght of days, for ever and ever."  referring to David's ultimate triumph after meeting adversity and death. 

The crowns in the  picture to the right are from the 19th century and have repoussé decoration and inlaid stones.  Repoussé is one of the oldest metalsmithing techniques in the world. Almost every culture with tradition in metalwork has left examples of this technique. It is the process of creating volumetric forms by pushing metal. The pushing is usually done on both the front and the back of the metal. The parts that are brought into relief are worked from the back and those that are depressed are worked from the front. At the center of each crown is a plaque. The one on the left depicts the Virgin and child and the other the crowning of the Virgin by the Holy Trinity.

The crowns on the left are common to the Post - Byzantine period and are found mainly in Asia Minor.  The are decorated with filigree, rosettes with glass stones, and appliqué plaques.  The plaque in the center of the crown on the right depicts the Archangel Michael.

This last pair of stefana are engraved with the date 1900.  The are very regal and in the form of a crown.  It is said that this type of wedding crown is not very common.  They have a rich floral decoration and a cross with a rosette at their centers.  All of the information and pictures are from the book Greek Jewellery 6,000 Years of Tradition.