After proposing to Sam with diamond cuff links, I decided that I didn’t want an engagement ring. Part of the reason was to save money as we started planning the wedding, but we also wanted to keep the cuff links as the main symbol of our engagement. I decided to forgo an engagement ring all together and select a wedding ring with some sparkle to it when the time came.
When we started looking for wedding bands, my parents offered me their engagement diamond to incorporate into my ring. It kept falling out of my mother’s ring years ago, and she always planned to have it reset, but never did. Eventually she got a band of inset diamonds instead. (She works with her hands, and the solitaire was never practical!)
So, we went back to the jeweler who worked on Sam’s cuff links to have my parents’ stone reset into a ring for me. I really liked the look of a double band, since I am only planning on wearing one ring. I ended up going with a double band halo design to fit the oval stone. What do you think?
When my ring was ready, Sam came with me to pick it up and select her ring. These were some of the top contenders…
She totally surprised me by picking a shiny band of rose gold! I thought for sure she would want brushed white gold. I think she surprised herself a little too. It looks great on.
It’s a men’s design on a smaller scale to fit her tiny finger. When we initially started looking for rings, I thought they should match, but now I really love how different they are. I am thrilled with both rings and so happy to be able to incorporate my parents’ engagement diamond.
Oh, and I almost forgot….
When I brought the diamond to our jeweler, I also had the original setting. She explained that the setting could be sold toward the price of my ring. So, I paid my 50% deposit and left the setting with her. When I relayed this to my mother, she informed me that there was more broken gold jewelry where that came from! I ended up bringing an embarassingly large ziplock freezer bag full of broken jewelry to the jeweler for scrapping. We were delighted to find out that it covered the balance of my ring AND the price of Sam’s ring!
So, folks, don’t rule out “Cash for Gold” as a wedding theme!
All personal photos.
I love split shank bands! So beautiful.
I love them! They are both so beautiful. And i love that you both chose something non-traditional. We got non-matching rings too, and I’m glad we did because this way they match us as a couple instead – that’s how I like to think about it, anyway!
So LOVING both of your rings, and there is part of me that yearns for the sparkliness of yours, Jen! (Adore that Alex and have matching wedding bands–after different engagement bands–and hope for a sparkly anniversary ring in the future). Sparkles aside, ‘Cash for Gold’ is so awesome! As they say in England, Well Done!
They’re both very unique, and they look lovely! Stacy and I won’t have matching bands either– my jeweler said not many people do these days.
The rings are beyond beautiful! What a wonderful way to incorporate an engagement ring and a wedding band with a double banded ring! Good luck with the rest of the planning!
I love the double band–that’s a gorgeous ring. And what excellent luck on having enough broken jewelry around to pay for both rings! Kudos to you, your jeweler, and your mom for coming up with such a great solution.
Oh! They look so lovely. Rings should fit the person and the couple, a mismatched set is sometimes the perfect one :)