Thinking About Engagement Ring Bands

Just as the engagement was not a surprise, neither was my diamond engagement ring.  Now, some people think that it’s not as special or romantic when brides pick out their own unique diamond engagement rings.  And I definitely understand that.  It would have been extremely exciting if I arrived at Heathrow airport and Adam got down on one knee then and there and opened a little box with this surprise glittery thing he picked for me.  But that’s not who Adam is.  And honestly, that’s not my idea of the perfect proposal either.  I like to have control.  I don’t like sudden changes in plans.  And since I’m going to be wearing this ring for the rest of my life, call me greedy and materialistic, but I am really happy Adam let me have a say in it.

Plus looking around for engagement rings online is FUUUUU-UUUUNNNNN!!!

As I’ve said, I was never the type to daydream about my future wedding, or bridal gown, or wedding cake.  And I wasn’t sure what I wanted for an engagement ring.  But since Adam wanted me to go with him to pick out the engagement ring setting to ensure the proper fit, I had 2 months to figure it out.  So I (we…but mostly I) looking at engagement rings online see what’s out there.  I played with those tools online that let you pick a setting and a diamond with the 4Cs within a price range.  I started paying attention to women’s hands at work, thinking “hmm, it looks like white gold engagement rings are in style but not for me…Ooh, I like that unique engagement ring, but I’m not sure I like that wedding band with it.  I wonder if I need to get an engagement ring set to prevent that gap between them that she has…” I learned all about shape, cut, color, clarity, carat, weight and certification.  I looked at the different metals, which are more durable and which are more economical.  I looked at 6 prongs as opposed to 4 prongs.  But mostly I just wanted to see what unique diamond engagement rings looked pretty.

I found that I kept thinking back to mom’s wedding rings.  She had a solitaire engagement ring with a round stone, in yellow gold (and I later learned white gold too) with some grooves going around the band.  Well, I’ve always liked round stones the best so when I looked at different cuts it was no contest.  And I like yellow gold best, but I thought looking at two tone engagement rings would be a good idea because then it would match all my jewelry. And I suppose it might be because of mom’s ring, but when I think “engagement ring” I’ve always thought of round cut diamond solitaire engagement rings, so that’s what I wanted.   

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Photos courtesy of:
rosie davies 
base2wave

Getting Engaged to Be Engaged

This was not a surprise engagement.  We’d talked half kiddingly about “when we’re married and I move to America” for ages.  That became less kidding as time went on.  Until finally on Memorial Day of 2009, Adam asked me if I was interested in getting engaged this summer.  I started screaming for joy, and he said, “That’s not the official question…!”  But I was used to having to make due with voice chat (at least I got to hear him; he typed his first “I love you” to me). So I didn’t consider this to be the actual romantic engagement.  

However, his proposal felt just as exciting as actually getting engaged.  Because now I could start wondering about what sort of romantic wedding proposals he might be thinking of.  Would he get his inspiration from a video game?  Would he be getting down on one knee toward the end of a nice dinner?  Would his proposal be in the gardens outside Rockingham Castle where we went last year?  Will he be proposing at a picnic at East Carlton where he brought me on my first date?  Could his idea of the perfect proposal be sitting on his bed watching Top Gear?  And if he chose that last one, would I say yes?  Hah.

I let mom know we were getting engaged this summer, but no one else.  She was not surprised in the least; when she saw the photos from our first summer together she said “so are you going to marry this guy?”  And I told her yes.  He came for Christmas and though she was happy for me before because she could tell that he makes me happy, once she met him she approved whole heartedly. 

A few people at work started wondering if this would be the summer that I’d be getting engaged.  Some of them asked out loud, but the ones I’m closest to didn’t have to.  They aren’t the kind to make a person feel awkward like that.  But they are the ones who still ask how the wedding planning is going months later, even as the news has worn off.
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Photo courtesy of:  X-Pert