Wondering if you should have a beach wedding or not? It’s a decision many brides and grooms are pondering. According to the latest bridal industry news – beach weddings are still wildly popular, even though the trend started years ago.  Not only is this type of wedding very romantic, it’s also very affordable.  With the average cost of a wedding in 2010 between $20,000 – $30,000, this seems like an enormous financial burden.   Starting your marriage enslaved by your wedding day debts is not how you want to remember this wonderful occasion.

Think about the glorious, natural setting that provides a gorgeous backdrop, minimizing the need for expensive decorations.  Consider the miles and miles of beautiful beaches right here in the U. S., saving the cost of travel to distant lands.  Now close your eyes and picture yourselves surrounded by the embrace of your loving family and closest friends in a warm and intimate ceremony.

A beach wedding can also be more casual.  Everyone can relax, dress comfortably and affordably.  You can even involve family or friends in your ceremony and make them part of the celebration.  It’s your day and you can plan it any way that you want, be it romantic, whimsical or even silly.   It can be a modern and refreshing change from the typical indoor wedding and it allows your creativity and personalities to shine through.

Give it some thought – think about how unique you can make it and remember that your beach wedding footwear  is already taken care of….. by shopping at Jewels-by-Jan!

Brides-to-be…this post is just for you! Depending where you are in your wedding planning, at some point you will be choosing your wedding day jewelry accessories.  With SO many stores, so many sites, so many choices…what’s a bride to do?

If you’re a savvy consumer (which of course you are), you will put more stock in your friends’ opinions and independent product reviews.  Since my goal is to provide my followers with useful information I would not be doing my job if I didn’t tell you about Looney Maiden Jewelry.

Recognized by The Knot as well as top bridal magazines, Judith Cartier Oliver has created over 700 individual styles of affordable bridal jewelry, bridesmaid jewelry, flower girl jewelry and wedding hair accessories.   With 90 Swarovski crystal colors and 30 pearl colors to choose from, you’re sure to find just what you’re looking for.  If you don’t,  Judith will make it for you.  She’s worked with countless brides for over 15 years to create exactly what they are looking for.  And now, Judith and I have “teamed up” to accessorize you literally from head to toe. 

Call us the “Dynamic Duo”!  Together, we will make you look gorgeous….and more.  I will handcraft custom beautiful foot jewelry to match the jewelry pieces that she creates.  Keep in mind that we haven’t forgotten about your bridal party.  Whatever colors you’ve chosen for your wedding – Judith and I can coordinate the perfect wedding day jewelry accessories that will turn you and your attendants into the most beautiful wedding party . After all, feeling beautiful is the best way to start a new chapter in your new life!

Isn’t this just the cutest photo? This came from one of our customer’s who was recently married in Tulum, Mexico.  Their photographer, Tamms Photos, took this shot after their wedding on the beach.  I think it should be called Happy Feet! (In this photo, our bride is wearing Hearts Desire, our best-selling bridal barefoot sandal.) This design has been a favorite with our customers for over 2 years.  It has everything -  white hearts, Swarovski crystals and a medallion sparkles like the sun!

We receive many photos (and testimonials)  from our destination wedding brides who were married in gorgeous, tropical locations.  Beach weddings are still very popular and of course we love that and hope it continues.   Still, there are many that have never heard of barefoot sandals.  There are those that feel flip flops with a wedding gown look fine and those that just prefer to go barefoot altogether.  Bottomless sandals are a matter of personal preference. 

We’d love to hear your comments on this subject – if you were planning a beach wedding and had the option of adorning your feet with sparkling jewels (while still being barefoot), would you choose barefoot sandals or nothing at all?  Post a comment below.

JAN

Have you ever wondered what it takes to create a complex bead design? I can tell you from six years of experience when you work with small components, it’s a very time-consuming process.   The tiny little seed beads and 4mm crystals are just plain hard to pick up off the bead mat.  If you use long tweezers to pick up the components like I do, they can fly across the room if you squeeze the tweezers too tight.  But we have found that the smaller the bead, the more feminine and dainty the sandals will be.

When Pat and I started our business we knew that quality materials would be the key to producing a lovely piece of jewelry.  It was important to us to find bead suppliers that offered A-quality products at a reasonable cost.  That’s why we selected Swarovski pearls and crystals to use in our barefoot sandal designs.  Everyone can identify with the name Swarovski.

Each Swarovski Crystal Pearl is created around a crystal core, hence the name Crystal Pearl. This crystal core gives the pearl its ideal weight and combined with the Swarovski Pearl coating it causes each Crystal Pearl to glow from within. The pearl coating developed by Swarovski is applied around the crystal core in pearly layers.

Swarovski (Austrian) Crystal is considered by many people to be the finest quality, full-lead crystal made today.  To cut hard materials such as crystal and gems in such a way that they have a hundred identical facets in several directions is a very complicated task: each direction of the reflected light must first be calculated by computer, then this has to be simulated in 3D, optimized and finally converted into control programs for complex machinery.  It is this machine that makes it possible to cut crystal to perfection.

When we receive an order of Swarovski crystals there’s just nothing more brilliant than opening up their careful packaging and seeing several hundred sparkling prisms of light shining back at you!  Knowing the process of how they are cut makes it even more amazing.

Each sandal is designed by first selecting bead colors that go good together. Then they are laid out in a pattern on a bead mat, making sure there are adequate spacers to help accentuate the bead colors. Usually, it is decided ahead of time whether to use gold or silver accent beads. Right now, silver is very popular. Real sterling silver is not used because it is far too expensive.

For the most part, Czech glass beads are used that have been formed into a variety of shapes, pressed, faceted, bicones, rondelles, etc., along with spacers that are either pewter or metalized plastic.

Once a few “patterns” of beads are completed, the design is evaluated and if it is not acceptable, the whole design is taken apart and started over.

The sandals are all handmade and labor intensive. They are made in sizes 5-10 with 1/2 sizes included and all of those sizes are standardized so exactly the same amount of cord is used each time.

The stringing material is called “Stretch Magic” and it is a strong size, .7mm. It is strong enough to handle repeated, gentle stretching, yet small enough to fit through the hole of the beads.

The sandals come in a matching organza drawstring bag with detailed instructions indicating the 4 ways they can be worn.

by Jan Baker, Designer and Creator of Bare Foot Sandals

If you’ve made the decision to celebrate the beginning of your lives together as husband and wife in a supremely romantic tropical surrounding, your wedding day attire will be an important detail. Because we want your important day to be as special as possible – we’ve designed beautiful barefoot sandals to complement your tasteful style and the bride’s chosen color scheme.

Wearing shoes on the sand is not only impractical but also uncomfortable. Now you can enjoy the comfort of our bottom-less, beaded foot jewels to adorn your feet like twinkling lights.

Photo left provided by Iva from Arlington, VA. “I got lots of compliments on the sandals I wore … Thanks again for all your support, you were wonderful, and the sandals really made my beach wedding outfit so much nicer! Thanks, Iva”

Each pair is handmade in the USA with meticulous attention to detail. We’ve created OUR sandals in 3-sizes using durable, elastic cord and very tiny seed beads (for your comfort) on the toe portion of the sandal.

Ours is a one-of-a-kind design, right up to the medallion gracing the top of your foot. Our handcrafted bridal sandals come in 11 lovely bridal designs – from casual to elegant. These also make great bridesmaid gifts!

“Hi Jan – Here’s the promised photo of the wedding and your georgeous feet jewellery!!! They were greatly admired by all. l thank you again” — Barb R.

“HI JAN, JUST WANTED TO DROP U A LINE AND SAY THANKS AGAIN 4 THE SANDALS. I GOT ALOT OF COMPLIMENTS ON THEM…THEY WERE SO PRETTY, SEXY, UNIQUE AND COMFORTABLE. U ASKED FOR A PICTURE SO I AM SENDING A FEW.” — AMY G., Wanamingo, MN

Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you —

And to all those men out there – If you’re wondering what to get YOUR sweetheart for Valentine’s Day remember that there’s hardly a woman on earth who doesn’t like jewelry. Why not consider a bracelet to match a new outfit or a pair of barefoot sandals to go with a cute teddy? Choose from our selection of beautiful, chunky beaded bracelets or contact us to custom-design one in your honey’s favorite colors. We also just happen to have 2 very special Valentine’s Day Barefoot Sandals! Both “Romantic Ruby” and “Red Hot Love” are available now on our website. You’ll find them right on our home page as well as the Barefoot Sandals page.

Also, if you’re one of those couples who are planning a winter cruise or vacation to a warm, sunny place – a pair of our beaded foot jewelry would make a perfect gift. And Destination Beach Weddings take place all year long, so whether you’re the bride-to-be or a wedding guest, seaside weddings call for barefoot sandals. Jewelry is a gift for any occasion. We make it our goal to ship within 48 hours.

INTRODUCING NEW DESIGNS

If you’ve visited our bridal page recently, you’ve seen 3 new beach wedding sandals. Love is the theme of Hearts Desire, created with tiny, white, cat’s eye hearts, pearl cubes, clear glass rondelles and 6mm Swarovski crystals. This “love”ly bridal sandal features an elegant silver medallion imbedded with rhinestones. With our Heavenly Glow bridal sandals, your feet will twinkle in this sparkling combination of aurora borealis atlas beads, clear glass rondelles and 6mm Swarovski crystals. We’ve topped off this design with a gorgeous single rhinestone-studded centerpiece in glistening silver. And finally, Seaside Splendor, features aqua glass biconee beads coated with an aurora borealis finish. This pattern also includes 6mm Swarovski crystals and silver round spacers and is highlighted by a mother of pearl flower medallion. Make sure you take a look at these new additions to our beach wedding collection.

VERY EXCITING NEWS!!!!

We recently received some great news! The year is starting off with 2 new firsts for Jewels by Jan. You’ve probably never seen barefoot sandals in a shoe store but one brand-new store in Bolivar, Missouri is breaking new ground! Their first order of sandals has already been delivered and is just waiting for the store opening to be introduced to their customers. You can find Jewels by Jan Barefoot Sandals very soon in the new DiVini Shoes.

We also just learned that yet another retail store will be introducing our sandals. Paradise Point Resort & Spa located on beautiful Mission Bay in San Diego, CA will be introducing Jewels by Jan Barefoot Sandals in their gift shop in May 2006! Paradise Point Resort and Spa is just one of the many Noble House Hotels and Resort properties, which are located in several U.S. coastal cities. We think this will be the start of something great! Until then, there’s going to be a lot of bead-stringing going on!

YIN AND YANG

Yin and Yang are famous symbols of the Tao & Taoism. The Symbol (Yin-Yang) represents the ancient Chinese understanding of how things work. The outer circle represents “everything”, while the black and white shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two energies, called “yin” (black) and “yang” (white), which cause everything to happen. They are not completely black or white, just as things in life are not completely black or white, and they cannot exist without each other.

Since some of our customers have been asking for a black and white barefoot sandal, we decided that this new design should be made with yin and yang beads. Whether you attach your own meaning to yin and yang or whether you just like black and white – check out our latest design in foot jewelry. We’re only making a limited number of these sandals so act quickly! Send me an e-mail and I’ll send you the photo!

WE WOMEN LOVE OUR JEWELRY

The practice of adorning our bodies with jewelry goes back to the beginning of time. While every culture uses bangles and beads, the people of India have a long and interesting history of how jewelry plays a part of their lives. In a 2002 article written by Nitin Kumar that we found very informative, “the people of India have expended limitless energy and creativity in the invention of ornaments that celebrate the human body. Adorning the visible, material body, they feel, satisfies a universal longing for the embellishment of its intangible counterpart, namely the human spirit. Complementary to such thought is the conventional view that the graceful form of a woman is said to epitomize the ideal beauty and mystery inherent in nature. Thus befittingly each and every part of the feminine physique including the head, torso, limbs, and between the appended parts – have consistently been used to support ornaments, often in ingenious ways. The Indian idea being that only things covered with ornaments are beautiful.

While Indian culture has many types of adornment, did you know that an Indian woman wearing a “wristlet” or bangles signifies that she is married? Besides being a mark of a married woman, these have enormous romantic and amorous connotations. Often the Indian poet would indicate a woman pining for union with her husband or lover by bracelets slipping from her wrist due to her becoming thin in the agony of separation from him. The tinkling sound of women’s bangles is full of significant messages expressing her presence, her wish for attention, her anger or desire to exchange glances.

An important concept associated with this feminine ornament has been responsible for its continuing popularity. It is a universally accepted idea that bangles identify the wearer as a married woman, reiterating her status as the beloved of her husband and the honored mother of a family. To the Indian woman, ornaments for the wrist have always been significant emblems of marriage. Even when changing bangles, a woman never allows her arm to be completely bare. A simple string or even the end of her sari is wrapped around the arm, until the new set is worn.

Feet are the support of the entire body and therefore accorded great significance. Indeed the foot is the human pedestal, in direct contact with Mother Earth, absorbing vigor from her powerful emanations. In a charming aside, it is worthwhile mentioning here that women in some tribes are given foot bells, chains, and tinkling anklets, not only to frighten snakes away when they move outside at night, but in order that their husbands may know where they are when they cannot be seen!

(For more on the use of jewelry in the Indian culture, check out this link: http://www.exoticindiaart.com)

FEATURED WEBSITE PARTNER

Since starting our business two years ago, my sister and I have had the good fortune of meeting some wonderful business partners…many of whom we have never met in person! These business acquaintances’ graciously agreed to display and sell our barefoot sandals on their own websites not only because they have related products or services but also because they saw that Jewels by Jan barefoot sandals were a unique, jewelry item that women of all ages would love. One of those websites is MyWeddingAccessories. With each newsletter I’d like to feature one of our website partners by giving you a little history of their business and what you can find when you visit their site.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mary, the owner of Humphrey Florist and MyWeddingAccessories when we both attended a bridal soire’ as vendors at a local San Diego invitation shop by the name of Truly Truso.

Mary has owned a full service floral design business specializing in outdoor and beach themed weddings for twenty five years. That evening, Mary displayed a collection of beautiful photographs of bridal arrangements she had created during her many years as a florist. She has worked with countless couples to create their special day from creating their floral bouquets to all the wedding accessories needed to carry out their beach themed wedding. With the recent increase in Destination Beach Weddings, Mary has now turned her focus toward the wedding accessory arena with her new accessories website. Like flowers – weddings have no particular season.

Weddings take place all year long, all over the world and San Diego’s beaches and warm climate have made this city a popular place for a destination wedding. From the moment you announce your engagement, MyWeddingAccessories can be your exclusive resource in helping plan your special day. Many brides-to-be are telling family and friends about this new Bridal Gift Registry service provided by MyWeddingAccessories.com. This unique web site has revolutionized the wedding experience. Brides join the Bridal Registry online and create a wish list from more than 2,000 wedding accessories and wedding gift items. Wedding guests and family are able to do their gift shopping and even help the Bride-to-be acquire Accessories needed for the wedding.

Your wedding shower guests can shop for gifts, the friends and family hosting the bridal shower can find everything they need to host a perfectly lovely event and the bride and groom can shop online for everything from wedding jewelry and wedding favors to wedding ceremony and reception accessories. It doesn’t stop after the wedding either because this website also carries a wonderful selection of Dining, Kitchen, Luggage, Electronics, Bed & Bath and more for the bride and groom’s new love nest!

Talk about one-stop shopping! This site has it all and if you happen to have a wedding in your future, whether it’s a traditional church wedding or a seaside ceremony, you’ll do yourself a favor by visiting this website. Just go to our links page and get started!

Jan