Damselfly Studio - Review & Giveaway

When I first started looking at bridal attire, I knew I was going to go with a veil.  There is something about a bridal veil that makes you feel like a bride - when I found my bridal gown and they put the veil on my head, it was the icing on the cake - I realized "I" was a bride-to-be!  Having that feeling is so exciting and that is the exact way I felt when I received my review package from Damselfly Studio. 

Elizabeth, owner of Damselfly Studio has been working in the bridal industry for roughly 25 years. Elizabeth has many years of experience working with brides in a bridal salon that she managed called Classic Weddings Bridal Salon. When she had to move away and leave the business behind, Elizabeth continued to work with brides while creating beautiful custom wedding gowns and veils. Today, Elizabeth takes pride in offering each of her brides a completely customized and handcrafted product that meets all their expectations.  When working with brides, Elizabeth likes to take all the details (even the smallest ones) into account to make sure the bride is happy and she'll look as perfect as can be on her big day!

Besides offering bridal veils at Damselfly Studio, Elizabeth also offers bridal headpieces, a variety of jewelry, hairpins, handbags, and more! I love that Damselfly Studio carries a variety of styles to meet the needs of all brides! The prices of her products are also attractive; after being in many bridal shops over the past few months, I truly appreciate the price of the items that Elizabeth sells (they are much more reasonable and within virtually every bride's reach - I can completely relate with the fact that getting married takes a major toll on the cheque book).

After speaking with Elizabeth several times, it is evident how passionate she is about everything bridal; she loves working with brides and helping make their special day what they've envisioned! Throughout the process of working with Elizabeth, she has been professional, accommodating, and more than happy to answer any questions I had. When picking a veil for review (one that I planned to wear on my wedding day as well), Elizabeth made sure to consider how I would wear my hair, the style of my dress, etc.

You can feel confident ordering from Damselfly Studio since it is a charter member of the BridalDreamTeam, and the CAGEY Jewelry teams on Etsy.  Check out Elizabeth's shop here: http://www.etsy.com/profile.php?user_id=6292126!

To find out more about Elizabeth's passion for bridal fashion, please check out the Damselfly Studio Blog.  It features a lot of great products and tales of Elizabeth's daily life and creations.  My personal favorite post is one featuring new vintage tiaras - you can see them here; Aren't they fabulous?!  Now...what I wouldn't do to own this tiara.  It definitely gives the elegant princess feeling that I'm going for with my wedding!  Is it normal for a tiara to make you feel emotional? :S

Review 1
Elizabeth sent me a couple of things to review. First of all, she sent me a candlelight fingertip veil with satin cord edging. This veil sells for $39.00 (this is an absolutely amazing price compared to what bridal salons charge).  This veil measures approximately 38" in length and 108" in width. The veil is made from tulle and has a elegant satin cording on the edge. Elizabeth works hard to sew the tulle and cording together so it will not separate. The veil is gathered at the top and securely fastened to a 31 tooth comb. According to the listing, this veil "is cut in a wide oval shape, straighter sides, wide curve hem at the bottom."

When you read through Elizabeth's listings, you will notice that she loves doing custom orders and is more than happy to accommodate to your vision! Elizabeth can make veils with plain clean edges and pencil rolled edges, veils with a variety of finishing touches, and veils of all different lengths and with multiple tiers.

One nice thing about the listings in the Damselfly Studio Etsy Shop is that it tells you how to care for your bridal item. This is one thing I haven't really seen in other shops but that I definitely appreciate. Elizabeth explains how to make you veil look it's best on your wedding day and even sends sample tulle with your order to make sure you iron it at the right temperature. What could be worse that running your veil on the wedding day? With the Damselfly Studio tulle samples, there's no need to worry!

Overall, I really love the veil that Elizabeth sent me to review. After I tried it on for the first time, I knew this was the veil I would wear on my wedding day. I appreciate the time that she took into creating such a beautiful piece that suited my style and the color choices I made for my wedding. The veil I received is simple yet elegant, and definitely mirrors the veils that I could buy in a bridal shop that would be much more expensive and of lesser quality (most are imported from Asian countries). I am impressed with how Elizabeth was able to attach the tulle to the comb without it looking too bulky. I also like the comb that she chose to use; the comb seems strong and I think the greater number of pins help it to stay put. I'm happy to say that I will be proudly wearing my Damselfly Studio veil on my wedding day and I will treasure it for years to come.

Review 2

The second item I received for review is a tiara that was actually made especially for this feature, or as I would call it, the 'Everything Up Close Tiara'. Elizabeth has been making bridal headpieces for years (when she first starting managing her bridal salon). In the 90s, she noticed that there was very few choices for brides (in terms of headpieces) and she decided to change that! The tiara Elizabeth sent is unique, beautifully decorated with freshwater pearls and Swarovski Crystals and is attached to a high quality silver colored wire comb. The comb is strong yet pliable which makes it easier to maneuver. Many tiaras are made with plastic combs and this creates a huge problem (one size and one shape does NOT fit all brides)! Since not all bridal hairstyles are the same; this comb makes it easy to work with on any bride.

One thing I really like about this tiara is that it is different from what I'd find in a bridal chain store. I like that it incorporates classic pearls and more modern Swarovski Crystals. I also think the shape of the tiara is very pretty; the peaks remind me of a princess or a queen! It is quite elegant and fashionable. I am also impressed with how well the aspects of the tiara fit together. All the pearls and crystals are held together with a thin silver wire. At first I didn't know how that would look but it is actually very subtle; you can hardly notice that it (the silver wire) is there until you are looking at it closely and even then, you can only see it next to the pearls; the silver wire blends right in with the crystals.

Overall, I think this tiara is lovely. The truth is, the more I look at it, the more I like it! I appreciate that the design is made from scratch, that is it really one-of-a-kind, and that it is different than what I can find in a standard bridal salon. After seeing the quality of tiara sold in the Damselfly Studio Etsy Shop, I'm confident that any bride would be happy with the quality.

Final Review
Besides the Veil and the Tiara, Elizabeth also sent me a lovely pair of earrings to thank me for my time. When I received them, I was a bit unsure of what I would do with them because I thought my pierced ears had closed in. Happily to my surprise, these earrings helped me to learn that because I have had my ears pierced a number of times (in the same spot), they never did close-in like I thought they did. So, a huge thanks goes to Elizabeth to opening my ears to a whole new world of fashion. The most exciting part is that I will now be able to wear normal earrings, instead of clip-on earrings on my wedding day.

Like both of the products I reviewed, I am very happy with the earrings Elizabeth sent me. I have already worn them a number of times, including for our Engagement Photo Session; I just love the simple elegance of them. I think the mix of the sterling silver beads, the pearl, and the crystal is absolutely stunning. They are professionally put together and I am proud to show them off every time I put them on.

I am including a picture on this post (shown aove) of one of the earrings I received. Please note that I did NOT take this picture; this picture was taken by Amber Bond of Amber Bond Photography during our Engagement Photo Session. If anyone from Winnipeg, Manitoba is looking for a photographer (Weddings, Babies, Family, Glam Sessions, or other - I would highly suggest her - she is amazing)!

 *GIVEAWAY*

How many winners are there? Two.

What can you win? 
One winner will receive a headpiece (identical to the one I received, shown above). 
A second winner will receive  their choice of a single tiered veil in white or ivory up to 40" in length.

To enter, visit Damselfly Studio's Etsy Shop and heart your favorite item.  Then, come back here and tell me which item you hearted and your Etsy username. This question must be answered to gain an entry in the giveaway.

Each of the following will give you one extra entry in the giveaway (unless stated otherwise). Please make sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

- *NEW* For each $1 you donate to my Wedding Fund (through ChipIn at the top right hand corner of this page), you will receive two (2) bonus entries for this giveaway.  Please make such to leave two extra comments along with your PayPal email so that I can verify your entry.

- Telling me what your first choice prize is.
- Visit the Damselfly Studio blog and leave a comment on one of her posts (a meaningful post please - not just a one liner).
- Become a public Google Friend Connect follower of the Damselfly Studio blog.  Please indicate your blogger name in your comment.
- Entering one other giveaway on Everything Up Close, then leaving me a comment hear indicating the name of the other giveaway you entered (Maximum of 1 entry).
- Subscribing to my blog via email or RSS feed (Maximum of 1 entry - please tell me how you subscribe in your comment).  SUBSCRIPTION METHODS HAVE CHANGED!  In order for your subscription entry to count, you must resubscribe.  For more details, please visit my post: 'Are you an Everything Up Close email or RSS subscriber?' 

- Adding my main button to your blog sidebar.
- Adding my 'Everything Up Close Bridal Shower' event button to your blog sidebar.

- Following me on Twitter (@ihchicky). Please leave your Twitter name in your comment.

- Following me on Blogger / Google Friends Connect (publicly).
- 'Liking' Everything Up Close on Facebook. Please leave your name (First name and last initial) that is shown on Facebook for verification.

- Tweeting about this giveaway with a link to this page. Please leave a link to your tweet or your twitter name. You can do this once a day.

- Blogging about this giveaway on your blog. Please leave a link to your blog post in your comment. 2 ENTRIES! Please leave 2 separate comments if you blog about this giveaway.

- Talking about and linking to this giveaway in any public forum or on Facebook. If you do this, please leave your user-name and a link to the post. 2 ENTRIES! Please leave 3 separate comments if you blog about this giveaway.

Important Entry Details: The above entries (main and bonus) can only be submitted once per person (except for the tweet entry, which can be done daily). Please do not use more than one blogger account or add additional anonymous comments to gain extra entries. This is not fair to everyone else and this practice is strictly prohibited. If a person is found to be using more than one account to enter the same giveaway, they will be disqualified from that particular giveaway, as well as all future giveaways.

This giveaway will end on Monday, August 16th at 11:59pm (Central Standard Time). After the giveaway has ended, the winner will be picked randomly using random.org. EMAIL RULES: In order to win, you must provide a valid email. I will be notifying the winner by email only. Please make sure your blogger profile includes your email address and make sure that it is visible. If you do not have a blogger account, please make sure you have included your email address in your post. If there is no email address provided, to contact the winner, another person will be chosen. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification with their complete mailing address (I will be forwarding all this information to the sponsor), If this information is not received within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.  

This giveaway is open to everyone WORLDWIDE!

Good Luck!


Damselfly Studio Special Offers

1) Make sure to check out Elizabeth's new SALE section where everything is 20-50% of the regular price! 


2) Elizabeth is kindly offering 10% off all non-sale items when you tell her that you found her shop through Everything Up Close. 


3) Mention that you found out about Damselfly Studios through Everything Up Close and receive free shipping on all sale items (Canada and US only) or 1/2 price shipping for all countries outside of US/Canada.

4) All non-sale orders over $125 qualify for free shipping! 

Damselfly Studio now offers a Layaway plan - pay some now and some later.  Please email Elizabeth for more details!

**Disclaimer** To complete this review and post this giveaway, I was sent a veil to use in my wedding, a tiara, and a complimentary pair of earrings.  Receiving these items did not in anyway alter the information which I discussed in this article; this review is 100% my own opinion.  I did not receive any other type of compensation for this review/giveaway.