Something Heirloom: Real Brides Share the Stories Behind Their Wedding Day Diamonds
From generational keepsakes to sentimental gifts, see how these brides wove family tradition into their wedding day jewelry.
For many brides, their first major piece of jewelry comes to them on their wedding day. Oftentimes, it’s something new gifted by their future husband or something old, passed down by a parent or grandparent. Any piece of jewelry worn on this day immediately becomes more than just a bracelet, necklace or pair of earrings. Imbued with significance and meaning, wedding jewelry becomes a symbol of the memory of this special day.
These real brides, whose gorgeous weddings you may have seen on Instagram and TikTok, shared the stories behind their wedding day jewelry with Only Natural Diamonds. Their stories ranged from custom pieces made by a family member to a generational love for a classic designer, each one showcasing the invaluable nature of natural diamonds. Many of the brides shared that one day they too hoped to pass down these pieces to their future children on their wedding day, continuing the natural diamond tradition for generations.
For Celine Yousefzadeh, a culinary curator & producer whose Italian wedding was featured on Vogue, her wedding jewelry carried particular significance as it was all designed by her sister-in-law Jesse Lazowski of Marlo Laz. “I am so lucky to have had Jesse by my side throughout the entire planning and designing process,” Celine told Only Natural Diamonds. “I’ll never forget the days and nights I spent discussing jewelry with Jesse, my mother-in-law Marcia and going through all of mom’s jewelry with my sister, Michelle,” she reminisces. “It made the entire process so much more meaningful and unique.”
Celine always knew she would wear a ruby and natural diamond ring from her mother during her wedding weekend—something borrowed—and it ended up inspiring the Marlo Laz collection made for the wedding. To complement her open back dress at her rehearsal dinner, Jesse created a chain of bezel set white diamonds in white gold, with a double-sided dangling ruby charm. “At one of the dress fittings, Jesse was in the room with [wedding dress designers] Naaem and Zaheem Khan choosing the perfect placement of where the ruby should hit on the back,” shares Celine, a favorite moment for Jesse as well.
Not only did Jesse design custom pieces for the wedding day but she surprised the bride and groom with charms engraved with their custom crest, designed by Dana Rosenfeld. “It brings me so much joy to wear,” Celine says. “And I love when every now and then someone looks closely and notices what it is and smiles.”
Using natural diamonds was important to Jesse when designing for her sister-in-law. “Natural diamonds are the real deal,” she says. “If there’s any moment when diamonds play the leading role, it’s a wedding,” with natural diamonds a symbol for “eternity, strength, and beauty,” she adds. “Everlasting love and eternity are major tenets of a wedding, and nothing represents those beliefs better than natural diamonds, which can take over a billion years for diamonds to form naturally under the earth. I’d say that’s eternal.”
The wedding day jewelry required a more “refined look,” according to Jesse, who made a pair of round and pear-shaped natural diamond earrings to complement the pear-shaped diamond necklace Celine borrowed from her mother. Even the groom got bejeweled, wearing bespoke Marlo Laz onyx and black diamond studs for his tux.
This project was extra special for Jesse too: “I knew I was making heirlooms that are going to be passed down in my own family, which is a rare and special opportunity,” she shares. “When we started dreaming up the wedding jewelry, Celine said, go wild and make the pieces you’ve always dreamed of making, which is the greatest thing you could ever say to a jewelry designer like myself.”
“I hope I can make my children and generations after them feel as special as my mom, and grandmothers did [at my wedding],” explains Celine. “A big part of the Persian tradition when getting engaged and married, is to pass down or give new jewelry to the bride and groom. So I was very excited and grateful to receive a diamond tennis necklace and matching tennis bracelet from my other grandmother and aunt.”
Sydney Sadick Adams, TV host and founder of Spotlight Magazine, also turned to family heirlooms to complete her wedding looks. “Collecting jewelry has been a big part of the women in my family’s lives,” she shares. “[My grandmother] collected a wide range of brands but I would say David Webb was really her favorite.”
David Webb ended up playing a significant role in Sydney’s wedding jewelry, from her bridal shower to the Sunday brunch after the wedding reception in Palm Beach, Florida. “For my engagement party, I [wore] David Webb earrings that were my grandmother’s… they’ve just always been my favorite piece.” The clip-on earrings featured a flower design, with natural diamond petals and a large pearl at the center.
“When it came to my wedding jewelry, David Webb very kindly dressed me,” she says, describing the experience as her very own version of the famous Tiffany & Co. scene from Sweet Home Alabama. “They brought me into the store, and I literally got to select what I wanted, which was so kind.”
Sydney’s David Webb jewels were her something borrowed and something blue, wearing the Golden Oracle Stone earrings to her rehearsal dinner, featuring natural diamonds and a pear-shaped sapphire drop, and the Overflow Earrings featuring natural brilliant cut diamonds and chased yellow gold to the reception the next day. “For my afterparty, I switched into another pair of David Webb earrings,” she shares. The Cosmo Earrings complemented her sparkling after-party outfit beautifully. The more jewelry looks, the better!
Another something borrowed came from a family friend, “diamond dangling earrings from her collection as well as a diamond bracelet, which was really nice,” she shares. At the Sunday brunch, she brought back her grandmother’s clip-on earrings from her bridal shower, completing the full circle jewelry moment.
Sydney knows that jewelry will always play a special role in her life, especially natural diamond jewelry, invaluable as an heirloom that can be passed down through generations. “It’s so special to be able to wear jewelry from my grandmother and my mother,” she continues. “I definitely would love to share that with a future generation of our family.” Inheriting her grandmother’s passion for collecting jewelry will certainly help as she starts her own collection, with meaningful pieces gifted to her by her husband. “As we continue our path together, I think that’s our favorite item to gift,” she says with a smile. “It’s our thing.”
Sophie Wilson, who got married last winter in Miami, also wore a special family heirloom on her wedding day: A diamond ring her mother received as a gift from her father on their anniversary. “Three is my lucky number… and the ring has three beautiful diamonds.”
Sophie hopes to continue the diamond tradition as she starts her own family. “I definitely see myself passing down diamonds and I hope my mom continues the tradition of passing hers down too” she adds. “And I’m excited for things that I’ve just been learning about, like a push present, and anniversary presents.”
Jess Adamson Einaudi, model and influencer, married her husband in a gorgeous celebration in Tuscany and also leaned into the family heirloom of it all. “For my rehearsal dinner I wore the earrings my mom wore to her wedding,” she shares. The earrings are floral-shaped with a pearl center surrounded by diamonds. “It was so special to have a piece of her wedding day with me for my wedding and they worked perfectly with my rehearsal dress,” she recalls.
While visiting their wedding venue a little less than a year before the wedding, Jess and her future husband made a stop at Casa Capone, an Italian-based jeweler who made her engagement ring. There they picked out their wedding bands, and Jess decided to try on some pieces, just for fun. “A pair of graduated diamond drop earrings caught my eye, but so far before the wedding I wasn’t ready to commit to a pair of earrings yet,” she says. “Fast forward to Christmas that year, my in-laws had gone back to the jeweler and purchased those earrings for me to wear to the wedding.” The perfect something new! “It was such a beautiful and thoughtful gift from my in-laws hand it made it even more special to wear something that represented them on my wedding day,” she reminisces.
She styled the new natural diamond earrings with a pair of natural diamond huggies from Ring Concierge in her second piercing as well as a diamond and aquamarine ring, loaned from her aunt’s jewelry collection—something borrowed and blue. “Getting to wear pieces that belonged to my mom and aunt, who is also my godmother, was the most special of all,” says Jess. “I was definitely emotional, sentimental, and proud to carry the legacy of their weddings into my own.”
Jess hopes to carry on the tradition started by her mother and aunt, “I think jewelry is meant to be worn and enjoyed,” she affirms. “I am always reminding myself to wear these pieces more regularly and I hope to one day be able to pass down these pieces for my children to enjoy.”
Family tradition imbues even more value into the pieces, something Jess certainly recognizes. “The fact that all of these pieces originated with members of my family makes them all the more special to continue passing on. Who knows, maybe my future daughter will also wear my mom’s wedding earrings to her wedding!”
