Wedding Bands - Part IV

Last post about the wedding bands — I promise. Well, not promise because, of course, there will be band drama to blog about post-wedding, I'm sure. I don't want to rule out a funny post about the groom or me forgetting the rings in Urbana when we leave for the wedding in August. Wouldn't that be hilarious?! Not! That makes me think about making a "take" list for that week. I'm sure we'll be running around like chickens with our heads cut off because I'm landing back in Central Illinois a mere 9 days before we are leaving for the wedding festivities! I'll make an item on my to do list to make another list... Wow. That's all I have to say.

Anyway, back to the bling. As I have posted several times before (here), I was not pleased with the band that went with my engagement ring. I mean, it was beautiful but just not me. I'm not the kind of girl to have so much hardware on a daily basis. I do want the option of having it for special occasions so we kept it but I wanted something to wear every day. I did not want just a plain band though — a girl's gotta have some sparkle. Here are some pictures I took of the new ring (and E's ring!):

My rings with my Chief Justice gavel... Yeah, I'm a total law dork. See this post for proof.

Our wedding bands together. Don't they make a great team?



The trio. Diva (as I call my E-ring) is in the middle peaking through.

I'm super excited about my wedding band! I really can't wait to wear it. I like the round cut diamonds because they match my ring — I also know that diamonds in a band are mostly princess cut or channel so I like the uniqueness of it.

Engagement Ring

I realized I have never posted about my engagement ring or posted any closeups of the ring (until yesterday with the wedding bands). I hate putting pictures up of the rings but realize it's one of the "rites of passage" for brides. Also, I was inspired by a post on the Weddingbee about taking artistic photos of your rings.

So, I decided to take a few pics for fun - with the TAX CODE. Yes, I'm a huge nerd. I just love it though!!

About the ring. E and I went ring shopping January 2008 and he made me wait until June 2008 to propose! We narrowed it down to 2 rings, and he picked this one. I was a little wary about it at first (at the store—not when he proposed) because our jeweler described it as a "tank" in response to E's questions about the likelihood of the diamond falling out. Never describe a woman's ring as a tank please. It's a turn off. Anyway, I absolutely love it and a little over 10 months since he proposed I have made the ring public in an official internet broadcasting way.

I've been thinking about it and may (after finals) post about our engagement. I'm not sure how many people know the whole story. I've been shy about sharing such a private moment but now that's it's been awhile that's wearing off. ;)

Wedding Bands - Part III

Upon further reflection from my post here, I have decided that, no, I do not like the wedding band that comes with my engagement ring. It's curved and and just too sparkly. I know, gasp in horror now. But seriously. I thought about the practicality of wearing such a ring every day and it does not fit my lifestyle at the moment. I'm in law school for heaven's sake. I will be keeping my eye out this summer at my firm to see what the ladies are wearing there, but I do not remember seeing any bling during my interviews.

So, here's the ring that matches my engagement ring (excuse the close-up of my cooking-scarred hand—I'm an absolute klutz in the kitchen):

See what I mean?

So, after determining that I don't like it, the next problem was what to do about it. We already special ordered it and paid for it. I also had to bring this up to my future husband, who said on the phone (prior to viewing) that it was probably all in my head and remember about the engagement ring, etc. I waited until he got home (did I mention we were leaving to go to Chicago for our shower that afternoon?) and showed him the ring. While waiting for him, I wore the rings around the apartment hoping to warm up to it and I almost did. That is until I saw the look on E's face—he hated it too!

We came up with a game plan: Buy another ring (feasible because of the crazy deal we got since our jeweler's going out of business) to wear on my left hand and I would continue to wear the engagement ring but just on my right hand. We would keep the bling bling for special occasions. The problem with this plan is that we were worried about what his mom would think about the added cost. Turns out that that was unfounded. She loves our idea! So...

We went shopping again. And picked out this beautiful number:

Here's how I'll wear it:

Isn't it perfect?!?!?! I LOVE IT and cannot wait to wear it. I have to wait how long?! Anyway, I was relieved that my e-ring actually fit on my right hand. The downside is we no longer saved money in our ring budget but we still didn't go too much over! Even with the additional ring. So, thank you T. Kelly's for giving us such great deals and customer service.

Tim himself took a picture with me because he just loves how I'm documenting the whole process.

He's so sweet and always remembers me when I come in (every 2-3 weeks...) to get my ring cleaned. We chat about his health and his daughter and the weather. I'll really miss him when he closes shop. He's talking about opening a smaller gig a few days a week in an office somewhere to do cleanings and stuff for his regular customers. Let's hope that's true!

Wedding Bands - Part II

Several weeks ago Erik and I picked out our wedding bands. His came in quite quickly (within a week!). His is awesome! It looks so shiny and nice. I'm sure it won't stay that way for very long after he starts wearing it. He jokes about wanting to wear it right away. No, honey, not yet!

Mine came in today, and I have to be sans engagement ring for several days. It's silly but I really feel its absence. I feel like I need another ring on my left hand to just account for the emptiness. And I have 4 more days to go! The reason they need to hold onto it is because the new ring has to match the shape/size of my current ring. Because it's curved, they need to match up perfectly. I may post pictures once it comes in but I'll have to run that by the groom. He's much more secretive than me!

One thing about my new wedding band—it's VERY sparkly and flashy. In fact, my first thought was "I hate it!" I know, I know. I feel bad admitting that. I even said it outloud, which led my jeweler to say defensively, "It looks just like the picture!" Yes, it does look like the picture but it also looks much BIGGER and flashier. It's beautiful don't get me wrong, but I'm just not sure I can rock a ring like that. Bmaid Jess swears I have some diva in me so she has no worries. And my jeweler reminded me (he's such a great guy) that I was a little worried about the flashiness factor of my current ring initially. We all know how that turned out!

Rings!!

Unfortunately, our local jeweler is going out of business. It's not do to the economy—it's due to health reasons, which is, obviously, much much worse. We found out about this through a mailer that T. Kelly Jeweler's sent out a few days ago. Erik got the mailer because he bought my engagement ring from Tim (owner of T. Kelly's) and it was forwarded to our apartment.

For whatever reason, I was really upset about his closing and about his health. I guess it was over 15 months ago that Erik and I first looked at rings in his jewelry store (Erik's groomsman Rob recommended it for my ring). I've visited Tim at least once a month since the proposal last June to get my ring cleaned. I know about his daughter and his business because we would chit chat when I would come to visit and it was just nice. I really enjoyed that part about our wedding. I'm a big fan of supporting local businesses and it just fit us perfectly. I'm mostly upset because I've really gotten to know the owner of the store and trust him with my ring. When I talked to him today, he told me that 2 girls cried yesterday when they came into the store—at least I'm not alone! A little more disconcerting was the fact that he couldn't recommend another jeweler in town because they weren't trustworthy enough. What am I going to do?! [Side note: He has offered to solder my bands together in early September even though he won't officially be open.]

At any rate, we were forced (due to mailer restraints and inventory concerns) to buy our rings this week. I actually didn't mind because it's one more thing to check off the list! My ring was easy—my engagement ring had a wedding band that goes with it, so there wasn't much for me to decide. Erik's ring, on the other hand, was a little more difficult because it really was whatever he wanted.

Surprisingly, he knew exactly what he wanted! Usually, Erik (god love him) takes awhile to make up his mind, but in this case he narrowed it down to 2 in, like, 10 minutes! Here are some pictures:

So, let me just explain these pictures a little. He was trying them on on his index fingers because the rings were too big and actually fit on those fingers! It was funny to see him go through the same experience that I did when I tried on rings—it's hard to see what you like when it is WAY too big! I had to keep asking him to try it on his ring finger so I could see it. The best part is that he decided on the first ring he tried on! It's awesome and fits his personality perfectly, in my opinion.

Erik's ring will be in the Friday before Easter and mine will be in a few days later. We are so excited and just can't wait!! (Yes, I'm speaking for the Groom but really he is excited too—he even mentioned (jokingly) that we should get married sooner so he could wear his new ring).

Now, this part was surprising to me but may not be surprising to others: E's ring was more expensive than mine and mine has diamonds on it!! Fortunately for us, T. Kelly's going out of business put the rings below our budget instead of above, which they would have been sans discount.

Bottom line: Rings bought, but, unfortunately, we can't wear them for 135 more days!