Hello. As many of you know, Lucas and I got engaged in March (he deadass thought and has been telling everyone February, but it was March). Although the proposal was a surprise, my betrothal ring which I received was not. That’s right, I actively designed my own engagement ring.
At the end of the day, I have a vision of what I want and figure if a lot of cash is being spent and I am wearing it forever, I might as well design it in my own vision. Lucas didn’t care and said sure queen whatever you want :). Now I love it so much, it was so fun to do, and I love to talk about it, so here I will take you through the process of designing!!
Step 1: Find a Jeweler
Luckily, Jana’s bestie is a jeweler so this was easy. Shoutout to Pam.
Step 2: Initial Discussions
On our first chat with Pam about the ring, we mostly discussed big picture items here like the stone, size, budget, and shape and I shared some inspiration pictures of what I was hoping for.
I have always loved sapphire engagement rings and pictured myself with one, so in there came the obvious next step: for her to look for a stone to fit the bill. The color I was looking for in my sapphire (a darker blue-green) was more unique, so I knew it could take some time for her to find the perfect one.
Step 3: The Stone
Finding the right stone ended up surely taking some time. A couple months passed before we heard from her again (apart from the occasional update: I’m still looking), and it was delightful news: she thought she had found the one.
Now, rather than a sapphire, this stone was a tinted lab-grown diamond, in the right shape and size. I’m not picky about anything but size, color, and durability and this checked those boxes. Lab grown carbon is the same as mined from the earth carbon, and that is a fact.
Before we committed to the stone, I would love to see it in person or at least in lighting clearly not in a studio. Luckily, we had an upcoming event planned where she could bring the stone and we would be able to see it in person: Lizzie and Kedrick’s wedding. One afternoon in Minnesota while everyone was busy, we snuck off to the local Caribou Coffee to meet up with Pam and take a look at the stone. She put it in this fun little ring thing so I could see it on my finger.
Needless to say, I loved it, and we (Lucas) purchased it!
Step 4: The Setting
Stone in hand, now we could start to plan for the setting. As a pale, very cool toned woman, platinum set gold was a given. I’ve always been captivated by settings with a more vintage-feel, and I knew I wanted my ring to feel this way, and really to feel unique for me, but still beautiful and timeless. I decided on a bezel set stone for this feel (and the practicality) and some diamonds along the band to add that little pizzazz to the ring. With that, she provided a sheet of design options to get my mind going on what I was looking for.
Although I had and shared many inspiration pictures that contained elements of rings I liked, I never found an inspiration picture for a ring that was exactly what I wanted. So having these designs really started to put things into perspective of what I wanted.
We had some talks, I picked my favorite(s), and a few days later, got a first render.
Off this render, I knew there were a couple changes I wanted made. The bezel was much thicker than I had envisioned and the closed off bezel wasn’t my favorite look. She took this feedback and made a second render, this time with the open bezel and a thinner bezel around the stone.
It was everything!! I said yes and then it was time to wait.
Step 5: Obtain Ring
Our deal when we started this journey was: I picked the stone, I designed the settings, but once I finalized my choice, I didn’t see it until I was surprised with it in the form of a proposal. For me, that date was this past March at Universal Studios! Yay!
Nowadays, most of my camera roll looks like this, and my days are filled with wedding planning (I love it).
My ring is so perfectly what I wanted - delicate and shiny and pretty, but practical and durable. I love the stone color, and I love the unique, delicate feel of the setting. I wouldn’t change a thing about it, and I’m so grateful for a partner and a life in which I get to fulfill my dreams and make it all my own. Stay tuned for part 2: designing my own wedding
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