I haven't talked about wedding planning too much on here (which is probably the main reason I haven't posted lately as it is taking over our lives -- I can't wait to have all the vendors booked so I can relax for a few months), but several people have expressed an interest in seeing the engagement ring. First, the story...

Adam knew that I was not really interested in a "traditional" diamond ring. Many are quite beautiful and I have nothing against them for other people, but they really aren't "me." In fact, I didn't really care much about receiving a ring at all, but he insisted... and who is going to turn down free jewelry? :-)

When Adam proposed, he used a birthstone ring that I had that he knew I had wanted to have reset anyway. He had even gone to a jeweler to talk to her about different options for resetting it before he proposed. We went to the jeweler the day after we got engaged and chose a setting that would have my birthstone (aquamarine) in the middle and a small diamond on each side. In the original ring setting, all three stones were diamonds. We were going to come back after the holidays to finalize some things.

(By the way, Adam had picked out three settings he thought I would like, and even though the jeweler told me to make sure I looked at all of the ones they had, my favorite was one he had chosen. Good taste, that man.)

Then, on Christmas Eve, my grandfather gave me my grandmother's engagement ring and wedding band and said that we could use them however we wanted. (My grandmother passed away when I was 11.) The settings were not really my style, but I knew right away that I wanted to use the stones from her rings in mine. Her engagement ring had a round diamond (in a square setting, oddly) with six small diamonds (again, round diamonds in square settings) on the side. Her wedding band had seven small diamonds set in it (same square settings). I decided to use the main diamond from her engagement ring in my engagement ring, and the 13 small diamonds in my wedding band. (Particularly fitting, as my birthday is on the 13th and 13 is my favorite number.)

I still loved the original setting I had picked out for my birthstone, but instead of having my pale blue birthstone in the middle with accent diamonds on the side, I decided to use my grandmother's stone as the center ring and with two light blue sapphires on the side. I really loved the idea of having a punch of color in my ring. Plus, even though it was based on a setting they had, my ring was truly custom and unique.

And, now onto what (some of) you have been waiting for... photos of the ring. (Please ignore my scary scaly looking hands... it's winter!)

Posted by: Lise | February 9, 2010 9:04 PM