Necklace that belonged to my Great Grandmother - When to wear?

[violet02]

My grandmother gave me a pearl necklace last night that belonged to my great grandmoher. She died when my grandfather was 13 years old so that dates them back 71 years. My great grandmother was 53 when he died and my grandmother is pretty sure she had them for quite awhile so they could be as old as 100 years. She had them looked at by a jeweler ages ago that said they are a very nice quality strand of pearls. They''re a darker grayish color though and my plan is to wear a white wedding dress with crystal/silver earrings no pearls. Either way they''re too dark to wear with my gown.

Any other suggestions oh how I may include them somehow? Maybe wear them for the rehearsal dinner or something like that? I feel bad that I can''t wear them with my wedding dress and my grandmother was suggesting it would be nice if I could but it just won''t work.

 

[staceybelle]

Maybe you could incorporate them into your bouquet somehow?

You could also wear them to the rehearsal dinner. They''d probably look pretty against a black dress.

 

[Erin]

Engagement photo?

 

[swimmer]

What a lovely gift. Have they been restrung recently? If that needs to be redone you could take some for your hair or make earrings or on your bouquet....rehearsal dinner attire? Then restring it with all of them, or leave it just a tad shorter. Just a thought. It is said that pearls need to be restrung every 2-3 years depending on how often they are worn.

 

[Pandora II]

When you take them for re-stringing (Mikimoto advised me to restring mine every 2 years if I wear them more than once a week), ask them to clean them for you. With clean silk they may come up a lot less grey.

Otherwise, I would wear them to your rehearsal dinner.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

i have a set of pearls fro my great-grandmother too! they were given to her by her husband to be on their wedding day and subsequently all of the daughters that came from that union have worn them at their own weddings! it will be my turn soon and i have actually decided to have the strand woven into my hair in place of a headpiece.

 

[Independent Gal]

How about wearing them to the reheasal dinner, and then incorporating them into your bouquet? I am having the florist wrap a necklace of my late grandmother''s around the handle of my bouquet.

But I would definitely find a way to incorporate them. That''s a very special gift and you wouldn''t want to offend your granny.

What about in your hair? Could that work?

 

[violet02]

These are all really great ideas!

First of all I had no idea you had to have pearls re-strung. Thanks for that tip, that''s a big one! Also since I do have to have them re-strung it''s a great idea to maybe string them differently.... also I had though of wearing them to the RH dinner but the engagement photo idea is interesting as well although pearls may be a bit much for that. Making it part of the bouquet is also a SUPER idea. Love it!

And yes, I wonder if they''ll clean up when I take them in. That''s also a good point.

Thanks everyone! I feel much better now knowing that there IS a way to get it into the actual wedding somehow!

 

[swingirl]

If you do have them as a necklace at the time of your wedding you could have a portrait taken of you in the pearls especially for your grandmother. It'd be just a quick necklace swap for a few pictures and I bet they'd look beautiful when you don't see so much of your white dress. Your grandmother would look at the photo and that would be the memory she had even if you didn't have them on for the whole day. Just an idea. I love sentimental gifts.

 

[Erin]

Date: 3/12/2008 2:42:38 AM
Author: swingirl
If you do have them as a necklace at the time of your wedding you could have a portrait taken of you in the pearls especially for your grandmother. It''d be just a quick necklace swap for a few pictures and I bet they''d look beautiful when you don''t see so much of your white dress. Your grandmother would look at the photo and that would be the memory she had even if you didn''t have them on for the whole day. Just an idea. I love sentimental gifts.

Oooh, especially in black and white photography!

 

[violet02]

Does anyone have a ballpark idea of how much it costs to get a strand of pearls cleaned and re-strung?

 

[lauralu]

I just had mine done a few weeks ago and it was $80.00. They are strung better than they where when I got them. I luv them...my honey gave them to me 6 years agao along with a matching pearl bracelet.

 

[lauralu]

I just had mine done a few weeks ago and it was $80.00. They are strung better than they where when I got them. I luv them...my honey gave them to me 6 years agao along with a matching pearl bracelet.

 

[swimmer]

Yeah, that is the issue with pearls. I find it frustrating because I''ll buy them in China, (there for work 2xs a year) and have to get them strung there because its so expensive to get it done here in the US. I gave my mom a strand of glossy 8mm pink pearls that cost me about 4$ US and for her to have it strung with a silver clasp was $90. Not much of a gift.