Weddingbee Blog

Like any girl, I was dreaming of engagement rings long before I met Mr. Cloud (all girls do that, right?). Well, I take that back. I wasn’t so much looking or dreaming about different rings as much as I was obsessing over this beauty: the classic Tiffany engagement ring.

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Then I met Mr. C, and when things started to get serious, I started to be realistic about what a ring like that actually costs. I wanted something similar in setting, of course, but I realized the multi-carat ring of my dreams with “Tiffany” engraved on the band might just not happen.

Let me get one thing straight right off: we live on a budget. Mr. Cloud and I are pretty comfortable as far as things go, but the kind of moolah a ring like the one above costs was not just hanging out in our bank accounts. So, I decided to be patient while Mr. C slowly started to save… until we went to a wedding in October of 2007. My wonderful shower hostess Mrs. B’s daughter actually was the bride, and poor shy Mr. C caught the garter. We all loved it, and he turned bright red. My dad muttered something to him that I missed, and when we got back to my parents’ house, Mama Cloud said she had something to show me.

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My great grandmother passed away when I was in 7th grade. She was a wonderful, strong woman, who took shit from no one. I always looked up to her, and she and Mama Cloud were very close. I never knew that she had left me the engagement ring my great grandfather bought her after they had gotten back on their feet after the depression. A stunning 2 carat European cut diamond set in platinum flanked by two baguettes on each side. Um, HELLO, where had this been!!?? My parents hadn’t wanted to say anything and let the wrong boy use it of course, but I guess they had a good feeling about Mr. C!

So, this is the beauty he slid on my finger that next Valentine’s Day. And I LOVED it. I say loved, because as time went on, me and this little antique started to not get along. I have very small fingers (4.25 to be exact), and when my precious ring was sized down, the thin platinum band didn’t hold up well. To be honest, my current jeweler doesn’t think the original jeweler who did the sizing did a great job, nor did he bother to repair the prongs Mr. Cloud paid to have rebuilt, but that’s a whole other story. So I started to think about repairs, which did not come recommended by our new wonderful jeweler (who came highly recommended by damn near everyone in the city… we did our homework this time, as I was taking no chances). The band was too compromised and he felt like I would be back in a few years needing another repair. We started to look at different settings all together, and I couldn’t get that darn Tiffany setting out of my mind!

Mr. Cloud insisted, and after a very long, finger-feeling-naked week later, I had her back and she was better then ever!!

(Thank you Anne Ruthmann and your brilliant advice.)

A souvenir from our trip to game one of the World Series 2007. Go Red Sox!!

On Mr. C’s DJ equipment

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At first I felt badly about changing the ring at al; who wants to mess with that kind of history! But I know my great grandparents would both be very happy that I have what I have always wanted. It is such a special diamond, and even Mr. C says he likes it better now too, so it’s win-win, I guess!!

Did anyone else change their original setting and feel a bit guilty at first?