The Aug. 24 event, which included an on site sushi chef, drew close to 100 guests, taking owner and chief designer 28-year-old Lindsie Jones by surprise.

"Our sales were pretty incredible that night," Jones says. "We were lucky to still have some jewelry on the walls the next morning."

Even more remarkable than opening night sales, however, is Jones' own seemingly serendipitous leap into the jewelry and bridal accessories industry. Haute Jewels is an extension of her young company Haute Bride, which she started in her home two years ago. At the time, she was working as a human resources executive for Mellanox Technologies in Santa Clara and had just gotten married.

Inspiration for Haute Bride came while she was shopping for bridal accessories and found a set of eight hairpins she liked. But the $400 price tag was too high.

"I've always been pretty crafty," Jones says, "so I decided I could make the hairpins myself."

Her first hairpin received rave reviews from those who saw it in her hair, so Jones returned to the bead store after her honeymoon and made replicas— using handpicked semiprecious stones, Swarovski crystals and freshwater pearls—and sold them on eBay for $5 to $10 each.

Within six months, she had sold nearly $10,000 worth of merchandise and was making up to 100 hairpins per night after work.

As a result of her success, she launched her own website in March 2002 and named it Haute Bride. The site generates heavy sales from New York, New Jersey and Florida, and 10 salons across California and Manhattan picked up the jewelry as well. In August 2002, Jones quit her job at Mellanox to focus on her new business.

In the two years since the company's inception, sales have tripled. Yet despite the company's growth, Jones continues to make the jewelry herself and maintain the website. She also manages the Willow Glen store but recruited help from her friend Colleen O'Grady.

Jones' success as a new business owner can be attributed to her savvy business skills, but she also credits her husband Bob's experience as an entrepreneur and restaurateur. Her husband runs Mass Sake's and the suite one8one lounge in San Francisco.

"When you're around someone who's always thinking up business ideas, it's hard not to think that way too," she says, referring to her husband.

It's also why Jones decided to open a boutique—based on a need for more workspace and customers asking to visit her design studio. But she is quick to recognize the support system that helped make the business a reality.

And it's a business with an ongoing clientele.

"There are always people getting married and needing to buy accessories to go with their dresses," she says.

Jones has also researched her competitors and wholesale vendors so that she can set reasonable prices for her items. Nothing in the store costs more than $200, and her turnaround time sets a precedent ­ she can fulfill a custom order in just 10 to14 days.

Haute Jewels is, for now, by appointment only, with 60 to 75 percent of Jones' business being customized accessories for individual brides. The bride can choose the stones or turn a choker into a lariat. Whatever her outfit demands, each accessory is unique.

Haute Jewels is located at 1045 Lincoln Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125 and available online at http://www.hautebride.com. For more information call 408.998.7400.