I am a hopeless romantic, and a big Lord of the Rings fan. When I was a kid, I grew up with fairy tales of princesses, elves and adventures. My biggest dream then was...to be a princess.

I wanted to be a princess so bad, that when my father was asking me what I wanted for him to bring me back from a foreign trip, I would reply :

"Please bring me a golden princess dress, a silver princess dress, and ...oh, please do not forget the matching crowns too!! " 

I never got my dresses and my crowns, even though one time I put "magic wand" on my Christmas list for Santa. I figured, once I got the magic wand, it would be a simple thing to create all the pretty dresses and crowns I so craved, right? :-) I was so proud of myself for coming up with this brilliant solution.  It never worked out though. Apparently, Santa was out of magic wands - at least that was what my Mom told me. So, I just had to be satisfied to create my dreams on paper, spending endless hours drawing and sketching in my pad the beautiful visions that lived inside my head.

When I grew up, I discovered that technically, having  a magic wand was not necessary. Even though I admit, having one would make things so much easier! (Anybody know where I can get one? LOL). With the help of skill and passion and quality materials, I was finally able to bring my dream to reality by creating all the beautiful designs I had dreamed of as a kid.

My biggest satisfaction today is to be able to help anybody who has ever shared my childhood dream, to turn it into  reality.

Have you also dreamed of being a princess?

Elnara

Ummm...who is Elnara, anyway?

Elnara is the European-born designer Adi Mileva-Thigpen. 

When I first started creating my jewelry, I had no idea who my customers were going to be. I was a member of the SCA (an international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating pre-17th-century European history) at the time, and I assumed that my designs were going to draw primarily people from the SCA.  My "medieval" name for the SCA is Elnara Niall, so naturally, I started using it to promote my designs. As the years went by, I realized that people from the SCA made only a small number of my customers, but by then everybody knew me as "Elnara", so I just kept using it and it became my artistic name.

Adi currently resides in Dayton, Ohio with her husband Gary and their  two very lively cats, Piper and Aimee.

December, 2005

Celtic circlet and necklace by Elnara featured in NorthWest Bride Magazine!

image coming soon

Renaissance Magazine features the Season of Mists corseted gown by Elnara

There are a few factors  to consider when selecting the type of the headpiece that you will be wearing at your wedding:

Circlets:   All headpieces named "circlets" in my collection have open backs and are held in place with fully adjustable extension chains. The advantage of this headpiece design is that it will work with any hairstyle.  All you have to do is to adjust the extension chain, and voila! a perfect fit each time. At the same time they offer the flexibility to be worn across the forehead, or higher up, above the hairline

Crowns:  The pieces described as "crown", are full-circle, closed back headpieces. Their circumference is set and cannot be adjusted.  Once the crown is made, it can be worn in only one way.  These headpiece usually work best if you wear your hair long and loose. Their ornate backs provide a stunning accent from the back.

Tiaras:  The tiaras usually look best with a hairstyle that provides the hair with some height behind the tiara, thus providing a background for the tiara to be stand out.  High up-do, or half-up half-down hairstyles look best with taller tiaras. The lower-height tiaras work well with short hairstyles.

Princess Crowns:  The same things that were said above about the tiaras can be said about the princess crowns.  In addition, you can wear the princess crown slightly tilted and off-center to provide for a fun and flirty look.

Headbands :   A headband will look great with any hairstyle and will work exceptionally well with short hair. Depending on the headband you choose, you may be able to wear it after the wedding to a formal event or a night-out.

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