I’ve been obsessed with “toi et moi” rings since 2013, when the diamond and sapphire engagement ring that Napoleon Bonaparte gave to Josephine de Beauharnais went up for auction. Embed from Getty Images But even before then, I liked the double takes that two-stone rings get, no pun intended. In fact, one of my earliest…
weddings
Easter-Egg-Gagement-Versary
Ten years ago, to celebrate Easter, somebunny named John Muggenborg gave his gorgeous girlfriend Olivia an egg-gagement ring. I love the egg-hunt story, which John shared in a comment on an Instagram post I did last year. Happy egg-gagement-versary, John and Olivia! By the way, this the only time I agreed to do a temporary…
Year in Review: What Wendy Wore in 2018
For 2017, I was proud to be able to do a “What Wendy Wore” year in review post featuring 12 slow-fashion outfits. In 2018 — despite Henry David Thoreau’s famous “… beware of all enterprises that require new clothes” — some of my most notable looks did require something new. I mean, I normally don’t…
What Wendy Wore: Temple Fancy, Square Casual
When I mentioned last week that I’d been admiring the Egyptian jewelry in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I held back on what brought me to the museum. This was not your ordinary cultural outing, but the fantastic wedding reception of Ben Cotton and Abigail Fisch, which was held in the museum’s Temple of Dendur….
Wednesday’s Video: My Wedding Band Has Gone AWOL
MrB and I celebrated our 17th anniversary on Sunday with a low-key local dinner. I wore a t-shirt and denim shorts rather than the Gareth Pugh outfit I wore for our previous two anniversaries. Another thing I wasn’t wearing was my chunky wedding band. Why? Because I lost my own damn ring! I always give…
Throwback Thursday: Eryn Wearing Something Borrowed
My right-hand woman Eryn got engaged in this February and married in September. I previously mentioned that Eryn had her eyes on my opal lariat necklace for her big “something borrowed” jewelry, but wound up selecting a different design. Here’s a belated photo of her mom helping her with my one-of-a-kind Selene moonstone necklace. When…
Jewel of the Month, Part II: Abigail’s Engagement Ring
Every day, I get three or four emails in which someone claims to be a “big fan” of my blog and offers me $50 to publish a guest post (which often includes the dreaded “infographic”). Of course, anyone who truly is a big fan of this blog might have noticed that I haven’t had a…
Wednesday’s Video: Jewel of the Month, Part I
The Jewel of the Month post for December comes to you in two parts this time. Our topic is the sapphire-halo engagement ring that I created for my dear friends Abigail and Max. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve already gotten a sneak peek. A post shared by Wendy Brandes Jewelry PR (@wendybrandesjewelry) on…
Congratulations to Eryn and Donnie!
My right-hand woman Eryn is finally wed to her right-hand man, Donnie! Check out Eryn’s beautiful non-white gown. Stay tuned for more and better photos of the dress … and the Wendy Brandes wedding bands! In the meantime, here’s Donnie working on his duckface. His pout is coming along nicely!
Here Comes the Bride!
Woot! We’ve got the official photos of our beautiful bride, Alyssa Brownell, wearing my 18K gold snake tiara as her “something borrowed” at her wedding last month in Manhattan. These were taken by my own wedding photographer, Bill Fredericks, for Heathwood Photography. In addition to the tiara, Alyssa wore my Cleves swan earrings in 18K…