Bridal earrings and necklaces that work with the dress

By the time bridal earrings and a necklace are chosen, the dress and the engagement ring are usually already settled, and the honest job of the rest of the jewellery is to answer both rather than compete with either.

Start with the neckline

A strapless or sweetheart neckline leaves the collarbone and neck open, which is exactly where a necklace and a longer drop earring both read well. A high, lace or heavily beaded neckline is usually already doing the work jewellery would otherwise do, and a necklace on top of it tends to compete rather than add anything; earrings alone, chosen to suit the face rather than the fabric, are the safer route there. An illusion neckline sits somewhere between the two, and it is worth trying a necklace against it in person rather than deciding from a sketch.

Hair up or down

An updo exposes the ears and the neck fully, which supports a drop or chandelier earring and a necklace, if the neckline allows one. Hair worn down changes the calculation: earrings need enough length or size to show through it, and a necklace very often disappears against loose hair for most of the day, which is why many brides who wear their hair down skip it entirely rather than choose one that will not be seen. Settle the hairstyle, or at least a strong preference, before finalising earring length.

Let the engagement ring stay the anchor

Hands get looked at constantly on a wedding day: during the vows, in the ring shot, holding the bouquet. If the earrings and necklace are also large and busy, the ring stops reading as the piece the day is actually about. The practical answer is not to go smaller everywhere; it is to keep the rest of the jewellery calmer in design, so nothing else is asking for the same attention at the same time.

Pearls, diamonds and borrowed pieces

Pearls sit softly against skin and suit lace and older, heirloom-leaning dresses particularly well. Diamonds catch light for photography and for an evening reception under artificial light in a way pearls do not, which is why plenty of brides combine both rather than choosing one over the other. Borrowed pieces, a mother's or a friend's earrings, fill the well-known wedding tradition neatly, but have the clasp and the setting checked at a bench before the day rather than discovering a problem while getting dressed.

Weight, comfort and veil snags

An elegant drop earring can genuinely ache by the eighth hour of a long day, so weigh comfort against the photograph you have in mind rather than only the second. Veils have a habit of snagging on earring backings and necklace clasps; flat-backed earrings help, and it is worth raising the veil attachment directly with whoever is doing the hair, not only with the jeweller, so the two decisions are made together rather than separately.

Decide with the dress in the room

Bring the earrings and necklace, or at least a strong shortlist, to the final dress fitting rather than deciding from a photograph of the dress on its own. A phone photograph does not show how a stone or a pearl catches light against a specific fabric, and that is exactly the judgement this decision comes down to.

• Decide the neckline first; it usually settles whether a necklace makes sense at all.
• Confirm the hairstyle before finalising earring length.
• Keep the rest of the jewellery calmer than the engagement ring, not necessarily smaller.
• Check any borrowed piece's clasp and setting at a bench before the day.
• Try the shortlist against the actual dress at the final fitting.

Try the shortlist against the dress more than once, in different light, and trust whichever combination you stop noticing after the first few minutes. That is usually the right one, and it rarely needs deciding in a single afternoon.