I was interested in Lord of the Rings before I was ever interested in real life jewelry and accessories. As a child, I watched the cartoon adaptations of The Hobbit every week, and as soon as I was able to read, I wanted to read The Hobbit, even if I didn't understand it until I got much older.   [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Ladies Fantasy Garden Ring[/caption] This theme of magical jewelry was something I ended up fascinated with, and became a huge theme in my reading materials throughout middle and high school. I fell in love with fantasy works that prioritized jewelry. As a college graduate, I still end up lingering at the tiara tents at my local renaissance fairs. There's a certain style of jewelry that just screams magical, even here in the real life, and my past with fiction has certainly influenced my tastes. Pearls and polished stones set against cool silver always excites me; thicker ring bands with complex carvings, the simplicity of an interwoven pattern of metal that can make up the chain of a necklace, with a large stone as its centerpiece… these are the kinds of things I’ve learned to love thanks to my early exposure to the fantastic pieces. All of this certainly paid off when a family member decided to have a fantasy themed wedding. We poured over dozens of necklaces, hair accessories, bracelets and earrings in order to create the elegant, fae like style for the bridesmaids and other guests. What I learned was it’s more about finding the potential in a piece more than anything else. Half the magic is creating a space that emphasizes the aspects of your wearables that you want to draw attention to. In that respect, it’s a lot like make-up, and how it can be used to draw the eye of the onlooker to your most flattering features. A stunning amethyst set on your necklace, for example, would certainly stand out when paired with a bright, vibrant colored outfit - potentially, say, yellow, red, or blue - but against a purple dress or blouse, it would blend in for a more subtle look, and wouldn't draw the eye immediately to your neck. This was a technique we utilized when we purchased the beautiful tiaras worn by the bridesmaids - the medieval style pitted silver and emerald against soft yellow gowns, creating a stunning contrast and emphasizing the warmth of the color family. It just goes to show that with the right details and attention to jewelry selection, we turned this family affair into wood nymph paradise, and there was certainly magic in the Spring air.