At our recent event in partnership with The Wedding Present Company, writer and editor Rosalyn Wikeley interviewed our founder Kiki McDonough to discuss all things bridal jewellery. Read on to discover more about our new bridal edit and how to get plenty of mileage out of your jewellery for the big day and generations to come.
So, Kiki, first thing’s first, who is the Kiki McDonough bride or mother of the bride?
Well of course the most important thing about brides is that they like my jewellery – so we’ll start off with that! But the Kiki McDonough bride is not the kind interested in cutting edge, trendy pieces. What we do is beautiful jewellery that women are going to feel more confident in when they put it on. And it lasts.
I always advise brides not to buy a pair of earrings that are only suitable for the day. It’s always best to consider when you will next wear these pieces - make sure you buy something for your lifestyle. If you buy something that’s trend-led, in a year’s time you might not want to wear it again.
In answer to your question about mothers of the bride, what I find funny about them is that if mothers and daughters come into the store together, it’s always the daughters persuading the mothers to up their game!
It’s really funny to watch particularly because it’s so different from when I got married for the first time in 1970, a long time ago, and back then my mother said, ‘why don’t you wear that and that’ and I said ‘ok!’. You didn’t have this amazing choice of jewellery; you just wore what you were told.
So, take us through your new bridal edit, what was the inspiration behind it, especially for the pearls, are there any standout pieces?
The new bridal edit celebrates the wonderfully distinctive, natural, iridescent sheen of precious pearls. I’ve always loved pearls, and think they exude effortless yet enduring style - and they have a radiant glow! The new collection features pendant necklaces and earrings, and the designs are modern classics which are intricate yet contemporary and can be passed down for generations. I also wanted to incorporate motifs, such as snowflakes for winter weddings and clovers for luck created using diamonds and have included blue topaz for the ‘something blue’ element!
How lovely. The format for weddings in the last ten years has changed to be a day event followed by an evening party. Do you ever have brides coming to you for evening jewels, and if so, what are the kind of things they’re looking for?
Well, if you are going to do that you either buy a pair of evening earrings and keep them on or buy our detachable earrings. The detachables consist of a diamond hoop to which a pearl can be attached for the ceremony and then swapped for something else in the evening. You’ll then have two completely different pairs of earrings but only one pair of hoops; a bit like a charm bracelet. I started the detachable collection 20 years ago now, so this year is the celebration of 20 years of detachables.
I’d love to move on to the tiara you designed, can you tell us more about that?
In the Power & Image tiara exhibition at Sotheby’s there were only two modern tiaras in the exhibition and mine was one of them, so I was very pleased about that! I think they’re fabulous and if they’re placed correctly and the hair is done right then you must get married in a tiara if you can get your hands on one! When you wear a tiara you walk in a different way, you move in a different way, and you hold your head up higher. Put the tiara on and suddenly you’re 6 inches taller.
A huge thank you to our wonderful clients who attended the event, discover our new pearl collection here and keep an eye out for future events we will be holding.
