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Mr. Mango's Picture
Mr. Mango, Los Angeles Age and Occupation: 27, Stem Cell/Nanotechnology Researcher Fiance's Age and Occupation: 21, Political Scientist Engagement Date: June 12, 2008 Wedding Date: December 2008 Blogging Since: August 4, 2008 Venue: Picking between 2 About Me: It's not who I am underneath, but what I do, that defines me (cheesy Batman reference). I'm a Pakistani-American who lives his life as a nerdy scientist by day, and a nerdy artist by night. According to many, I'm as "metro" as they come, and that's probably why I'm so interested in all this wedding business. Honestly, I've become a bit of a "groomzilla". I'm here to prove that we, as grooms, actually can work a Gocco, plan a wedding meal, create breathtaking centerpieces, and rock a dress, just as good as my female counterparts (well maybe not the last one).
About Mr. Mango

The Mango Ring - Bring On the Bling

September 18th, 2008 @ 12:50 pm by Mr. Mango

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.
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Miss Meatball's Picture
Miss Meatball, Hollywood Age and Occupation: 30, Actor/Writer/Office Maven Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Actor/Writer Engagement Date: October 7, 2007 Wedding Date: May, 2009 Blogging Since: September 16, 2008 Venue: Private Garden/The Bungalow Club About Me: I love melty cheese and diet coke almost as much as I love my man. I'm from Chicago, he's from NYC, and we both miss public transit and great pizza. We have an adorable muppet dog called Paco. I'm part hippie with a healthy dash of hip hop superstar, have excessive empathy for animals, and have not one, but two bionic eyes (long story). We're broke and it ain't no joke. It can't stop us from planning the bold and whimsical wedding of our dreams, but we've had to get pretty creative to make it work, yo!
About Miss Meatball

Wrapped Around My Finger

September 18th, 2008 @ 10:58 am by Miss Meatball

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:
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Mr. Mango's Picture
Mr. Mango, Los Angeles Age and Occupation: 27, Stem Cell/Nanotechnology Researcher Fiance's Age and Occupation: 21, Political Scientist Engagement Date: June 12, 2008 Wedding Date: December 2008 Blogging Since: August 4, 2008 Venue: Picking between 2 About Me: It's not who I am underneath, but what I do, that defines me (cheesy Batman reference). I'm a Pakistani-American who lives his life as a nerdy scientist by day, and a nerdy artist by night. According to many, I'm as "metro" as they come, and that's probably why I'm so interested in all this wedding business. Honestly, I've become a bit of a "groomzilla". I'm here to prove that we, as grooms, actually can work a Gocco, plan a wedding meal, create breathtaking centerpieces, and rock a dress, just as good as my female counterparts (well maybe not the last one).
About Mr. Mango

The Mango Ring - The Search is On

September 17th, 2008 @ 4:25 pm by Mr. Mango

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

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Miss Taffy's Picture
Miss Taffy, Ann Arbor Age and Occupation: 28, Color and Materials Designer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Automotive Designer Engagement Date: May 9, 2008 Wedding Date: May 2009 Blogging Since: September 14, 2008 Venue: University of Michigan Union About Me: I’m a girl who is crazy about Mr. Taffy, sewing, dancing, almost all types of sweets, and our cute pet canaries. I dislike touching fuzzy fabric of any kind, eating somewhat squishy food, and Michigan winters. Mr. Taffy and I are having a blast planning our Ann Arbor wedding, and cannot wait to share our day with friends and family.
About Miss Taffy

The Story of the Ring

September 16th, 2008 @ 5:58 pm by Miss Taffy

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. :)
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Miss Fondue's Picture
Miss Fondue, Nashville Age and Occupation: 27, Technical Analyst Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Network Admin Student/Senior Game Advisor Engagement Date: December 25, 2007 Wedding Date: May 2009 Blogging Since: September 14, 2008 Venue: Ravenwood Golf Club About Me: I’m your average computer geek marrying a gaming geek and trying to find a good balance of elegance and geek chic in our wedding. I adore The Sims, Nintendo, cosplay, (good) music, TiVo, theme parks, and our two crazy felines.
About Miss Fondue

Designing the Ring

September 15th, 2008 @ 2:33 pm by Miss Fondue

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!
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Miss Lemonade's Picture
Miss Lemonade, Austin/San Antonio Age and Occupation: 28, Bureaucrat Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Music Management Engagement Date: December 21, 2007 Wedding Date: April, 2009 Blogging Since: August 22, 2008 Venue: Country Club ceremony, ballroom reception About Me: I’m a total wonkette who is lucky enough to be surrounded by her favorite things on a daily basis – awesome music, the great State of Texas and of course, Mr. Lemonade! I find any excuse I can to craft something and am completely infatuated with the 1950’s, all things Kennedy, and my furbaby Vida.
About Miss Lemonade

The Requisite Bling Post

September 9th, 2008 @ 11:25 am by Miss Lemonade

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?

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Mrs. Green Tea's Picture
Mrs. Green Tea, Sacramento Age and Occupation: 30, Tea Analyst Fiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Coffee Critic Engagement Date: November 17, 2006 Wedding Date: August 23, 2008 Blogging Since: June 10, 2008 Venue: Vineyard on the Delta About Me: I'm just your average obsessive compulsive, arts & crafts loving, funky-on-the-inside/boring-on-the-outside girl, who dares to say 'Hey! I can make that!' Nerdy professional by day, goofy won-ton by night. The won-ton sometimes comes out during the day when I'm fed the dollar breakfast at Ikea. Since our engagement, wedding planning has put me on high alert for bargains and I've been pushing my nimble fingers through callous building experiments!
About Mrs. Green Tea

Ridding the Lump

September 6th, 2008 @ 2:44 pm by Mrs. Green Tea


(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.

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Mrs. Sundae's Picture
Mrs. Sundae, Chicago/Lake Geneva, WI Age and Occupation: 28, Knowledge Manager Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Investment Advisor Engagement Date: July 20, 2007 Wedding Date: September 2008 Blogging Since: February 5, 2008 Venue: The Abbey Resort About Me: It’s hard to believe that by the time Mr. Sundae and I get married we will have been together for almost ten years. When we first met in college we split dollar pitchers and now we share the mortgage payments. Despite our love for the city we are looking forward to tying the knot in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
About Mrs. Sundae

It’s On!

September 5th, 2008 @ 11:57 am by Mrs. Sundae

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!


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Mrs. Pomegranate's Picture
Mrs. Pomegranate, Sacramento Age and Occupation: 27, Technical Specialist Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Software Engineer Engagement Date: August 23, 2007 Wedding Date: October, 2008 Blogging Since: June 5, 2008 Venue: R.H. Phillips Winery About Me: Hi, I'm Miss Pomegranate and I'm a shopaholic. I have a weak spot for the chic cheap - especially anything I can re-create on the DIY. Shoes are my vice, music is my passion in life and technology is the medium by which I live and work. When I'm not scoping out a sale, I'm spending my quality time training for a marathon, playing Wii with my fiance and snuggling with my Silver Labrador and Teacup Panther - and oh yeah, planning my wedding!
About Mrs. Pomegranate

With What Ring? Part II

September 4th, 2008 @ 5:45 pm by Mrs. Pomegranate

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:

z163351
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.
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Miss Hot Cocoa's Picture
Miss Hot Cocoa, Boston/Los Angeles Age and Occupation: 31, JD/PhD Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Medical Student Engagement Date: May 30, 2008 Wedding Date: March, 2009 Blogging Since: April, 2008 Venue: Ritz Carlton, Marina Del Rey About Me: I am a professional student by day and an amateur cupcake taster, bargain shopper, and wedding planner by night. I am obsessed with NPR, the Food Network, paper, dance shows, Anthropologie, post-structuralist theory, Weddingbee!, "The Office," and celebrity gossip. When not procrastinating from my dissertation, I spend time catering to Jellyby, our overly anxious shih tzu, and getting to know Mr. Hot Cocoa. We have only been dating for fifteen years, so it's like I'm in love with a stranger! From the East Coast, we are planning a Jewish-Chinese Extravaganza in L.A., where we both grew up.
About Miss Hot Cocoa

Ice, Ice, Baby

August 30th, 2008 @ 1:02 pm by Miss Hot Cocoa

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.]

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