You know Turtle Love Committee from our past introductions. We LURVE that they specialize in affordable and eco-friendly non-diamond engagement rings and wedding bands. But now there’s even more reason to lurve them… TLC now has a whole slew of really unique necklaces and earrings. We'll be featuring our favesies from their new jewelry lines that would make perfect (and AFFORDABLE!) wedding party gifts.

Check these beautiful and moody silver lithograph pendants. Each piece is hand-inked and hand cranked on an antique printing press and then strung on super subtle gray cord. They're like cool tiny art pieces!

They also do double duty of conveying complicated sentiments without being cheese-tastic. Like, the house and the nest are perfect for celebrating, well, housing and nesting. My personal favorites, the bridge and the railroad tracks are a great way to symbolize the journey and connections that weddings have a crazy way of bringing about. And the adorable little girl on the swing just makes me smile all goofy-like.

Head over to Turtle Love Committee get your own goofy-like smile going.

Made from upcycled materials like Scrabble tiles and bottle caps, these wedding-themed pendants from Recycled Treasures are adorable and obviously unique wedding party gifts.

Ooh, think about how perfect one of the Scrabble tile pendants would be for a bride to wear at her gamer geek wedding!

And budget brides, take heart: at $6 per pendant, you can actually afford to buy wedding party gifts that are handmade and personal.

Recycled Treasures also does custom orders (aside from bridal party position, name, or initial) — if you can scheme it, Recycled Treasures can make it. So head over to Etsy and start dreaming up something fun for your wedding party!

Wedding rings don't really come much more custom than these…

Fabuluster makes custom wedding bands from your own fingerprints! I love the ones pictured above with the print inside of the ring, it's like keeping one of the things that makes your partner totally unique close to you at all times. Plus it makes a super cool pattern!

The best part is that Fabuluster actually makes it affordable to have a unique wedding ring. They start at $125 for a narrow custom sterling silver wedding band and go up from there. And if diamonds are your thing, they've got you covered as well.

So if you've been searching for totally unique wedding bands, end your search now by heading on over to their Etsy store and take your pick from their amazing selection of designs.

For those of you who haven't noticed, the global economy is currently melting down and while love and weddings are timeless, big expensive wedding rings are becoming increasingly difficult for offbeat couples to fit into their wedding budgets. Ain't no shame: it's just the way things are.

Turtle Love Committee is an independent online jeweler that has embraced the back-to-basics approach, focusing exclusively on non-diamond engagement and wedding rings at prices up to $200. The collection includes a little something for every shade of offbeat: vintage 1920s replicas, classic solitaires and organic and modern pieces. All of the rings in TLC’s collection are sterling silver, with semiprecious stones and/or gold accents.

Turtle Love Committee was founded in response to the subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) competition among women to have the best or the biggest diamond engagement ring … a Turtle Love Committee engagement ring represents a huge emotional commitment, not a huge financial commitment.

To see a few more of their lovely and affordable styles, keep on reading…

Continue reading "Affordable non-diamond engagement rings from Turtle Love Committee" →

The offbeat bride: Sheri, Curriculum Developer

Her offbeat partner: Theo, Software Test Engineer

Location & date of wedding: Carrigan Farms, Mooresville, NC on November 4th, 2007

What made our wedding offbeat: My husband wanted to wear a Great Kilt in his family's tartan, so we decided to use the 18th century as inspiration and the plans grew from there.

Continue reading "Sheri & Theo's 18th Century Scottish Harvest Wedding" →