Albuquerque local Erica wore customized statement Desert Goddess earrings for her wedding day. I asked her more about her style inspiration and how she chose her dress and wedding accessories. Below she shares more about her special day:
(Photos by Elliot Lawrence Archuleta-@elliotlawrencearchuleta)
What was your style inspiration for your wedding?
My style inspiration was, I wanted to have a touch of my Portuguese roots incorporated into my wedding, I used trinkets that I brought from our home of Portuguese tiles and small totems as decoration for the venue that we’ve brought back from our travels to and from Lisbon. I wanted my style to also reflect that European essence of romance and passion.
How did you decide on your dress?
I took my sisters and best friend with me on a girls trip to Dallas to find “the” dress! We went to 5 different shops with Grace loves lace being the last one. Despite the name, my hunt was to primarily find silk, crepe and satin fabric type of dress because at the time that’s what I thought I wanted. I saw the dress I ended up choosing online and decided to give it a try in person. It was on my list of dresses to try and the only lace dress I tried on the trip, I loved the silhouette and the off the shoulder. Once I tried it on we all knew that the Natalia dress was the one, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Not only did it fit me like a glove body and soul but I literally felt like a Portuguese princess in it and was literally speechless.
How did you want to feel on your wedding day?
The way I wanted to feel on my wedding day was genuine love. I felt the only way I could do that was to be my genuine self. I think my way of doing that was by picking a dress and accessories that matched my personality. My dress, shoes, nails and earrings showed off my bold personality that I otherwise would try to hide because it’s too big for the wrong people. More importantly, I wanted everyone that I invited to feel loved and beautiful on that day too. I believed I achieved that because of how many tears I saw in the crowd at dinner when everyone was reading their personalized letters and by how many people still tell me they have never felt so loved at a wedding before.
How did you decide on your wedding jewelry?
I wanted majority of my vendors to be from small business owners, I feel like weddings are the best time to share people’s talented gifts and give them the recognition they deserve!
How did you want to feel in your jewelry?
I really wanted my earrings to be a statement piece, I knew
once I got my dress that my neckline would need to be bare since the dress was off the shoulder. I thought statement earrings would make me feel completely put together and give the vibe I was trying to achieve which was bold and
confident.
Was the jewelry symbolic or mostly about style?
I am one of the most sentimental people you will ever meet so it was definitely symbolic at most but the style was also a huge factor. When I saw that the fans of the earrings had potential to match the lace pattern on my dress I knew that they would be the ones. The green gemstones were also to symbolize my May birthstone of emerald as it just so happened to be the same month we were married. Everything in the wedding was symbolic in one way or another and it made it feel like a little inside joke between me and myself.
How did you decide on the stones (pearls) you ended up
going with?
Pearls have always been my signature jewelry since I was a young teen. My mother always wore pearls whether it be earrings, or a necklace and I always admired it as young girl. I have always worn a dainty single Pearl on a simple chain as my everyday necklace,( I’m rarely seen without it) when I saw that my dress came with a pearl hand piece I knew I needed whatever earrings I got to have pearls also on them to be more cohesive.
What do your jewelry pieces from the wedding day mean
to you today?
My jewelry pieces give me so much nostalgia and sentiment
today and I’m so glad that I put so much thought into them instead of just
picking some random earrings off a shelf, that other people also have. Being
that we built them together makes them that much more special and I can’t wait to one day see my daughters wear them for a special occasion.
See our favorite picks for the Southwest Bride in this curated collection
