Rings: Kind of Important

So...remember how rings were supposed to be the one thing we got done while we were still in Chicago?  As in, way, way in advance?  Actually, you probably don't remember because it's been so long since I mentioned it that most of you weren't reading this yet.

Yeah, we procrastinated.  A lot.  In fact, rings are probably the big thing we've lagged on the most.

We have an excuse though!  For months, we tried to get a hold of our jeweler without success.  Normally, this would have caused us to ditch him, but he knows Daniel's family, so we held on, hoping for his discount.

In the end, after pushing people in the family who know him better to get him to talk to us, he did finally respond...saying that he couldn't do the rings we wanted.

So we finally gave up on him and went with a jeweler we found on Etsy.  They are called Minter & Richter, and they are based on the East Coast, so we not only have never seen their work in person but have communicated completely over the internet.  I'm still a little bit nervous about that, but we had such a hard time finding a design that we liked, that I'm willing to risk imperfection with them.

They fit all of our requirements:  the bands match while still catering to what each of us likes, and they are completely unique.  Our rings are also as close as you can get to opals while actually being durable (or so they say...).

We're happy with them.  They're not perfect, but they're close, and after all of the searching we did for the perfect rings, we're both too tired to care about perfection anyway.

So without further ado, here are the rings that will symbolize our union forever (and here's hoping they work out the way we think they will).

The inlay will be this color:

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Here is the style of Daniel's band:

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So, his will have the metallic color and be about that width and style.

And here is the style of mine:

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My style is the smaller of course.  It's made to be much smaller, with more inlay than metal.

I'm glad our rings will be the same color and similar styles.  It just feels so much more unified to me that way.

We're also engraving them, but the engraving is too personal/embarrassing to publicize on the internet, and it would take too long to explain anyway.  Yeah.

I really hope we don't have to rush order them.  Though they may not ship for 6 weeks which is dangerously close to wedding.  But whatevs, we'll figure it out.

How did you pick your rings and ring maker?  Did you go for unity or just pick what each of you liked?

The Best Christmas Present

I've always loved Christmas, but now Christmas Eve has an even more special place in my heart because it was on Christmas Eve of last year that I asked Daniel to marry me.

The holidays now remind me of that decision to spend our life together, so I thought I'd share the story of that night with you in honor of our one-year engagiversary.

We were going to be in Chicago on Christmas Eve because we couldn't afford to fly home, so I knew if I was going to do it on Christmas, it would have to be there.  But at that point, I still didn't know Chicago very well, and I couldn't think of anywhere to do it that would be really special.  We both disliked the idea of proposing in a crowded room, but outside in the middle of winter didn't seem like an appealing option either.

I decided the best choice would be to ask in our apartment, but I wanted it to be special, so I covered the apartment in candles.  I even taped tea lights to our tree (and let me tell you, that was nerve-wracking).

It's hard to tell, but the really bright lights are real candles.

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I also made a Christmas love song playlist to play while when he came in and while I was asking.

Of course, I had to get Daniel out of the house so that I could set up, but that turned out fine because as a habitual procrastinator, he had waited until that day to finish his Christmas shopping.  He spent the whole afternoon running around getting things for the cutest Christmas present for me, one that rivaled (and probably beat) my proposal:  he got me 12 presents of Christmas and wrote and performed a song for them set to (you guessed it) "The 12 Days of Christmas."  It was really freaking adorable.

Since we had been engaged before, I had already gotten him an engagement ring, so this time around, I made one for him.  I wrote down a bunch of things that had been an issue for our relationship (having to move to Chicago, wanting to live in different places, his love-bordering-on-obsession for gaming) and then wrote things that I liked about them (our favorite Chicago pub, my intense love for food in Berkeley, our rousing games of Munchkin).  Then, I folded the paper up into the shape of a ring, like a money ring.  It wasn't easy, and I had to follow the online tutorial about 7 times before I got it to work, but I finally had something passable.  Daniel is a huge Lord of the Rings fan, so I got one of my friends who taught Elvish as a language to write "Will you marry me?" in Elvish for me, and I used an online translator to write it in Elvish script instead of English characters (poorly).

Daniel's family always opens one present on Christmas Eve, so I wrapped his ring up nicely, and I wrapped my engagement ring as well for him to give to me.

Then I got dressed up and waited.

And waited and waited.

And called to find out where he was.

Finally, he came home and told me not to look while he brought in presents.

I told him to leave them in the hallway and opened the door holding the wrapped ring.

I took him under the Christmas tree and had him open it.  Then I told him how sorry I was that I had broken it off and that I loved him and knew I wanted to be with him.

And then I popped the question.

He said, "Yes."

Then I opened my ring, and there was much happiness.

Aaaaand then I dragged him off to the dinner reservations I didn't want to be late for on top of the Hancock Tower, the second tallest building in the country.

Obviously, the food was really expensive, and I really couldn't afford it at the time, but I'm really glad I did it anyway because we had a great view, even better because I had said in my reservation that I'd be proposing that night, and it was a great way to celebrate together despite the food being underwhelming.

It was a great night, and I'll never forget how happy we were knowing forever was coming.

 My favorite Christmas present that year was this sled.

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Well, that's my (preferred) engagement story.  What's yours?

A Sense of Permanence

It's finally happened.  The Big One.  The thing I've been waiting for since getting engaged.

No, silly, we don't have a date yet, but...

I got a ring tan!

 It's hard to see in the picture, but I swear it's more definite in person.

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Haha, all right, I'm probably the only person alive who's excited about this, but hear me out.  Ever since getting my engagment ring, I've wanted some ring-shaped tan lines.  It just feels more permanent that way, like having my ring basically engraved in my skin makes me more of a bride or something.  I know it's silly, but I'm excited about it anyway.

While we're on the subject of permanent rings, I thought I'd share some other couples who have forever relationships with their rings.

Wedding Ring Tattoos!

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I think wedding ring tattoos are BAD ASS!  I mean, nothing really says forever like writing it on your finger in permanent ink, right?  And it would be so much less of a hassle to never have to take the ring off or worry about losing it, but people would still always know that you're married.  I'm not really cool enough to pull this off, and it definitely would not work for Daniel, but I think it's a great idea.

 This is my favorite.  They tattooed each other's names on their fingers.

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To view more awesome ring tattoos, check out Offbeat Bride's ring tattoo page.

Would you ever consider making your wedding ring a little more permanent?  Would you keep it simple or do a cool design or something else unique?

A Different Take on Artsy Engagement Ring Pictures

These are old, but I realized that I never actually posted them.  Figured this would be a nice break from the serious stuff I've been talking about.

Daniel bought the necklace for me for our first Valentine's Day.  These are pretty much the only two pieces of jewelry that I ever wear.

I bought Daniel an engagement ring for the same weekend that he proposed :).  He has since lost it :(.

Hope this doesn't offend anyone:

All personal photos except the last three which were taken by Lauren

Don't go breaking my opals

Remember our rings?  You know, those little beauties I was set on getting done before we left Chicago?  Well, Daniel FINALLY got a hold of Mark, our jeweler, and we went to see him on Friday.

This meeting was just about the epitome of good news/bad news.  On the positive side of things, it was really helpful to finally be able to talk to someone who knew what he was doing and knew whether the things we wanted were possible.  However, he also pretty much destroyed all hope for most of the designs we showed him.

Apparently, people do not use opals in wedding bands because they like to break and fall out of their settings.  Not something that could last a lifetime = not going to happen.  Same goes for a lot of other designs with inlaid stones that we showed him.  Making the designs we were looking at is very difficult and thus expensive if you're not buying your ring from China, and it would definitely be to our advantage in the long run to buy from Mark as he is practically family.

The only designs we showed him that he did not reject were these:

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We're not crazy about this particular wave design, but one like it is something we both like.  This would be nice because we could definitely have complimentary rings with this design.  If we wanted, Mark said we could make the waves a color with this stuff that looks like stone but isn't that we could put inside the waves, but that feels kind of cheap to me.  Nonetheless, it's an option.

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Daniel really likes these Mokume rings, and while I think they look really cool, I just don't think this is for me.  Not feeling it.

We talked about some other options.  Mark suggested a titanium ring for Daniel.  They are exceptionally strong, and they have a different look, but they're not really good for designs which is something both of us are attracted to.  It's doable on a small scale.  Daniel's engagement ring was titanium ("was" because he lost it.  This is my punishment for breaking it off, I guess), and it had a little design on it (see below).  But ultimately, he's thinking he wants more options than titanium will allow.

I think you can guess which one is Daniel's.  And that this is a personal photo.

For me, well, I don't think I've mentioned this on here yet, but when I started thinking about wedding rings, I immediately wanted to reproduce my mom's ring (I'd say my parents' rings, but my dad lost his a loooooong time ago.  Anyone else sensing a trend here?).  I don't have a picture of it (yet), but it's yellow gold and has two dolphins' heads intertwining, and where their tales should be, their bodies meet to form the band.  I've loved it for as long as I can remember.  The main reason I didn't decide on this a long time ago is that it's not really Daniel's thing, so we definitely would not have matching rings, but also, it's significance to me is a lot more about my life than our life together.  I've had a deep and unwavering love of the ocean my entire life, and my parents definitely helped instill that in me.  They are both scuba divers, and they actually got married underwater, so to me this ring symbolizes the love of the ocean that brought them together.  While it's something that's important to me and that I share with them, it's not something that symbolizes my love for Daniel, and I really want a ring that feels right for us.  I'm still very much considering using my mom's design, but I'm not sure that it feels right.

So basically, we're back to square oneish.  At least we have a better idea of what we can do.  I've told Daniel that it is his job to look for designs in metals because he's better at it than I am, so we'll see what he comes up with.

Have you had trouble finding the right ring?  What's most important to you?  How do you decide on the ring that you will wear for the rest of your life?

If I Only Had....No Fiance

Having rings that at least sort of go together is really important to me.  I mean, if the ring is meant to symbolize our union, I feel like there should be some unity in the rings.  And Daniel and I have similar enough tastes to keep this from being a problem.

Nevertheless, there are some rings I would TOTALLY be thinking about buying if I wasn't going for unity.  Just for fun, here are some of my personal loves:

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Yeahhhh, I love Disney.  Like, a lot.  As in, I've been to Disneyland over 200 times, I wrote as many papers on Disney films as I could get away with in college, and if I had the money, I would SO get married in front of Cinderella's castle!  With so much history of my love, I'd so been down with this ring if I was marrying someone who was also obsessed with Disney (Daniel likes Disneyland but definitely does not approach my level of devotion).

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As I'm sure you all know by now, I love the sea and everything in it.  I have a particular affection for dolphins, and I have always been enamored with my parents' wedding rings in which two dolphins lie entwined upon the finger.  I'd rather have a replica of my mom's ring than the ring above, but it looks similar, and I do like the opal addition.

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I like this one better than the one above.  No matter what ring I get, it will be silver or white gold.

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So, this is pretty much the most adorable thing ever!  If I were actually going to use it as a wedding ring, I'd probably only get one turtle, but it is so cute!  Miss Turtle really ought to have this ring.  I love the website where I found this too, ElegantHawaiianJewelry.com.  It's got good stuff, lots of rings that differ from the norm.

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So, there's a story here.  I can't draw.  At all.  I've always wished that I could, but I utterly, completely, and unequivocally fail.  The only thing I can draw is dolphins.  I've had this image in my head of a group of dolphins swimming around a single dolphin jumping in front of the moon for as long as I can remember.  The tail in this ring is basically the way I draw a dolphin tail, so this ring would be a reminder of that image for me.  Besides, I like dolphins, and I love the colors in this ring.

Well, there you have it:  the rings I would be considering were it not for my fiance.  Do you have rings you would buy without your other half?  Do you like matching rings, or do you think it's better to just go with what you love?

Dreaming in Blue and Green

Since venting about how little time I have left with my jeweler, I realized how much we need to know what we want by the time we go see him.  Thus I reignited my ring search with an old friend:  opals.  I have been in love with opals since before I knew they were called opals.  They have such rich yet bright colors, and they remind me of the sea which as you may have figured out by now, I deeply love.  Plus, they're my birthstone, so that's always nice.  I don't know why I didn't think of opals in my original ring search.  Probably because I'm completely hung up on my parents' wedding rings which feature two dolphins entwined.  I guess I was thinking about design more than substance.  But now, I have a lovely collection of opal ring pictures to admire, and there are several I think we might actually use.

First, simplicity.  I would be perfectly fine with a simple opal band like this:

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I'd want a different color, but the basic design with opal holds a lot more interest for me than any other simple band I've seen.

Of course, we could make things a little more interesting with one of these:

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(imagine it with opal instead of turquoise)

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The last two are ones we're really considering.  The latter is FOR SURE my favorite of these, but as a member of the male species, Daniel doesn't want diamonds in his ring.  Thus, we would either both wear a design more like the middle option, or just he would do that while I wore something more like the last option.  Either way, I would want silver or white gold to better compliment my engagement ring (which I will someday get around to posting pictures of).

However, I think we would be most likely to actually purchase one of these options:

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We both really like this design but do not care for these stones.  If we were to do something like this, we would probably use three shades of opal or maybe opal for the (currently) purple parts and use stones of complimentary colors for the swirly bits.  We have a few ideas, but the important thing is we both love the design.

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Nonetheless, this is the design we both like best at the moment.  Imagine the waves inlaid with opal.  I love this design because it could satisfy my desire for opals and for an ocean-lover's ring at the same time.  Plus, the design was my idea to a large extent, and that makes me feel good too.

The more I think about it, the more I think I love the Etsy ring (the one with slanted diamond-inlaid lines separating the opal pieces) because of the color instead of the design.  That's pretty much the opal color I'm looking for, and with that kind of stone inlaid in the waves of the above ring, I think our rings would be perfect!  And what really surprised me is that's Daniel's favorite idea too.  I sense a decision coming on... :).

Which ring do you like best?  Of course, if you have any pictures or ideas similar to these or just that you think I might like, I would love to become acquainted with them.

Also, stay tuned for rings I love that Daniel wouldn't be caught dead wearing ;).  Hint:  there will be Mickey Mouse heads.

Rings! Why must you thwart me!

Ugh, so I'm really frustrated right now.  Remember how finding rings for us was the one thing that I could do before leaving Chicago?  Well, Daniel emailed our jeweler WEEKS ago asking for an appointment, and he STILL hasn't gotten back to us.  At this point, it's not just annoying to be ignored.  We actually need that appointment to happen really soon because we're leaving Chicago to go back to California at the end of May, and we need time to make a decision, allow time for stones to come in if necessary, etc., and time is running out!

So help me out.  How do you prod someone who is going to do you a huge financial favor into hurrying their ass up and responding?  Should I ask relatives who are closer to the jeweler to ask him to meet with us?  I'm so bad at this kind of thing, I could really use your advice.

Rings: A New Hope

So apparently Daniel is a lot better at looking for rings than I am because as soon as I posted my ring searching woes, he found a bunch of things that might work for us.

We both really like these:

 

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I had never seen a mokume ring until looking at the first ring from this post, but when I show it to Daniel, we both really liked the merging of metals, and he found a bunch of multicolored rings which we both really like.

There are some other possibilities we are considering, but this style is definitely something I think we could be happy with, so we will be asking our jeweler about it when we make an appointment (which should be soon, so stay tuned!).

Rings, Rings Everywhere and not a Thing for Me

The most frustrating thing about wedding planning for me right now is that I want to get started and get ideas that I can use and start planning.  However, being over 2,000 miles from our wedding location makes things really difficult.  Add that to the fact that I don't really know where I'm going to be living next year, and planning basically screeches to a halt.  However, there is one thing that I not only can do but really should do while I'm in Chicago, and that is find our rings.  Daniel's family is good friends with a jeweler who can get us a major discount (as he did for my engagement ring), so we're almost certainly going to buy from him, and it would be really helpful to have the rings done while we still have access to him.

This will not be my favorite task.  Since this is the part of the wedding that is really forever (in addition to the actual marriage part of course) and is something we will deal with everyday, this is one of the more stressful decisions I'm going to have to make.  Especially because we have very problematic tastes.

I have decided that I hate most wedding bands.  Plain ones are just so PLAIN.  As you may have noticed from my dress hunt, I don't do plain well.  But at the same time, I don't want something dripping in diamonds either, partly because I just don't care for diamonds, but mostly because I really want us to have complimentary rings if possible.  I feel like since the wedding band is a symbol of unity, ours should at least look something alike.  Both Daniel and I know we want something unique, but neither of us could tell you exactly what we want.

A couple of our good friends are getting married next weekend, and we both really liked their rings.  They got ones that were inlaid with stones, but not your average precious stones.  They were dark and looked kind of like a very dark wood.  They were very different.  We like that.  But I don't feel like their rings are "me," so we'll probably do something a little different.

I found these:

 

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I thought this was pretty cool.  I really like the interlocking design thing.  That says marriage to me.  Problem is, it's a bit manly for me, and it would be cooler if Daniel and I each had a part of the ring, and they fit together, like a friendship bracelet (I have a thing about friendship bracelets,  OK?  I swear I'm not five).  Of course, that would never actually work because his finger is about twice the size of mine.  Next.

 

I like the design, but it just doesn't say wedding to me.  Next.

 

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Love it!  Too bad neither of us is really into music.  But I'm seriously keeping this for when my brother gets married.

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These are all from Tacori.  They are all cool designs.  I would not buy any of them.

This is my problem.  I'm picky.  Daniel is also picky.  Finding something we agree on is going to be difficult, but finding something we love in the first place is going to be REALLY difficult.  Hopefully, his jeweler will have some ideas because I sure don't.