Weddingbee

So, in my last post, I was searching for the perfect engagement ring, and Ms. Mango revealed that she loved the way canary yellow sapphires looked. It turned out that yellow sapphires are quite rare and often confused with yellow citrines. In addition, I was made aware of the numerous ways jewelers tend to temporarily increase the aesthetic value of their stones to make a quick sale, a common practice in the sale of treated yellow sapphires. Two of the main ways that this is achieved is through heating or lattice diffusion treatments. Heating or diffusing a stone with Beryllium can actually amplify a stone’s natural color, albeit temporarily.

Before and After Heating

To get a truly precious sapphire, you should purchase one in its natural state, void of any enhancing treatments.
Read more…

Growing up, and well into my relationship with Mr. Meatball, I always dreamed of a ring like this:

(image source)

My mother inherited a ring very similar to the one above several years ago. I love it a lot—and thought it would be a meaningful solution to our “can’t spring for bling” on a starving artist’s budget issue. So I politely (read: whiningly) suggested it. She refused. Wouldn’t budge an inch. You see, when my parents got engaged it went something like this:
Read more…

I realized I never talked about the engagement ring I had made for Ms. Mango. I guess there should a preface to this post about Ms. Mango, and why I decided to go with the ring I eventually presented to her. Ms. Mango is a true political scientist. She isn’t the student who decided that political science would be the easiest major to take with the lowest number of units. My lil’ mama is the little lady you see at protests wielding an obnoxiously decorated sign, and parading up and down the street hoping someone will hear her high-pitched screams for unity, equality, or whatever has her up in arms that week.

So when she figured out I was shopping for rings (I love how women snoop through your things when they smell a present coming), I undoubtedly received a little lecture about the evil capitalist nature that plagues the precious stone industry.

Source

Read more…

Note: I’ve added larger pictures to my bolero post from yesterday. 

When the time came for ring shopping, Mr. Taffy really wanted to find a conflict free diamond, so he went to Austin & Warburton in Ann Arbor. He chose a beautiful conflict free brilliant cut stone, and wanted to design the rest of the ring, but wasn’t quite sure what to do about the setting. He also didn’t know my ring size (I don’t wear a lot of jewelry). The jeweler recommended that he tie a string around my finger while I was sleeping, then bring the string into the store for measurement. Mr. Taffy was not about to try such a stunt, thank goodness… I can only imagine him trying to tie a string around my finger in the middle of the night. I talk in my sleep and probably would have scared the wits out of him!

Shortly after, I became involved in the ring process.
Read more…

You may remember from my last post that Mr. Fondue proposed with my mom’s old engagement ring. It was a tad too big, and I wanted to enhance it a bit to make it more my style.

We decided to take it to a local gemologist, Jay Yontef. We had heard wonderful things about him and his creations, and they were all true! Working with him, we designed a beautiful three-stone ring using my mom’s diamond as the center stone and accented it with rubies.

We had only been engaged for a couple weeks, but I was already so used to wearing the ring on my finger that it was very strange to not have it. After two agonizing weeks, we got a call: the ring was in!

We quickly made an appointment to pick it up. Jay made me close my eyes while he showed it to Mr. Fondue. Then, he placed it carefully under the light and told me to open them. It was gorgeous, and just as I had pictured it!
Read more…

Before I dive into the story of my ring, here’s a little background: remember how I said I never wanted to get married? It was true. Never in my life did I dream of my prince charming or a fantasy wedding. I was much more interested in playing “senators and representatives” (true story) or shoving my nose in a book. Interestingly enough, there was one wedding element I did spend a fair amount of time visualizing—the ring. I remember conjuring up pretty images in my mind of gargantuan multi-stoned baubles and delicate filigree vintage pieces (although back then, I doubt I deemed them ‘vintage’…) set in a variety of metals. Each of the pieces I created in my head was dramatically different, save for one uniting feature: the center stone. It was never a diamond; it was my birthstone, the aquamarine. Back then I didn’t have anything against diamonds, I was just drawn to aquamarines. I figured if I stuck with my original plan, I’d never get married, but I’d eventually design and purchase an amazing aquamarine ring for myself.

Why an aquamarine, you ask?

Read more…

(image source)

I don’t know if anyone else shares this sentiment, but one of the things I really looked forward to about being married was being able to pack that engagement ring away!

I have never been big on wearing jewelry, and had never dreamed about wedding rings of any kind. It was very weird to carry something so valuable on me all the time, and at the beginning it was honestly quite uncomfortable to have a thing sticking out at that odd (to me) spot on the finger! Mr. Green Tea offered that wearing it was not a requirement, but after leaving it at home for a couple weeks, I realized that it made him quite happy to see the ring worn. So I wore it most of the time, and got mostly used to it. 22 months later though, whenever the sticky-outty part hits or snags anything, it still freaks me out a little.

Read more…

With mere weeks to go, I can’t tell you how many times the phrase “It’s On!” runs through my head in a day. Every time a project is completed, we mail off a final payment, we track down one of the non-responders, and get a little closer to a finalized guest list, I think… it’s ON!

A part of me feels like we’ve spent the past year planning for this mythical event, something happening so far in the future, that it seemed like it would never get here. One recent event really made things seem like reality, though. We picked up our rings!

Read more…

I was so inspired by the choices I had compiled in my last post on wedding bands, I decided to look into getting one of them made to see if it was within our budget. The ring I was interested in was almost perfect - but it was cast in sterling silver and a smidge too wide for my finger. Basically, I wanted a narrower, smoother, more clean-cut version of the below:

Double Band Empty Spaces Ring
$220 @ Sundance Catalog

I loved that the two sides didn’t quite meet in the middle - but that if you took the long route along the path of the band, it was still met back at the beginning. To me, this symbolizes that while a circle is still a great symbol for marriage, it is still hard work. It’s a great reminder to keep on my path of solid marriage when things get tough - and to not take the easy route out.
Read more…

Mr. Hot Cocoa and I have very different aesthetics. He’s traditional and classic; if he were a store he’d be Brooks Brothers or Falconable. If I could be a store, I’d be Anthropologie — fun and girly, with a splash of vintage. So when it came to picking out an engagement ring, Mr. HC said he would pick out the stone, but felt very strongly that I should pick out the setting. Initially, I was a little bummed about this — I had a whole fantasy of him surprising me with the perfect ring that he’d designed. But I got over it when I realized that this meant I got to do more shopping. Schweet!

Cue the bling photos.

At first, I zoned in on an emerald cut stone on a simple pave band. I really like the emerald cut. It’s understated, refined, and modern — the Natalie Portman of cuts.

[Image source.]

Read more…