Learn About Pearls

Can You Wear Pearls at a Wedding?

Short answerYes. Pearls have long been a traditional wedding gift, associated with purity, humility and innocence, and royal brides have worn them. The idea that pearls bring a bride tears is an old superstition, which Emily Post dismissed in 1922 as unfounded. Pearl is also a June birthstone, and GIA calls June a month for celebrations such as weddings, anniversaries and graduations.

Key facts
  • Pearls have long been associated with purity, humility and innocence, and were traditionally given as a wedding gift.1
  • In 1922, Emily Post wrote that "pearls are supposed to mean tears" and dismissed the idea as unfounded superstition.2
  • Post described a string of pearls as the present a very wealthy groom might give his bride, and a wedding dress as something that might be embroidered in pearls.2
  • The Dagmar necklace was a gift to Princess Alexandra when she married the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, in 1863.3
  • Pliny the Elder described a Roman empress covered in emeralds and pearls at a wedding entertainment.4
  • Pearl is a June birthstone, and GIA calls June a month for weddings, anniversaries, graduations and birthdays.1
On this page
  1. Pearls as a wedding gift
  2. Brides and pearls in history
  3. The “tears” superstition
  4. Choosing pearls for a wedding
  5. Graduations and other June celebrations

Pearls have a long history at weddings, as a gift, as jewelry and in folklore. Here is what the sources say, from Roman feasts to a royal wedding and Emily Post’s etiquette.

Pearls as a wedding gift#

Pearls have long been associated with purity, humility and innocence, and so they were traditionally given as a wedding gift.1 In her 1922 Etiquette, Emily Post wrote that a groom usually gave his bride the handsomest ornament he could afford: a string of pearls if he had great wealth, or a diamond pendant, brooch or bracelet.2

Brides and pearls in history#

Pearls at weddings go back a long way. Pliny the Elder described seeing Lollia Paulina, wife of the emperor Caligula, at a wedding entertainment, covered in emeralds and pearls worth forty million sesterces.4

Royal brides wore them too. The pearl necklace known as the Dagmar necklace was a gift to Princess Alexandra when she married the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, in 1863, and the V&A’s 2013 exhibition on pearls also showed a Chinese wedding head-dress from the 1800s.3 In 1922, Post noted that a wedding dress might be embroidered in pearls, crystals or silver.2

The “tears” superstition#

The belief that pearls bring tears is old. Emily Post wrote in 1922 that “pearls are supposed to mean tears,” alongside other gem lore, and dismissed it all as unfounded superstition.2 The page pearl symbolism covers what pearls have meant over the centuries.

Choosing pearls for a wedding#

White is the color most people picture; GIA notes that white is the color most consumers associate with pearls.5 But each type has its own natural colors, as the table from the Learn About Pearls dataset shows.

Natural colors and typical sizes of the main cultured pearl types
Feature Akoya cultured pearlFreshwater cultured pearlSouth Sea cultured pearlTahitian cultured pearl
Natural colors white and cream6 7 8 9white, cream, pink, peach, orange, lavender and purple6 9 10white, silver, cream, champagne and golden9 11 12 13 14gray, greenish gray, black and brown7 9 12
Typical size 6–8 mm7 8 9 15 163–15 mm7 99–16 mm7 9 168–14 mm7 9 16 17

On the day, put pearls on after perfume, hair products and makeup, and wipe them with a soft, damp cloth afterward.1 The page necklace lengths helps match a strand to a neckline.

Graduations and other June celebrations#

Pearl is a June birthstone, together with alexandrite and moonstone.1 GIA calls June a month for celebrations such as weddings, anniversaries, graduations and birthdays, and suggests marking them with a June birthstone.1 We found no source on how pearls became a graduation gift.

For anniversaries, pearl is the gem of the third and thirtieth.18 The page on the pearl anniversary has more.

Questions people ask#

Are pearls bad luck for a bride?

Only by superstition. In 1922 Emily Post noted the belief that "pearls are supposed to mean tears" and dismissed it, with other gem meanings, as unfounded superstition. Pearls have long been a traditional wedding gift.1 2

Are pearls a graduation tradition?

Pearl is a June birthstone, and GIA calls June a month for celebrations such as weddings, anniversaries, graduations and birthdays, and suggests marking them with a June birthstone. We found no source on how a graduation tradition began.1

What pearls go with a wedding dress?

White and cream are the most familiar pearl colors; GIA notes that white is the color most consumers associate with pearls, and Akoya are typically white or cream. Other types come in other colors, from the golden South Sea to the dark Tahitian.5 7 12

What is the pearl wedding anniversary?

The 30th. GIA names pearl as the gem of the third and thirtieth anniversaries.18

References#

  1. Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Birthstones. June Birthstones. Source · Archived copy
  2. Emily Post (1922). Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home. Source · Archived copy
  3. Victoria and Albert Museum, with Qatar Museums Authority (2013). Pearls (exhibition press release). Source · Archived copy
  4. Pliny the Elder; translated by John Bostock and H. T. Riley. The Natural History, Book IX, Chapter 58: Instances of the use of pearls. Source · Archived copy
  5. Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Gem Encyclopedia. Pearl Quality Factors. Source · Archived copy
  6. Phoebe Shang (2026). Freshwater Akoyas – A Trending Misnomer for Certain Freshwater Pearls. Source · Archived copy
  7. Gemological Institute of America (GIA), FAQ. What are the main types of cultured pearls and what are their distinctive characteristics?. Source · Archived copy
  8. Artitaya Homkrajae (2024). Remarkably Large Akoya Bead Cultured Pearls. Source · Archived copy
  9. CIBJO Pearl Commission (2025). CIBJO Guides Describing and Classifying Natural and Cultured Pearls, the Producing Molluscs & Responsible Pearling. Source · Archived copy
  10. CIBJO, The World Jewellery Confederation, Pearl Commission (2026). The CIBJO Pearl Book (Pearl Blue Book) 2026. Source · Archived copy
  11. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. South Sea Pearl Ring (NMNH G10639). Source · Archived copy
  12. Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Gem Encyclopedia. Pearl Description. Source · Archived copy
  13. Shane Elen (2001). Spectral Reflectance and Fluorescence Characteristics of Natural-Color and Heat-Treated "Golden" South Sea Cultured Pearls. Source · DOI 10.5741/GEMS.37.2.114 · Archived copy
  14. Chunhui Zhou, Artitaya Homkrajae, Joyce Wing Yan Ho, Akira Hyatt and Nicholas Sturman (2012). Update on the Identification of Dye Treatment in Yellow or "Golden" Cultured Pearls. Source · DOI 10.5741/GEMS.48.4.284 · Archived copy
  15. Areeya Manustrong (2018). Very Small Akoya Cultured Pearls. Source · Archived copy
  16. Fisheries Agency of Japan (水産庁) (2026). 真珠養殖をめぐる情勢について (On the situation of pearl culture). Source · Archived copy
  17. Oïhana Latchere and others (2018). Influence of water temperature and food on the last stages of cultured pearl mineralization from the black-lip pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera. Source · DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0193863 · Archived copy
  18. Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Gem Encyclopedia. Pearl. Source · Archived copy
Written by
Learn About Pearls editors
Fact-checked
Learn About Pearls editors,
Reviewed by
Simon,
First published
Publisher
Unique Pearl, a pearl jeweler
Revision history
  1. : First published. First published
How to cite this page
APA
Learn About Pearls editors. (2026). Can You Wear Pearls at a Wedding? Learn About Pearls. https://learnaboutpearls.com/wearing/pearls-for-weddings-and-graduations/
MLA
“Can You Wear Pearls at a Wedding?” Learn About Pearls, Unique Pearl, November 4, 2026, learnaboutpearls.com/wearing/pearls-for-weddings-and-graduations/.
Chicago
Learn About Pearls editors. “Can You Wear Pearls at a Wedding?” Learn About Pearls. Unique Pearl. Last modified November 4, 2026. https://learnaboutpearls.com/wearing/pearls-for-weddings-and-graduations/.
BibTeX
@misc{lap-wearing-pearls-for-weddings-and-graduations, title = {Can You Wear Pearls at a Wedding?}, author = {{Learn About Pearls editors}}, year = {2026}, howpublished = {\url{https://learnaboutpearls.com/wearing/pearls-for-weddings-and-graduations/}}, note = {Learn About Pearls, published by Unique Pearl}}

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  • Wearing: How pearls are worn, the June birthstone and pearl anniversaries, and how to wear pearls safely.
  • Pearl symbolism: Wealth, purity, the moon and tears; what pearls have meant across cultures and centuries.
  • 30th anniversary pearls: Pearl and the 30th anniversary, and how to choose pearls as a gift.