Well, it made us laugh.

Pity about the expensive camera equipment though.

Hat tip to Bridezilla.com

Well at least the sun’s shining – for now.

But we need something else to cheer us up and we’ve hit upon an idea:

Let’s have a royal wedding.

It’s been a while since we had a good one (the Peter Phillips + Canadian joint venture in 2008 didn’t really hit the spot) and the gloss has long since faded from those failed 1980s mergers between Charles & Diana and Andrew & Fergie.

So let’s have the one that the 21st Century has been waiting for: William & Kate.

They’ve teased us for long enough: we’ve had too many false reports, and we’ve even had pictures of (fake) Kate wearing a wedding dress.

Besides, what exactly is the Royal Family for if it can’t arrange a glitzy royal wedding once in a generation?

Our new coalition government is pulling out all the stops to try to turn the economy around, but perhaps the Prime Minister & Chancellor should have a word with the boy William and ask him to do the nation a favour and tie the knot on a date which is positive for the economic cycle, i.e. as soon as bloody possible, please.

When the city of Stockholm hosted the wedding of Swedish Crown Princess Victoria last month there were reports that for every $1 spent on the wedding, $100 would be generated for the economy.

Now that’s the sort of fiscal stimulus that we need: let’s spend £100m on a royal wedding and generate £10 billion for our economy. I reckon that would add around 0.6% to the UK’s GDP of £1.75 trillion.

There, that’s fixed it.

Now I’m sure that those Swedes put on a good show for their Big Day, but when it comes to the consumption of mountains of tatty Royal Wedding merchandise such as the indispensable Will & Kate Tea Towel and the Will & Kate Keyring, I’m confident that Britain still leads the world.

Plus of course there’s the boost from tourism as people flock to the streets of London from around the country and around the world in even greater numbers than usual, all prepared to pay for overpriced hotel rooms and about £5 for a small bottle of tepid water as they wait around for hours along the procession route through the capital waving their union flags.

And what marvellous sponsorship opportunities!

This will be the first really big royal wedding in the modern era, so like the World Cup or the Olympics, there must be a wacky mascot and an official logo for the event.

The Will & Kate logo will be expensively licensed out to Official Partners, including the Official Credit Card, the Official Cola, the Official Beer, and the Official Airline of the Royal Wedding.

A Royal Wedding will boost the media businesses too: the TV companies will cover it like they’ll cover the 2012 Olympics (which means that the two events can’t clash, so that’s another great reason not to wait until 2012), and a billion trees will be pulped to publish glossy special souvenir supplements with every newspaper and magazine.

There will be street parties with beer & bunting, and sales of 3D-TVs will get a boost, and copycat engagements & weddings will generate business for lots of people like us…

And lastly and perhaps most importantly, the Royal Wedding will add to the nation’s ‘General Well-Being’ (remember that?). It’ll put a smile on our face and make us feel like the sunlit uplands are finally within our grasp.

And the dwindling number of republicans will grumble and moan and write angry letters to the Guardian.

And then, when all is done, we’ll have an almighty hangover.

Just last week we asked a customer about this because his wife wore a diamond necklace with matching earrings (pictured, right) to a family wedding.

Now the retail cost of this jewellery would be around £12,500 – probably rather more from a fancy Bond Street boutique – and our customer told us that their fellow wedding guests admired the diamond jewellery and asked about it.

So did they tell those admirers that they didn’t own the jewellery, but that they had hired it for the evening?

No: they said that the jewellery was a ‘gift’ and left it at that.

Well we want people to enjoy wearing our diamonds on special occasions such as weddings, so whether they come clean about the fact that the jewellery is not theirs is – to us – quite immaterial.

For us it’s about the experience of the moment – the evening, the wedding, the party – rather than the commitment of ownership or the symbolism of a gift of love.

They say that ‘A diamond is forever’ – well, of course, it will last forever, but you’ll only get to wear that diamond for a tiny fraction of eternity, and frankly, an evening or a weekend is not so very different to a human lifetime when set against the geological, eternal, forever-ness of a diamond.

Anyway, it got us thinking…

When we first had the idea for Diamondthrills a couple of years ago, we did worry that renting diamond jewellery would be a bit infra dig [from the Latin infra dignitatem, literally - 'beneath (one's) dignity'].

And that therefore people might not want to do it, or if they did, to not talk about it, in much the same way that a chap might go to a smart black tie function but would be reluctant to admit that he had hired the dinner jacket he’s wearing.

But as we did more research and talked to more women, and especially as the gathering storm of the recession set in, it became clear that for many people the idea of hiring jewellery would be seen as smart and savvy, a clever way to accessorise with stunning diamond jewellery for a special occasion, but without the high cost and commitment of ownership.

So, far from clamming up and not wanting to talk about it, we found that lots of women would actually boast about how clever they were being by hiring diamond jewellery!

Well, that’s music to our ears, of course.

And for those – like our customer last week – who don’t want to broadcast the fact that those diamonds they’re wearing are on loan, well that’s fine too. Your secret is safe with us.

What about you? Would you tell people that the sparkling diamonds you’re wearing have been rented for the occasion?

They called us a few days ago to ask whether they could borrow some of our diamonds for a feature that they were planning on renting designer goods.

Of course we were very pleased to be able to help out, and so we trotted up to ITV’s studios on London’s South Bank with a couple of pieces: the Flora daisy-chain diamond necklace (pictured below) and our stunning Aphrodite diamond bangle.

They decided to use the Flora diamond necklace, and the feature also included designer dresses, handbags, and shoes – all available to hire.

Jason Gardiner introduced models wearing designer dresses that can be hired, plus handbags and shoes, and then our diamond necklace made its debut TV appearance.

Jason stumbled over our name a bit but we’ll forgive him that. Holly Willoughby was heard to gasp when the necklace appeared, whilst Phillip Schofield looked like he was happy to leave the fashion tips to Jason and Holly.

Jason had this to say about Diamondthrills, “They mainly do bridal wear because it’s just diamonds, so it’s ideal for Something Borrowed!”

Flora daisy chain necklace, as seen on ITV's This Morning programme

]]> http://www.diamondthrills.co.uk/2010/04/our-flora-diamond-necklace-makes-its-tv-debut/feed/ 0 http://www.diamondthrills.co.uk/2010/04/venus-diamond-necklace-helps-to-romance-marriage-proposal/ http://www.diamondthrills.co.uk/2010/04/venus-diamond-necklace-helps-to-romance-marriage-proposal/#comments Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:59:53 +0000 Jamie Mordaunt http://www.diamondthrills.co.uk/?p=3410 At Diamondthrills we’re getting used to receiving enquiries from brides about hiring diamond jewellery for their wedding.

But back in January we had a rather different request.

Matt contacted us from Devon to ask about renting our stunning Venus zigzag diamond necklace (below) for a special weekend that he was planning for his girlfriend, Sian.

Matt was putting together the perfect weekend: hire car, fancy hotel with a 4-poster bed and jacuzzi, romantic dinner… It was Sian’s birthday, and with an impressive appreciation of style Matt had even picked out a dress for Sian to wear and wanted to adorn her in dazzling diamonds for a very special occasion.

For not only was it Sian’s birthday, but Matt had another motive for spoiling her rotten over the weekend: he was planning to propose to her!

He swore us to secrecy and made us promise that we wouldn’t ring his home number or expose his elaborate plan in any way.

Matt told us, “I just wanted to blow her mind and make the weekend absolutely unforgettable.”

And so last weekend we shipped the diamond necklace to Matt’s address in Devon, and he and Sian headed off to an upmarket hotel in Dorset for the weekend.

Afterwards, we asked Matt and Sian how the weekend had gone.

Sian’s reaction was just the sort of thing that we love to hear at Diamondthrills:

“Gobsmacked when presented with it. Wow. Cried. Felt blinged up, especially with the ring which was given shortly afterwards (which matched). Didn’t want to give it back. Happy to wear it the whole time. Other peoples reaction – jaw dropping. Felt ladylike especially with the dress on.”

And Matt added, “A friend at work says I had set a new precedent for proposing“.

Well, we certainly hope so.

Of course people do get engaged right around the year, and Valentines Day always produces the other major spike in the calendar, but the Christmas and New Year period never fails to produce a flurry of engagement announcements.

A quick trawl through the gossip columns confirms that this Christmas was a vintage engagement season for celebs.

And in fact the season started early with plenty of pre-Christmas speculation re. The Big One: Prince William and Kate Middleton. No confirmation of that one yet, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen…

Others have been more forthcoming. They include:

– Piers Morgan and Celia Walden, who are planning a summer wedding in England.

– Robbie Williams and Ayda Field, who aren’t hanging around: they’re getting married on Valentines Day!

– Russell Brand and Katy Perry, who got engaged on New Year’s Eve in Jaipur India and hope to tie the knot in the next six months. Katy ‘tweeted’ the photo (right) of the two of them with the Taj Mahal, with the comment “He built this for me…”.

So now the wedding planning begins in earnest, with dates and venues and budgets and guest lists to consider.

Some Christmas engagements will lead to a wedding this summer (very few will manage to get everything together for this Spring or even earlier à la Robbie & Ayda). Others will be thinking about dates in 2011 rather than 2010.

If you’ve got engaged over the Christmas & New Year period then congratulations! You can leave a comment below if you want to tell us and the rest of the world about it.

And if you need (a) a bespoke diamond engagement ring, or (b) some fabulous diamond jewellery for your wedding, then please get in touch with us here at diamondthrills and we’ll be very happy to talk to you about your requirements.

Well, this information was new to me and just too good to ignore: I had to find out more, and in the process I’ve stumbled across countless other wedding superstitions, old wives tales, etc.

But let’s start with that chimney sweep.

Apparently the tradition can be traced back around 200 years to an occasion when a fearless London chimney sweep stepped out into the path of the runaway horses & carriage of King George III (a yapping dog had startled the horses).

The King was so thankful that he took off his hat and bowed to the humble chimney sweep that had saved his life.

Later, when the King’s youngest daughter was to be married, King George sent for the chimney sweep because he believed that the presence of this chimney sweep – perhaps any chimney sweep – would bring good luck and happiness to his daughter in her marriage.

Thus the tradition was born, and it’s become customary to get the lucky chimney sweep a little more involved by asking him to kiss the bride and shake the hand of the groom.

The Royal Family have continued the tradition: when the Queen married Prince Philip a chimney sweep was ushered into Buckingham Palace and the Prince was seen to shake his hand (it’s not known whether he – the chimney sweep, not Prince Philip – got to kiss the Queen).

And what of other wedding superstitions? Well here’s a brief selection:

– it is good luck for the bride to see any of the following on her way to the church: a frog, a policeman, a clergyman, a doctor, a blind man, a rainbow, sunshine, a lamb, a black cat, a dove;

– it is good luck for the bride to find a spider in her wedding dress (it seems that sometimes one has to suffer to bring about good luck…);

– it is bad luck for the bride to see a pig or a hare or a lizard crossing the road on her way to the church, or to see an open grave;

– it is bad luck to meet a nun or a monk on one’s wedding day: this would foretell a barren marriage and/or a life dependent upon charity;

– it is good luck for the groom to encounter a pigeon, a wolf, or a goat on the way to the ceremony, and he should also give a coin to the first person that he sees on his way to the church;

– the bride should step into the church with her right foot forward;

– which day to get married? Well, an old rhyme advises: ‘Monday for health, Tuesday for wealth, Wednesday best of all. Thursday for losses, Friday for crosses, Saturday for no luck at all’. I think we can safely say that that particular rhyme has fallen into disuse.

– and which month? I won’t repeat the whole rhyme here, but one month stands out: ‘Marry in the month of May and you will surely rue the day’.

– June is a favoured month because it was the time when ancient Romans honoured Juno, the goddess of marriage (for whom we named our Juno ellipse pendant);

– it’s good luck to marry when there’s a full moon;

– snow on the wedding day is a sign of fertility and prosperity.

So, if you’re fixing a date for your wedding, aim for a Wednesday in June when there will be a full moon and the weather forecast predicts snow with sunshine and the occasional rainbow.

And remember to book a kissable chimney sweep!

It was held at Woodhall Manor just outside the lovely little town of Woodbridge, and the fair — sorry, fayre – featured around 45 exhibitors and a couple of catwalk-style live shows to showcase wedding dresses.

The other exhibitors included wedding dress designers/retailers, photographers, wedding stationary suppliers, musicians, wedding cake makers, classic hire car companies… and of course Woodhall Manor itself was on show as a (very fine) wedding venue.

There were a couple of other jewellery companies showing off their wedding rings, but diamondthrills was – unsurprisingly – the only diamond jewellery hire company present (of course we’re not averse to making diamond jewellery sales in addition to our hire business, and we had a few enquiries about our bespoke diamond engagement ring service and one or two people asked us about buying the jewellery rather than hiring it…).

It was our first wedding show, so how did it go? Well, we spoke to a lot of brides and their entourages, and we had some of our lovely diamond jewellery on display so that we could get direct feedback from some brides and from others in the wedding business.

Actually, we (my lovely wife Fiona and I) were really pleased with our little stand (pictured right) and with how people responded to the idea of diamond jewellery rental.

Quite often people’s first reponse was to give the jewellery an admiring glance before telling themselves that it was far too expensive for them to consider.

But once we had explained that diamondthrills hires out this exquisite jewellery, people were pleasantly surprised and they wanted to hear more.

Key questions from people yesterday (and answers):

• How much does it cost? (from £50 up to £475, with most pieces below £300)
• How much is the jewellery worth? (retail prices start at £1250 and rise to almost £12,000)
• Is it insured? (Yes)
• Can we try it on? (Yes – generally, depending upon availability and location)
• Is it real? (Yes: all diamonds – no fakes – and they’re set in 18 karat white gold)

We chatted to the brides, their grooms, mothers, in-laws, sisters, etc…etc… and it was clear that getting married is, for many people, a long lead-time activity. By which I mean that they are starting to plan now for weddings that are happening well into the future.

We spoke to many couples who hadn’t yet named a date but were intending to tie the knot in 2011 or even in 2012 (and one of our co-exhibitors said that she was talking to a couple about their plans for 2015!).

Perhaps this shouldn’t be a surprise – it’s just that when my wife and I decided to get married we did the whole thing from engagement (atop a mountain in Scotland, with no diamond ring – oops!) to strolling up the aisle in less than six months. At least one couple told us that they were looking at suppliers now in order to pay for a few things a year in advance so they could spread the cost over a longer period – which seems very sensible.

We appealed to this sensible sort of frugality by telling people that they could either (a) buy crystal jewellery such as a tiara for their wedding day, which might cost several hundred pounds and be rather pointless after the big day, or (b) hire genuine diamond jewellery for much the same sort of price, or even less!

Thanks to everyone we met at Woodhall Manor yesterday: organisers, fellow exhibitors, and especially to the brides, their grooms and families – thank you so much for considering hiring diamond jewellery from diamondthrills and best of luck to you as you plan for your amazing wedding day!

Lastly, here are a couple of our jewellery pieces that were especially popular at yesterday’s Fayre:

Aphrodite bangle

Lakshmi peardrop hoop earrings

And having new images is the perfect excuse to showcase these earrings in a little more detail.

First, the name. Lakshmi is the Hindu deity of wealth and beauty (interesting that these two things are conjoined in this way), and Lakshmi is also considered to be a goddess that brings good luck.

The name is derived from the Sanskrit word lak?ya meaning aim, goal, or objective, so Lakshmi is generally associated with one’s aims in life, be they material goals such as prosperity, or more spiritual goals.

Lakshmi is usually depicted as a beautiful woman of golden complexion, with four arms, sitting or standing on a full-bloomed lotus and holding a lotus bud, which stands for beauty, purity and fertility.

As it happens, this is the perfect time of year to be considering Lakshmi because she features in the annual Diwali celebrations that take place every October/November. The third day of Diwali is the day when people perform Lakshmi Pujan (worship of divine Goddess Lakshmi), and offer up their prayers to her to bless them with wealth and prosperity.

So, what about our Lakshmi earrings? Well, here’s one of the new images.

We like it.

These decorative and ornate earrings are perfect for a classic wedding occasion – great bridal jewellery that’s sure to be noticed by everyone as those long dangling diamond hoops dance in the light.

These stunning sparklers feature 150 brilliant round diamonds of G colour and SI clarity, set in 18 karat white gold with an impressive total diamond weight of 3 carats.

You can normally hire these earrings from diamondthrills for £165, but we want to celebrate the period between last week’s Hindu New Year and our own New Year by offering them at a special reduced rate for the next couple of months.

So if you want to hire them before the end of 2009 and you mention this blog post then we’ll knock 15% off the hire price and you’ll pay just £140 to be adorned by these beautiful earrings.

Just contact us, naming the date, and we’ll make sure that they’re reserved for you (subject to availability – we only have one pair of these earrings!).

And tempt you just a little bit more, here’s another of our new photos…