Miss Fox, Washington DC/Havre de Grace, MDAge and Occupation: 26, Massage TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Field Support EngineerEngagement Date: April 18, 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Vandiver InnAbout Me: I’m a dancer turned massage therapist who was born and raised in New York. Alas, true love has brought me “south” where I still maintain my penchants for pretty shoes, wine, crossword puzzles, cherry blossoms, and the Mets. I own more sunglasses than a normal person should and don’t eat red meat (though I make up for it by eating my weight in sushi). I tend to be a big planner who likes to get things started early, but generally end up being indecisive and procrastinating when it comes down to it. I have a (not so) secret crush on Chris Carrabba, but my loyalty and love ultimately goes to the future hubs, of course! Together, my Foxy man and I love to discuss (read: debate) politics and current events, have Mario Kart and Scrabble duels, and just laugh. A lot. We’re hoping and planning for a laid back, fun, summery, rustic vibe to our June wedding that will be genuinely “us” – that is, if we finally make some decisions. Huzzah!
Back when Foxy and I first started talking about our respective ring bling, he was adamant about one thing.
Which was not actually wearing a ring.
He said he would be uncomfortable wearing one, since he’s never really worn any kind of jewelry outside of a watch. Which makes a little bit of sense. But then again…most guys don’t wear much jewelry. Yet they still wear a wedding band. Touché, Mr. Future Husband.
So while he was against wearing a traditional band, he did say that he wanted to get a ring tattooed on his finger instead.
I can’t tell you why, exactly, but I wasn’t too thrilled about this at first. I mean, sure, it’s flattering that he’s willing to permanently ink himself with a representation of our love and marriage, but I think it’s just that I don’t like ring tattoos. I have nothing against them on other people, but I suppose I had it set in my head that Foxy would ultimately wear a “real” ring all the time, not just on special occasions (as he so said he would do). It was definitely a point of contention for us for a while—ring versus no ring? How important was it to me for him to have and regularly wear a physical ring in addition to or instead of the tattoo ring?
Lo and behold—spoiler alert!—a few fortuitous things happened:
Miss Elk, City: Syracuse/Long IslandAge and Occupation: 25, Medical StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Computer EngineerEngagement Date: November 22, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: The Old Field Club About Me: I’m a Long Island girl finishing my last year of medical school in western NY, on the road to becoming a pediatrician. When I’m not studying or sleeping at the hospital, I spend my free time watching bad TV (Vampire Diaries anyone?), playing with my pooch, singing incredibly off-key (to the annoyance of Mr. Elk ), and reading Harry Potter for the zillionth time. Mr. Elk and I are planning a secular wedding infused with both Irish and cultural Jewish traditions. Only a week after I become an M.D., I will get my Mrs. degree, too!
Before I can tell you the proposal story, I need to explain how the ring was picked out.There are many things that I trust Mr. Elk to do well—actually, I trust him to do almost everything! One major exception is picking out jewelry, especially jewelry I will hopefully wear for a very long time. When we first started talking engagement and rings, he made it perfectly clear that they all looked the same to him and he hoped I would simply pick what I wanted, and I was more than happy to oblige! To prove that I did not make a mistake in my path, I give you this story: just the other day Mr. Elk’s hairdresser asked him what my ring looked like, and he could not even muster what shape the center stone is.
Anyway, given permission to look at rings, I began an intense internet search and fell head over heels in love with these beauties:
Mrs. Raccoon, IndianapolisAge and Occupation: 22, StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: Christmas 2010Wedding Date: January 2012Venue: Catholic Church, Chateau Thomas WineryAbout Me: I'm a wholesome Midwestern girl, TV series junkie, professional shower singer, and Anglophile. I love my fiance, crock pot cooking, my cat Heepo, going for the gusto, and all things wedding. Mr. Raccoon is pretty sweet, too! He’s a mad scientist that loves to travel. We met my first night on campus and have been inseparable since.
We went out on a personal big limb and ordered Mr. Raccoon’s ring online from The World Jewelry Center on Amazon. It was a last resort, but it ended up being a completely stress-free transaction in which we saved $423. Thank you, holiday sales! We had visited a few jewelry stores in town, and none had what he was looking for. Being simple kind of worked against us here. Alternative metals are the big thing right now! They’re affordable, strong, and have many style options. I actually really like them, but we couldn’t get over their inability to be resized. We know that we’ll be wearing these rings every day for the rest of forever, and the chances of our ring sizes changing are pretty good.
Mrs. Mole, Los Angeles/Las VegasAge and Occupation: 29, Test Prep InstructorFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, User Experience ArchitectEngagement Date: April 2011Wedding Date: January 2012Venue: Wynn Las Vegas/Bouchon BistroAbout Me: I’m a Wisconsinite-turned-Angeleno who is planning a destination wedding in Las Vegas. I am passionate about education: I spent 23 (!) consecutive years in school, and now I work to help other people get into graduate programs. I love running on the treadmill, buying bath products from Lush, learning new moves in step aerobics, and exploring my neighborhood on foot. I am sometimes snobby about food, but I am rarely snobby about books. I read everything from Geoffrey Chaucer to Iris Murdoch to Chuck Klosterman to Candace Bushnell. My fiance and I are getting married on our third anniversary!
After we got engaged, a lot of people excitedly asked, “Did you know that he was going to propose?!?” My answer to that question is always, unequivocally, yes. I absolutely did. This answer tends to really surprise some people, for whatever reason. Those people tend to follow up by asking about the specific hints that I saw beforehand. In my case, though, I’m not sure if they were hints as much as glaring signs.
Hint #1: We picked out the ring setting the month before. Until March or so, I was 100% sure that I wanted the etoile setting from Tiffany. I loved the clean, modern look of the ring and the low profile of the stone.
What a beauty! / Image via Pricescope / Posted by Upgradable
Jeff secretly—or, not so secretly, since his Chrome browser left the Tiffany website visible on the home page—went to the store after a snowboarding trip with a friend. If you are wondering, yes, he still was in full snowboarding gear. I can only imagine what the salesperson thought of his chances for a sale that day. Anyway, Mr. Mole instantly knew that the setting I liked from pictures online was not something that I would love in person. He didn’t come home empty-handed, though. He presented me with two things: a beautiful rose gold bangle and the suggestion that we go ring shopping together.
Mrs. Mole, Los Angeles/Las VegasAge and Occupation: 29, Test Prep InstructorFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, User Experience ArchitectEngagement Date: April 2011Wedding Date: January 2012Venue: Wynn Las Vegas/Bouchon BistroAbout Me: I’m a Wisconsinite-turned-Angeleno who is planning a destination wedding in Las Vegas. I am passionate about education: I spent 23 (!) consecutive years in school, and now I work to help other people get into graduate programs. I love running on the treadmill, buying bath products from Lush, learning new moves in step aerobics, and exploring my neighborhood on foot. I am sometimes snobby about food, but I am rarely snobby about books. I read everything from Geoffrey Chaucer to Iris Murdoch to Chuck Klosterman to Candace Bushnell. My fiance and I are getting married on our third anniversary!
Last year, Mr. Mole and I were living in Milwaukee. We moved there—or, more accurately, I moved us there—because I was offered a teaching job at a high school. To put a positive spin on things, I can say that the job gave me three things:
1. A supreme appreciation for the hard work that teachers do, both in and out of the classroom
2. A clear indication that teaching at the high school level was not the right career for me
3. An excellent excuse for a relaxing vacation at an all-inclusive resort
Little did I know that I would also be planning my engagement trip!
Miss Fox, Washington DC/Havre de Grace, MDAge and Occupation: 26, Massage TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Field Support EngineerEngagement Date: April 18, 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Vandiver InnAbout Me: I’m a dancer turned massage therapist who was born and raised in New York. Alas, true love has brought me “south” where I still maintain my penchants for pretty shoes, wine, crossword puzzles, cherry blossoms, and the Mets. I own more sunglasses than a normal person should and don’t eat red meat (though I make up for it by eating my weight in sushi). I tend to be a big planner who likes to get things started early, but generally end up being indecisive and procrastinating when it comes down to it. I have a (not so) secret crush on Chris Carrabba, but my loyalty and love ultimately goes to the future hubs, of course! Together, my Foxy man and I love to discuss (read: debate) politics and current events, have Mario Kart and Scrabble duels, and just laugh. A lot. We’re hoping and planning for a laid back, fun, summery, rustic vibe to our June wedding that will be genuinely “us” – that is, if we finally make some decisions. Huzzah!
See, I have this fab engagement ring that I picked out. Mr. Foxy gave the obligatory “If you’re happy, I’m happy” head nod to it, so it was mine, in its sparkly, halo-y goodness.
Mrs. Seal, San FranciscoAge and Occupation: 25, Personal AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Sales and Support SpecialistEngagement Date: December 12, 2009Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Sts Peter and Paul Church/The Bently ReserveAbout Me: I am a goofy, wannabe crafty, well-intentioned Renaissance Woman (OK, perhaps "aimless wanderer" is a more aptly suited term for me, but hopefully you get the point)—basically I dabble in just about everything and pride myself in such. Without warning, I occasionally breakout into soulful improvised songs and interpretive dances and there's just no stopping me! As so many others before me, planning our wedding has unearthed a deep, intense passion for all things bridal and I secretly fear the day it will come to an end. Mr. Seal and I are quite the pair and life with him by my side is extremely rewarding—I am so thankful to have found him. Together we are planning a black-tie San Francisco affair for 250—light on the stuffiness and with lots of extra Seal-y flair.
Mrs. Parasol, San Ramon, CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 25, Non-profit writer, editor, and bloggerFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Law school studentEngagement Date: December 19th, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Bent Creek Winery (Livermore, California); Reception: Family Residence (San Ramon, California) About Me: I am a California girl at heart. I love the outdoors, sunny days at the beach, and hiking in the woods and mountains. I also love good books and am fresh from completing my Master's degree in English and Comparative Literature in New York City. Living in NYC was an amazing experience, and while I'm glad to be back on the West Coast, I'm also thankful that my two years back East gave me an opportunity to explore new places, make new friends, and indulge my passion for Broadway shows. Oh, and I received a pretty awesome proposal from Mr. Parasol in Central Park. Above all else, Mr. Parasol is my biggest cheerleader and my best friend. But even though I'm thrilled to be marrying him, I wasn't always totally on board with this whole wedding thing and at first, I wanted to run off and elope. I've finally been convinced to throw the wedding I never thought I wanted, and so now I'm busy planning an intimate September wedding filled with DIY details. Along the way, I'm slowly learning to appreciate, perhaps even love the wedding planning process.
Hive, I’d like to introduce you to someone very special today: my Grandma P!
Photo via Grandma P
Isn’t she the epitome of grace and loveliness? Grandma P is amazing. She’s tough as nails (in the best possible sense), has a great sense of humor, and has been a constant source of strength, inspiration, and encouragement for me. She’s been there for every major event in my life and has cheered me on at every single one of them. She makes me feel like I can accomplish anything.
And on top of everything else, Grandma P is responsible for giving me the best wedding gift ever.
Mrs. Sunhat, Dyer, IN Age and Occupation: 32, Tax AccountantFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, Landscape ForemanEngagement Date: September 25, 2010Wedding Date: December 2011Venues: St. Andrew the Apostle, Fiesta PalaceAbout Me: I'm a Midwest girl who grew up in the country and now works in the big city! I love cooking, entertaining, reading (addicted to my Kindle) and going to the movies. I don't miss an episode of Hoarders and I start cleaning every time I watch! My profession doesn't call for much creativity so wedding planning has been a great outlet. Mr. Sunhat and I met online three years ago, cheer for rival MLB teams and share a home with our dog, Wrigley. We are planning a traditional, Polish, Catholic wedding with lots of DIY elements and some fun surprises. I'm so excited to be married on New Year's Eve and we can't wait to ring in the new year as husband and wife!
Six to five months before our engagement, Mr. Ball Cap and I decided we should probably visit a jewelry store to educate ourselves about engagement rings and the styles we liked. We knew our first stop had to be Albert’s Diamond Jewelers.
Albert’s has been in business serving Northwest Indiana for over 100 years. Also, their local commercials crack us up! As soon as you walk in the door, they make you feel right at home and you aren’t pressured or hounded to buy. Our consultant, Emery, was awesome. I gave him an idea of what I liked and didn’t like in rings and he was great at steering us towards different styles based on our reactions to what he showed us.
My only firm criteria was that I wanted silver vs. gold and I disliked heart-shaped diamonds. I tended to favor a little more vintage look and didn’t want a super thin band. I got to try on a lot of different styles and I was surprised at how opinionated Mr. BC was about things!
After we left, we both felt there was no need to visit anywhere else. I told Mr. Ball Cap he was on his own from here on out and I wanted the final choice to be all his.
Miss Porcupine, NYC/Lancaster, PAAge and Occupation: 26, Sales Coordinator/PublishingFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Assistant Manager/SalesEngagement Date: August 8, 2010Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Riverdale ManorAbout Me: I'm a born and bred New Yorker with a love/hate relationship for the city I have always called home. Although I may seem quiet from afar, I have a loud personality once you get to know me. I am a book nerd at heart, but love a night out in the city with good friends. I have a serious addiction to all things cheese, chocolate, cardigans, Mexican food, and reality TV. The future hubs and I met in college, settled in New York, and decided to go with a rustic/peacock infused wedding in Lancaster, PA, right near his hometown. Come the big day, we will be together 5 years, and we're looking forward to making it official!
Hive, I think I owe you a lot of updates on some things I left hanging that took place in a short span of time.
For one, I babbled on about the story of how Mr. Porcupine got my engagement ring, but I didn’t show you all some pertinent picture evidence that it even exists. Also, my wedding band came in fairly quickly, so here are both of those babies.
Mrs. Magic, Chapel Hill, NCAge and Occupation: 30, Licensed Clinical Social WorkerFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, ResearcherEngagement Date: December 1, 2009Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Barn at ValhallaAbout Me: I’m a tall drink of water (5’10”!) and a Southern bride with an enormous appetite for Mexican food, good deals, anything French, and all things wedding! By day I am lucky enough to work with individuals with autism and their families. By night, I’m even luckier to be able to spend time hanging out with awesome friends, crafting, shopping, thinking about exercising, and kicking it with Mr. Magic and our two cats. I tend to have sudden, intense cravings that will not be denied (seafood enchiladas! new jeans!) and I’m prone to being a disorganized mess of anxiety and stress. After waiting (and waiting!) to get engaged, I am finally planning the colorful, fun, fabulously awesome Fall wedding of our dreams. In an effort to share the fun and craziness that is wedding planning, I’m gonna blog about it for y’all---the good, the bad, and the pretty!
So, I’ve been meaning to do a ring post for a while, and then, seriously, I was thinking about how I should try to take a pic with my cat and my ring, and then Miss Fox posted her post that said that cat-and-ring photos are tough, and then I saw Smizz lying there all sweet and I thought, “Let’s do this.” So we did.
Miss Fox, Washington DC/Havre de Grace, MDAge and Occupation: 26, Massage TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Field Support EngineerEngagement Date: April 18, 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Vandiver InnAbout Me: I’m a dancer turned massage therapist who was born and raised in New York. Alas, true love has brought me “south” where I still maintain my penchants for pretty shoes, wine, crossword puzzles, cherry blossoms, and the Mets. I own more sunglasses than a normal person should and don’t eat red meat (though I make up for it by eating my weight in sushi). I tend to be a big planner who likes to get things started early, but generally end up being indecisive and procrastinating when it comes down to it. I have a (not so) secret crush on Chris Carrabba, but my loyalty and love ultimately goes to the future hubs, of course! Together, my Foxy man and I love to discuss (read: debate) politics and current events, have Mario Kart and Scrabble duels, and just laugh. A lot. We’re hoping and planning for a laid back, fun, summery, rustic vibe to our June wedding that will be genuinely “us” – that is, if we finally make some decisions. Huzzah!
I decided to get a little artsy, thanks to some inspiration from the hive. All over the site, I noticed brides-to-bee taking engagement ring “glamour shots,” if you will. I’ve seen pictures of e-rings with fun, interactive backgrounds: on a flower, on food, on something meaningful to that bride, etc. Since I recently got a brand spanking new camera, I figured should join the crowds and give it a shot, or many shots as the case may be. One thing I learned is that you can’t do an e-ring photo shoot on/with your cat. Duly noted.
Miss Porcupine, NYC/Lancaster, PAAge and Occupation: 26, Sales Coordinator/PublishingFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Assistant Manager/SalesEngagement Date: August 8, 2010Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Riverdale ManorAbout Me: I'm a born and bred New Yorker with a love/hate relationship for the city I have always called home. Although I may seem quiet from afar, I have a loud personality once you get to know me. I am a book nerd at heart, but love a night out in the city with good friends. I have a serious addiction to all things cheese, chocolate, cardigans, Mexican food, and reality TV. The future hubs and I met in college, settled in New York, and decided to go with a rustic/peacock infused wedding in Lancaster, PA, right near his hometown. Come the big day, we will be together 5 years, and we're looking forward to making it official!
A few weekends ago I embarked on a whirlwind of weddingland tasks. (How many “w”s are in that sentence?) To start, Black House White Market was having an awesome sale and I found a great dress for one of the 342 weddings I will be attending in the next year.
*All pictures are personal photos*
Please excuse my chopped off head… I was
making a horrible one eyed goober wonky face
This is pretty good for me, considering I usually wait until the last minute humanly possible to buy a dress before an event, pick the first thing I find that I halfway like, and then look back at pictures and hate my procrastinating self. Read more…
Mrs. Teaspoon, Sydney, AustraliaAge and Occupation: 27, Medical ScientistFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, BankerEngagement Date: June 4, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: St Aloysius' College, Milson's PointAbout Me: I am a mad scientist who enjoys swimming at the beach in summer and skiing powder in winter. Our favourite times together are spent with the sand between our toes, cooking up a storm, re-watching and re-reading every Harry Potter ever made, and spending time with our dear friends and family! We have travelled the world together in our 6 years of dating, from Paris, to Thailand, to Las Vegas, and we are tackling the many challenges of planning our special day the best way we know how---together!
While we wait for our professional shots to come back from the photographer, there are still a few details that I would like to share with you that I didn’t have the chance to do before the wedding.
Our wedding bands! So, you saw my inspiration. Now we are finally sporting these little beauties every day. Although Mr Teaspoon did have to hide mine until our wedding day, because I just wanted to wear it!
They are exactly what we wanted—a simple band for Mr Teaspoon and a blingy ring for me. Of course, I had to break out the camera and give them a little photo shoot!
Miss Porcupine, NYC/Lancaster, PAAge and Occupation: 26, Sales Coordinator/PublishingFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Assistant Manager/SalesEngagement Date: August 8, 2010Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Riverdale ManorAbout Me: I'm a born and bred New Yorker with a love/hate relationship for the city I have always called home. Although I may seem quiet from afar, I have a loud personality once you get to know me. I am a book nerd at heart, but love a night out in the city with good friends. I have a serious addiction to all things cheese, chocolate, cardigans, Mexican food, and reality TV. The future hubs and I met in college, settled in New York, and decided to go with a rustic/peacock infused wedding in Lancaster, PA, right near his hometown. Come the big day, we will be together 5 years, and we're looking forward to making it official!
With the wedding rapidly approaching and the nightmares setting in (you know the ones—the I forgot to get my hair and makeup done before the wedding kinda sweet dreams), I figure this is as good a time as any to cross the major necessities off the list. One of those would be the wedding bands. Purchasing those suckers is right up there on the importance scale with making sure Mr. Porcupine has pants!
Mr. Porcupine and I have barely done a drop of research on wedding rings. Neither of us is a big jewelry person. I’m all about the costume jewels. There is something about wearing expensive jewelry that gives me agita. I would lose my head if it weren’t attached to my body, and it’s far too easy for me to fling off rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, etc. without even noticing. It took me months to get used to wearing my engagement ring. I only “lost” it about 80 times (AKA it flipped around my finger or was on my bedside table) before I realized I am a lunatic and need to chillax.
One very bored day Mr. Porcupine and I wandered into Zales on our way home from running errands. I looked through the glass cases blankly. They all looked fine to me. I actually contemplated just picking a ring and buying it right then and there. Mr. Porcupine is pretty simple, too, with what he wants in a ring. He wants a black/white-gold band. Affordable and easy to find at most jewelers.
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
After over a year of searching, I’ve found a wedding band to pair with my engagement ring.
