Spring and summer are wedding season – the preferred time of year for many couples who wish to tie the knot that will last a lifetime. Therefore, we create many custom-designed wedding rings during these months, but there's also another type of jewellery that we build alongside: the morning gift. But what makes a good morning gift? The best morning gift is as personal as possible. It should show that you know the person you are marrying so well that you can guess what will make her or him happy. In other words, you should pay attention to what your betrothed gets excited about.
The classic wedding gift is jewellery, but rarely a ring, as that particular item has recently been in play – so the choice often falls on earrings, a necklace, a bracelet, or cufflinks for gentlemen. Again, it is very important to note what metals, shapes, etc. she likes. You can also ally yourself with your partner's family or friends to ask for their advice. This will only increase their respect and goodwill towards you, which never hurts!
ADORABELLA white gold pendant with diamonds and Tahitian pearl. Also available without the pearl and in a simpler version of silver.
In Denmark, this gift is traditionally given to your partner on the morning after the wedding night – after the ”deed is done”, when the couple have officially become man and wife. We quite simply call this gift a “morning gift”. The morning gift often consists of jewellery, and these used to be so expensive that the gift could support her if she were to become a widow. Nowadays, the gift is usually not quite as expensive as to enable a livelihood for several years. Nevertheless, a specially designed piece of jewellery, created for the love of your life, can of course still have considerable value if you choose to splash out.
The classic: The Golden Heart. We're making it with a cheeky twist that makes it a little different and calling it the CURLY HEART. The back is a beautiful surprise, by the way! Also available with a little stone set in the curl. This pendant is in 14k gold.
In other cultures, these gifts are often exchanged on the wedding night or – and this is my personal favourite – on the morning of the wedding day itself. This morning is very special! It marks the beginning of the end, thus signalling a new start, and many brides and grooms are nervous and uneasy because everything is so different from “normal”.
Although the couple may have lived together for years and possibly already have children, many choose to follow the old tradition of not spending the last night before the wedding together. This means that on the wedding morning, they stand without the person they will have by their side for the rest of their lives. Suddenly, everything is about the clothes, the venue, and the guests. Have they all arrived? Is the food on its way? What about the flowers? And the person you would normally lean on to make sense of the madness is absent. This is where a wedding morning gift on this morning, and not a day later, is such a... gift.
The PETITE series is available as a small pendant, stud earrings, and delicate rings. We create these simple everyday diamond jewellery in silver, white gold, and gold. This set is made of 14k yellow gold with a total of 0.08 ct.
Because a wedding isn't primarily about the guests and the party, but about the two people who believe so much in their shared love that they've chosen to pledge to stay together in the long run. Therefore, a very personal gift, given “in absentia” (meaning the giver is absent at the moment the recipient is handed the gift – typically by a close family member) is such a loving gesture. The gift says, “I love you. Trust me. Everything will be alright, and I can't wait for our life together to begin.” Such a gift given on anything but the normal wedding morning will bring focus back to what truly matters: the person you've decided is so wonderful that you want to spend the rest of your life with them.
Dowry versus morning gift
Where does this tradition of wedding gifts between future spouses come from? Getting married today is a matter of the heart, but in older times (and this is still the case in many cultures), it was mostly a social institution established for several reasons, but especially to ensure a more or less secure future. Therefore, an exchange of property (money, jewellery or outright plots of land) has traditionally been part of the transaction that a wedding often was:
A dowry is a value in any form, which is transferred from the bride's parents to the groom's family. This is a very old custom and is still widespread worldwide, especially in patriarchal cultures. A morning gift is an equally old tradition, which started as a ”bride price” from the groom (or his family) to the bride's family. However, the bride price later changed to a morning gift, which was given directly to the bride as a form of life insurance in case she was widowed without having had children together, so that she could inherit from her husband, which in practice could mean the difference between survival and the workhouse.
FAUN gold earrings with diamonds. Shown here with pearl pendants. The collection also includes pendants and rings – all with the same option to attach and swap pendants (a great gift idea for the future!)
In this shop, I make a lot of wedding gifts because it's so obvious when the prompt is “a PERSONAL gift”. Because what is more personal than a piece of jewellery created especially for your future spouse? Here are some examples of wedding gifts that I have created for “my” couples. Often, I have originally made the wedding or engagement ring, and the giver has then subsequently decided to have a design created that reflected or complimented the original rings:
Whimsical names
This couple asked me to create a very modern set of wedding rings made from heavily textured white gold, with each other’s name cut into them. A small diamond added a subtle, feminine sparkle to her ring. Subsequently, the groom asked me to create a pair of matching earrings as a morning gift, also made of white gold with the same finish and set with small diamonds, just like her ring.
Dragonling
The little dragon has become a true Castens classic – this dragon will cherish your spouse and look after them when you are not around. Usually, it is given as a necklace, but I have also made rings and bracelets with the little dragon, made of silver and/or gold. Give him a treasure of gemstones to coil around, or perhaps glittering eyes of diamonds, rubies, or sapphires so he can keep a watchful eye on the love of your life.
Hunter & the Huntress
This British couple commissioned me to create a set of beautiful wedding rings with a large, oval diamond that looks as if it's straight out of a fairytale. Afterwards, he asked me to design a coat of arms for them depicting a wolf and lioness with intertwined tails, after which she asked me to create a tie pin for him featuring a wolf. It was all very secretive and certainly fun to be privy to both his and her gifts to each other, whilst having to keep a straight face when speaking to them individually.
Sprout
This small ornament depicts the moment when the sprout inside the seed is turgid with anticipation and on the verge of breaking through the seed's shell to become something new and much larger than the tiny germ suggests – Alovely symbol of hope and the celebration of a new life together. Sprout is available in silver or gold with or without a small gemstone in the centre. The smallest version is delicate and feminine worn on a chain, while the larger looks masculine on a heavier chain or leather cord. Also available as a bracelet.
Infinity symbol
This couple decided to use the infinity symbol as the overarching motif for their wedding rings. For this reason, he asked me to create a beautiful pendant in gold with diamonds and a white pearl. As a final little twist to the story, the couple subsequently asked me to make a mini-version of her pendant in silver when their first child was baptised a year later.
Give your future spouse a gift she'll remember forever: life insurance (if you want to secure her as the original morning gift was intended) and jewellery created just for her. Because nothing says “I love you” like time and money spent researching her tastes and having jewellery made for her that is as unique as your future spouse!
PS: As with all other jewellery from my workshop, custom-designed special jewellery must be ordered well in advance. Unless I have exactly what you are looking for in stock, please allow for a delivery time of 8-10 weeks.
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