Supplier Spotlight: Marie Miller Jewellery

 

I'll never forget one experience I had whilst working as a Wedding Planner in France; I was accompanying a young lady to the final fitting of her wedding dress at which point she realised she hadn't picked out any jewellery! The shop assistant hurriedly threw her on some ghastly piece of tat, a long string of beads draped across her chest, and clapped with delight as she made another sale of this highly marked up factory made rubbish which was of entirely the wrong era for the dress. Disaster. From that moment on the creation of bridal jewellery which compliments, does not detract from, and brings alive a wedding dress has been a great interest of mine. So when World of Wedmin bespoke jewellery designer, Lynn, of Marie Miller Jewellery, came along we jumped at the chance to welcome her to our little blog:



Introduce yourself, and your business, and tell us a little known fact about you!


Hello, my name is Lynn and I am the designer/ maker for Marie Miller Jewellery.  I decided upon this name as my married name is difficult, not only to pronounce but also to spell.  Marie Miller is a combination of my middle name and my maiden name and so much easier for all.  I do get called Marie a lot but as it is my name that’s fine.  A little known fact about me is that Marie was the name decided upon by both my parents but my mother cheated and went to the registry office alone to register me and changed it to Lynn (much to my father’s chagrin!) I am a mother to three, two daughters and a son, Grandmother to four and my husband and I foster which can be quite challenging but is also enjoyable.

Why did you start your business? And how long has it been going?

I spent much of my working life in sales but always ‘crafted ‘in my spare time, you name it I did it!  After a major illness I lost my job so spent more and more time playing with my crafts – a great position to be in.  I dabbled in several things including making sugar flowers for cakes which I adored, then, about five years ago I took a day course in PMC and from that I took a course in traditional jewellery skills – I was hooked!  It was a natural progression from making to selling.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

I usually sit with a piece of silver and just start working and see what I come up with.  I do have to be strict with myself or everything I make would be a tiara or similar.  I still don’t know why I lean heavily this way but I love making things wedding – what can I say?  Whilst I had originally intended to use PMC to make my flowers I now tend to forge them from Sterling Sheet.   My first Orchid tiara was actually two years from conception to completion; I melted a lot of silver during this time!  Unfortunately the initial elation of finishing it was taken over by an almost hatred for it and I dreaded making another but if you check my website www.mariemiller jewellery.co.uk you will see I have… and I learnt a lot from making that first one, especially about soldering!

What makes you stand out from other jewellery products?

My love of flower making means my work tends to encompass them in some manner or another.   I am known as the ‘lady who makes flowers’.  However I do make lots of contemporary pieces as well.  I am just led by my love of pink, fluffy and shiny and my latest passion is stone setting.  You will find gems featuring more and more in my work

What do you like to do outside of work?

I am in the enviable position of doing what I love so it really isn’t like work at all, I am doing what I would do in my spare time anyway – not many people can say that about themselves.  It does mean I am no longer the social bird I was but then as I get older I am slower anyway and stamina is no longer a major part of my life so not much partying for me now!

If you could attend any celebrity wedding, past or present, who’s would it be and why?

I love going to weddings and I think that the bride and groom are the stars anyway so each and every wedding is a celebrity wedding.

What can we expect to see from you in the future?

Over the years I have been called on to make bridesmaids dresses, favours and cakes to name just a few things.  I still have handbags, garters and flower girl wands tucked away in little corners.  The ultimate for me is to now make tiaras and jewellery  to match  - just wish I was invited to more of the weddings!