Kind of a Big Deal...

We FINALLY picked out Mark's wedding ring!!!

Like most decisions that we've had to make, this one took us forever! We first looked at wedding bands for Mark back last February when we got engaged. Admittedly, at the time we weren't looking seriously for bands yet....but, we were still looking. We began looking pretty seriously around last October and we've probably been on 3 or 4 excursions total to look for rings for Mark. He finally narrowed it down to the fact that he wanted something with milgrain (which is great b/c my e ring and band has milgrain too!) - other than that one specific, our search was kind of all over the place. Most of the rings we looked at were white gold (or as Mark likes to call it "silver"...ha!), although some also had rose gold or yellow gold on them as well. I think it was our expedition before this last one where he found a hammered finish ring with milgrain that he liked...BUT, he didn't like it enough to buy it. I guess it just wasn't the "one"! :)

After traveling around to a few jewelry stores yesterday we went back to our favorite Bham jewelry store...Diamonds Direct (it's where we purchased the setting for my ring). This store has the largest selection and we also have a sales associate there that we love - Angela. She's used to all of our indecisiveness! :) Plus, they don't work on commission there so you never feel pressured at all. After Mark tried on whatever caught our eye we were left with only 1 ring that we REALLY liked. None of them stuck out like this ring did....it was just something about it (um, other than the fact that it was the most expensive one out of the ones that he liked!). It looked really really good on him and I could tell that he really liked it. He was worried about the price tag, but I definitely didn't want that to affect his decision b/c this was something that he was going to be wearing every single day for the rest of his life. That's a big deal!! Although, after we decided to go with this band Angela told us that she could knock off a little over $200....um, okay! Sold! On top of that, Diamonds Direct offers a financing option to qualified customers with no interest for 9 months. With all of our expenses for the wedding coming up this was a BIG help. That way, after the wedding is over and all of my expendable income is no longer going toward pitching in for the wedding I can easily pay the ring off and not have to stress out about it being another "wedding expense" (cause I can certainly use one less of those in the next 2 months!).

Here's the ring he chose. It's a two tone white gold and yellow gold hammered finish ring with milgrain.

I love it! What do you guys think??

I'm so happy he chose one that is classic yet also unique. That's the way I feel about my ring. And if you're wondering about my band, remember, my wedding band came in a set with my engagement ring (after we had the setting swapped that is...you can read about that here if you're interested). Here's a pic of my rings:

I can't wait until we slip that wedding band under my engagement ring! Then it's real....then we're married. ....Just two months away!!!!!! :)

Now we just have to decide what we want to get engraved on our bands..... Hmm....

We're so happy to have this checked off of the list though and I'm SO HAPPY that he found one that he loves! :)

Pretty Little Keepsake

I came across this tonight from random image searches....I ended up on the Kenzie Kate blog called Something Old, Something New and buried in the archives somewhere was this:

It's a locket that is made to go on your wedding bouquet. You could fill it with a picture of your husband to be, or a picture of the two of you, or a monogram of your names. You could also fill it with a loved one that has passed on and cannot be with you on your wedding day or even pictures of your parents or grandparents on their wedding days. The cool thing about it is that after the wedding, you can send it back to the designer (Lost and Fawned on Etsy) and she'll make a custom chain for your locket to go on. How awesome is that? An adorable piece of your wedding that you can wear forever. 

I love personal, sentimental items....and this is right up my alley! I'd fill mine with a picture of me & Mark, along with a little design of our names and our wedding date. I'd probably like to get the outside engraved with our wedding date too! :)

...This was too cute that I couldn't help but share it for all you brides-to-be out there! 

Santa Sure Is Thoughtful

How'd he know that I wanted these for Christmas?!? :)

from L to R: Vera Wang: The Fragrance perfume, purple clutch from Lori's Shoes 

(that I blogged about earlier this year), Sweet Note from Mark, 

Aquamarine and Diamond Pendant, Aquamarine and Diamond Earrings.

Yep, I guess "Santa" read my mind....or actually took my hints! ;) 

Honestly though, the Vera Wang perfume Mark and I picked out together for me to wear on our wedding day; the Pendant we saw at a jewelry store in the Galleria that was going out of business - I might have mentioned that it would be exactly what I wanted to wear on our wedding day (I love aquamarines, I wanted it to be my "something blue" and it also happens to be an accent color in our wedding); the earrings were a COMPLETE surprise - I hadn't even seen those in the jewelry store...Mark did a good job, huh?; and the purple clutch is of course the one I blogged about earlier here - I guess Mark actually reads my blog occasionally!

I lllllllloooooooooovvvvvvvvveeeeeee them all. I can't wait to wear everything when I marry my best friend, the love of my life. Speaking of which...only 5 MONTHS TO GO!!!

....I couldn't resist a little extra eye candy:

i absolutely love it! :)

A *little* switch-a-roo

So...we'll start this entry with a little background...

when Mark and i got engaged it was a total surprise to me. I mean, I knew in my heart that we'd eventually be married...I just didn't know when. Mark and I had never talked about engagement rings and certainly had never gone to look at them...i had never dropped any hints or anything. So, the ring Mark picked out was an emerald cut diamond ring from Levy's Jewelry in downtown Birmingham. They told him when he purchased the ring that no wedding band had been made to go with it and that he might have to have one custom made. 

Fast forward to us getting engaged and several months later going to look at bands..... we looked everywhere. Seriously....everywhere we could think to look in Birmingham. None of the bands i tried on looked good with my ring. My ring has a unique curve in it where the diamond sets and the curved bands didn't fit nor did the straight ones. The diamond setting also wasn't high enough for a band to slip in under it. So, we realized that our decision was going to come down to 2 options. 1 - have a custom band made to go with my ring or 2 - switch the diamond into a setting that comes with a wedding band. After MUCH thought and searching we decided to go with option 2. We switched the diamond into a different setting. We found an amazing setting that came with a band at Diamonds Direct in Birmingham. The people there we so friendly and helpful (they don't work on commission!) and the set was an awesome deal. It actually ended up being less for us to change the setting than it would be for us to have a custom band made. So we ordered the setting and 5 weeks later it came in. I went today to make the switch.....and here's the result:

I love it!!

It turned out so beautiful!!! I could not even imagine it would turn out so well! I couldn't be happier. I had so much anxiety about this decision. I'm such a sentimental person...I felt so torn making this decision. But...in the end, the thing that settles my mind and my heart is that I am able to keep my original setting. Mark and I plan to put a sapphire in that setting and I'll wear it as a right hand ring. The thing that makes me happiest is the thought that Mark and I will have 2 rings to pass down to our children and their children and on down. :)

and just for good measure (what started this entire process!) here's a shot with the matching wedding band...

I'm still getting used to seeing this ring on my hand. It's so strange to look down at my hand and see this ring instead of the ring I've worn throughout our engagement - 8 months now! And...I still have a piece of the other ring on my hand...the main part actually!...the diamond and the sentiment of my man! :) 

A Great Resource

I had no idea about diamonds before i got one. Seriously....price, cut, style...no clue. And i CERTAINLY didn't know about tables and girdles and depth and all that jazz...still don't really. I mean I was aware of the 4 C's...but anything beyond general knowledge that grades existed....I was clueless. BUT...I've run across a website called PriceScope that is a wealth of knowledge. These people know their stuff! And what's better? They're extremely helpful! It's free to register and I highly recommend it if you're ever considering purchasing any diamonds (or gemstone even) in the future... um, hello wedding band?!? :)