GTKY: Bling!

Jenly17

Ok, at some point we talked about posting our wedding/engagement rings and it never happened! So let's see your sparklers! And I don't discriminate, so if you have another piece of jewelry that's your fave, post that too.

**Bonus- tell us how you got engaged or some special story about your jewelry.

This is my wedding band and engagement ring. We were engaged in Salzburg, Austria and it was magical! We took the Sound of Music tour and my (then) fiancée got down on one knee and proposed in front of the church that Maria got married. When the tour was over we went back to the center of town and celebrated with lots of Stiegl beers

Eta: I threw in another picture after a few beers that day... also, I could never be a hand model. My hands always look like they've been through a battle zone.

wamam027

Here is mine (I don't have a pic of it on my hand and it's currently at the jeweler getting cleaned up before our move). We were engaged in Marysville, WA on a camping trip...lol. We had been talking about marriage and DH took me ring shopping on our trip to my hometown where he asked for my dad's permission to propose, so I knew it was coming. Had he planned some super romantic night, I would've totally expected it. He and I took a walk down to this gorgeous River near our campsite and he got down on one knee in the river on the rocks and he proposed. I was balling, then told him he smelled like bug spray, and he begged me to give him an answer so he could get his knee off the rock. It was so us, and perfect. The center diamond is the diamond my dad proposed to my mom with.

kbrands7

Mine is an Edwardian replica with diamonds and green tourmaline. My band has diamonds too. DH's is plain because he works with his hands a lot and needed something simple and durable. I love our engagement story; DH hates it. We got engaged on 11/10 (he thinks in retrospect that he should have waited for 11/11). We went for a walk in the park that was near our house at the time. He had planned to propose to me outside, beneath this beautiful tree, except that it started to rain HARD. So, we ran back to our apartment building and went upstairs. I put on a kettle for tea and asked him if he wanted to play Fable (video-game) while we listened to the storm for a bit. He agreed reluctantly (which I thought was odd). We played for a few minutes and had some tea, then he asked if I'd rather have something different to drink...like champagne! He got down on one knee, gave a loving little speech, and proposed! I said yes right away (we had talked about marriage previously). So, we drank champagne, celebrated, and listened to the rain through our open windows.

yogahh

My engagement ring doesn't photograph well but I love it.
I stack it with my wedding ring and a cheap cz diamond and sapphire band I bought for travel but ended up really loving it all together.

Pic of my e-ring alone is from the morning we got engaged and probably the best pic I have of it.

js8812

I had a 630am meeting and was in such a rush I forgot to wear it! I have this random pic from our wedding. There are diamonds on the side as well, so I don't wear a wedding band.

gamommyx3

My bands interlock and I love them. I am currently wearing them on a chain because they don't fit on my prego finger.

We got engaged last year on Christmas morning. He gave me a bunch of little presents that sort of illustrated our future together, and the ring was inside the last gift. It was great.

countrygrl5533

Mine is super simple. I'm a fairly low maintence person who formerly worked with children. I needed something that wouldn't annoy me or get in the way. It is actually DH's grandmother's. It's funny because she and I agree on nothing, ever, but I have her ring. lol. His wedding band was far more expensive than mine (my wedding band was $20) but he actually only wears it 1-2 times a year for safety reasons. I actually don't even wear my rings at home.

js8812

Oh!  I'll add this.. My engagement story is kind of fun.  I was living in Bethlehem, PA for a summer program before my senior year of college.  We had a day of programs at the UN, NYSE, and Bloomberg, so I stayed for the weekend and flew my now H up to visit me.  We took a carriage around Central Park, then went for drinks afterward.  After drinks, my H said... let's go back to look at the angel fountain at the park.  We walked and walked and walked  and could not find that dang fountain again!  It was so dark, hardly anyone was in the park, we were half in the bag, so my H just decided to propose by a tree.  It is a fun story and I love it.

@jenly17 That is an awesome story!  Fun fact: The Sound of Music is based on my ancestors.  My maiden name is the same as Maria's... the von was dropped when they came to the US to sound more American.  I, however, can't sing to save my life.

cortney626

Here's a pic right after the proposal. We had gone away for the weekend. We had a day of golfing and massages and had a late lunch. We got back to the hotel to relax before going out to dinner. I made a comment that we were going to miss the sunset from dinner. He suggested we go down to the beach and watch the sunset, walk around, and look for seashells for my daughter. We did just that, but at one point he stopped and got down on one knee! 

yogahh

cortney626 said:

Here's a pic right after the proposal. We had gone away for the weekend. We had a day of golfing and massages and had a late lunch. We got back to the hotel to relax before going out to dinner. I made a comment that we were going to miss the sunset from dinner. He suggested we go down to the beach and watch the sunset, walk around, and look for seashells for my daughter. We did just that, but at one point he stopped and got down on one knee! 

Morgantite and tose gold???? If I could do it all over again, I would pretty much have your ring. 

Charissadeats

My second ring. DH and I got married very young so my first ring was plain. He got me this one after a couple of years.

He never asked me to marry me - he told me. And I was just like, you'll have to ask my parents though. He's special but he's mine

LadySamLady

I don't wear my engagement ring everyday because I'm scared something will happen to it, so the pic is from the store when my H got it. I love it so much, it's vintage from the 1940s and even has someone else's initials engraved inside.

I wear my wedding band, the thin one with diamonds and another band stacked together every day. The second band was my birthday gift from my H last year and I asked for it specifically to go with my wedding band. All three look great together too, but I hardly ever wear my engagement ring. I love all my rings!

I don't love the way my hand looks in pictures, yuck town!

cortney626

yogahh said:

cortney626 said:

Here's a pic right after the proposal. We had gone away for the weekend. We had a day of golfing and massages and had a late lunch. We got back to the hotel to relax before going out to dinner. I made a comment that we were going to miss the sunset from dinner. He suggested we go down to the beach and watch the sunset, walk around, and look for seashells for my daughter. We did just that, but at one point he stopped and got down on one knee! 

Morgantite and tose gold???? If I could do it all over again, I would pretty much have your ring. 

Yes rose gold and morganite!! I love it. It's my 2nd marriage. I wanted something nontraditional, practical, and a statement piece. DH did good. 

LadySamLady

I forgot to tell our story but I can't figure out how to edit my original post to add a pic (I'm a picture glutton as I think you all know) so I'm posting again! Here is a picture of me moments after I said yes, not drunk but I sure look like it.

Our story isn't the most romantic or special but it is very us. We were already living together for a year and a half and about a month prior he took me to a vintage jewelry place that I'd always admired just to look around and get an idea of what kind of rings I liked. There were two that I liked especially but he ended up getting the one I absolutely loved - good job H! Needless to say it wasn't a total surprise, but I didn't know when he was going to do it and learned later that the ring was in our apartment for three weeks and I never knew. So he calls me up at work and says that he wants to have a date night that week, which definitely clued me in. He made a reservation at an amazing restaurant called The Place in the Villlage for that Friday and I totally wore a dress that isn't exactly work appropriate. We were both nervous wrecks at dinner which meant I ate nothing and he ate everything. He was worried I would notice the ring in his pocket and I kept worrying he was about to propose right there. After dinner he started to lead me on a walk west toward the water front but I diverted us because it wasn't the right direction to get home (dummy!), eventually he got me back on track and we walked to the water looking out at the Hudson and beautiful NJ :P. We sat on a bench for two seconds before he said under his breath to himself "let's do this" and then got down on his knee. I laughed and cried and said yes!

lalala2004

Mine is a fairly simple one with interlocking bands.

I told him I didn't want to get engaged until we had been dating at least 6 months, but after four months, he plopped an engagement ring catalog on my lap before a road trip.... I kinda freaked out, but we proceeded to visit some jewelry stores on the trip, and I ended up being shown this exact set twice! We felt like it was a sign, prayed about it, talked about it, ordered the ring, but I was firm we were not yet engaged! When he proposed it was a surprise, because he did it very spur of the moment!

My hands are so dry right now....

AmmyBelle

My rung is a traditional Portuguese ring (yay! roots!) and our proposal wasn't really traditional at all - we'd been dating since high school, long distance through his 4 years of undergrad, then my three years of law school. Then we moved into together, where I worked and he went to B-school. Then out of B-school, he got an offer for a job in SoCal, and since it would make more money than I was currently making, we up and moved. But with such a move and with my immigration status being dependent on him, we decided the smart thing to do would be to get married - so not super traditionally romantic, but since we generally have a relationship where we discuss things and decide on a path together, it worked for us  

Here's my ring: Pearls and diamonds on a gold band. (I apologize for my weird looking hand and fuzziness, I have a new phone now, but didn't wear my engagement ring today)

js8812

Did anyone else not have any idea of what type of ring they were getting?  We never went ring shopping and I never told him what I liked.  Although, I didn't really have a strong opinion on the subject.

yogahh

Just to add my story...

We had been dating 3 years when I finally said we need to get serious and look at rings. Feb 1st of 2014 we looked and I feel in love with my engagement ring. MONTHS go by, no ring. So come September he said he wanted to go shopping again, so we went back to the same store. I instantly eyed my ring again and knew it was the one. 

The following week he texts me at work that he is at the store, and doesn't remember which one it was. So he ends up sending me pictures of all the rings until I ID'ed it,

Two days later, still in PJs, messy hair and gross teeth, as I was blowing my nose, my "romantic" boyfriend asked me to marry him. And he became my finacee.

While we don't have the most romantic or thought out story, its ours. 

kbrands7

@js8812 I didn't know exactly what I was getting, but DH did ask me what sort of thing I would like and I told him I preferred something that looked vintage and had a center gemstone (green, purple, or blue). 

jessiedee13

I love my ring. I picked it out myself actually. My now husband was quizzing me on jewelry and I mentioned my absolute HATRED of diamonds. And he said, well what about as an engagement ring? I said I'd get over it, but I won't lie and won't pretend to like it either, but I also wouldn't make him return it and would wear it since it's the thought that counts anyway. A few weeks went by and he just said "so after our chat the other day, I'm afraid of the jewelry store, I wanna get married and I know you do too. Go pick a ring, I'll buy it and pick the perfect time to actually give it to you" I was like, ok that sounds awesome we went to the jewelry store, I picked a couple different ones, neither of which he liked. I looked awhile longer, looking at even the diamonds so the salesman would leave it alone, and then I saw it...someone was cleaning it. I said "hey, was that ring bought here?" "Well no, it's a new one that hasn't been put in the case yet" "I want that one babe...that one. What do you think?" He also liked it. We bought it and had it sized. He picked it up when it was ready and proposed at our local park (like playground park, but it's gorgeous there and I love swings and slides!). It was an awesome day .. oh my word, photographing my ring makes it look so dirty!

Jparke2

Here is mine! I love aquamarine, that that's what I got! My husband's uncle is a jeweler so that came in handy. My husband's ring is actually his deceased fathers ring, just refitted. His uncle (his deceased fathers brother) gave us the rings as a wedding present, it was very special

zekesmommy611

DH is horrible with keeping secrets so I knew his proposal was coming. We went to see the fall leaves at the highest point in our area. He proposed on the observation tower!
Side note:: I need a manicure!

saltedcaramel518

I attached 3 pics because I'm a special snowflake. Okay, and I really love my ring

DH proposed while we were on vacation with his family in Gatlinburg, TN. One night, he said he wanted to go to the Space Needle downtown at sunset, then go to dinner. Right before we left, he told me his parents wanted to borrow my nice camera because they wanted to take pics on their nature walk (I should have totally been suspicious here. His parents do NOT take nature walks..).

Once at the Space Needle, we looked around for about 20 minutes or so, then he says, "Hey, remember this?" And pulls out a notecard and hands it to me.

On Valentine's Day that year, I had given him a "coupon book" that had things like cook dinner for him, clean his room, etc, and the last one said, "This coupon is for whatever you want.. You can fill this one in!" So that coupon is what he handed me. It took me a minute to read it and figure out what was going on. When I looked up, he was on one knee.

His parents had snuck up and took pictures of the proposal.

yogahh

@bshurdy I love your ring too!! 

gamommyx3

js8812 said:

Did anyone else not have any idea of what type of ring they were getting?  We never went ring shopping and I never told him what I liked.  Although, I didn't really have a strong opinion on the subject.

We never went ring shopping and I had no idea it was coming...like, NONE.  He went to my best friend and asked for guidance on what I would like and did an excellent job

saltedcaramel518

js8812 said:

Did anyone else not have any idea of what type of ring they were getting?  We never went ring shopping and I never told him what I liked.  Although, I didn't really have a strong opinion on the subject.

We never looked at rings together. I love surprises! The only thing he knew was that I preferred a square cut stone vs. a round cut stone. 

countrygrl5533

js8812 said:

Did anyone else not have any idea of what type of ring they were getting?  We never went ring shopping and I never told him what I liked.  Although, I didn't really have a strong opinion on the subject.

Nope. I had told him that whenever he was going to propose I wanted something small and simple. Other than that, I didn't really care. I didn't even care if it was a real diamond or not.

kami09

These are ours! My husbands is obviously very plain lol...but that's what he wanted.

I absolutely LOVE my engagement ring. I wanted something a bit different that looked a bit vintage-y. I had shown him an antique ring that I was in love with, but I love this so much more. (& sadly, for whatever reason...I haven't worn it since I gave birth!! lol)

Our story... I knew it was coming. I had made him a scrapbook of our time together for Christmas one year. So, he finished it out with a few more events and the last page was his proposal. It's nice that it is something I can keep forever. We were supposed to go to dinner and he told me that he had changed his mind and wanted to just hang out at his house. Yeah, okay. So he showed me the scrapbook, he proposed, I of course said yes, and then we met both our parents for dinner. It was very sweet.

businessmama

LadySamLady said:

We sat on a bench for two seconds before he said under his breath to himself "let's do this" and then got down on his knee. I laughed and cried and said yes!


I love this so much, @ladysamlady!

businessmama

My husband and I were high school sweethearts, but he was older than me. We had promised our parents we would wait until we both graduated college to get married. I took my GMAT on the spring break of my senior year in college and had been so stressed so the following weekend, my parents and  him took me to this nearby town that is beautiful. I felt  like it was coming, but every time I thought it was going to happen throughout the day, it didn't so I let it go. My mother kept talking about this garden she wanted to go to, and because it was coming from her, I didn't think anything of it.

When we got there, Mike and I started walking about the park. We have always played 20 questions, so we naturally picked up asking each other questions. "Where do you see yourself living forever?" "Which of the dogs are your favorite?" When we got to a gazebo, he said Okay, it was his turn, and he had several questions for me.

He said do you see a future with me? will you honor me by standing by my side throughout life? (several other questions I don't remember as I started crying). He got down on one knee and then asked if I would marry him. Of course I said yes and cried and hugged him. He asked if I liked the ring, and I told him I couldn't see it through the tears.

It was perfect, and now our baby *hopefully* will come on our 5 year wedding anniversary!

Dantzscher32

I have three rings. The engagement ring is your simple solitaire. DH picked it out all by himself (since I had no idea). One band symbolizes our marriage. The second band symbolizes when we were finally together. DH was in the Air Force and we lived in separate cities/states for the first 16 months of marriage. I was happy to have him home every day!

The proposal was not anticipated (12-14-07). We had only known each other for two months! He was in town visiting me and we sat on a bench in the park outside my condo. He said how he couldn't wait to do all these things with me and he couldn't wait to marry me! I was shocked, caught off guard, and just said, "Oh, man!" Then I said, "Yes, me too!"

angelrx4

I forgot my rings today.  The center diamond came from a necklace that was given to MIL by her MIL when MIL and FIL got married.  It's not what I would have picked for myself but I absolutely love it.  My band is a diamond eternity band that matches the engagment band. 

We had only been dating about 6 months when we started talking marriage.  I went to India for 6 weeks for a business trip.  While there, he called one night to tell me he ordered the ring.  Clearly he can't keep secrets.  I got came home the day before our 1 year anniversary.  We went out to dinner at our favorite restaurant.  He had my favorite martini delivered with the ring.  He got down on one knee and proposed.  His uncle had a special vintage bottle of wine delivered to the restaurant before hand.  We mostly drank, ate a little and called everyone we knew.  His parents happened to be having a secret engagement party at their house for us and were just waiting for the call.  Someone picked us up and we joined the party. 

Pascal86

My engagement ring was a cake, and we ate it so it's gone now. He was actually a little bummed out I think, I'm really not into jewelry and didn't want an engagement ring, and he really likes pretty sparkly things. But I told him like ten times that I wanted a proposal cake instead, and so he proposed to me after an amazing Valentine's Day of running around town (with one stop to secretly pick up the cake, which he complained was much harder to do discreetly than a ring would be haha). He came out with the cake in the middle of a TV night after he said he would get me a snack - it was a pretty great snack!

Wedding ring now is a simple gold band, his is the same just a little bigger, and I love it.

Jenly17

js8812 said:

Oh!  I'll add this.. My engagement story is kind of fun.  I was living in Bethlehem, PA for a summer program before my senior year of college.  We had a day of programs at the UN, NYSE, and Bloomberg, so I stayed for the weekend and flew my now H up to visit me.  We took a carriage around Central Park, then went for drinks afterward.  After drinks, my H said... let's go back to look at the angel fountain at the park.  We walked and walked and walked  and could not find that dang fountain again!  It was so dark, hardly anyone was in the park, we were half in the bag, so my H just decided to propose by a tree.  It is a fun story and I love it.

@jenly17 That is an awesome story!  Fun fact: The Sound of Music is based on my ancestors.  My maiden name is the same as Maria's... the von was dropped when they came to the US to sound more American.  I, however, can't sing to save my life.

Do you ever come back to Bethlehem? I'm about 20 mins from there!

Merciel

What a fun thread! I've loved reading everyone's stories.

Our "proposal" was the least romantic thing ever: we were chatting online via instant messenger (since I was working and he was in school in separate cities with about 500 miles between us at the time) and I said "hey so we should probably get married huh" and he was like "yeah okay." And that was that, we set the date for about 18 months later. It's how we do everything, pretty much.

Here's my wedding set, snapped just now in my roof garden. I am extremely picky about jewelry so I handled everything: chose the stone and metal, picked out the jeweler, specified the design and approved the waxes, paid for the project with my first book advance (he had previously bought me another lovely diamond ring -- with a diamond that I love more dearly than this one, and will have reset for the baby's birth ring -- and I wasn't about to ask for two).

Merciel

And here are the earrings I got when we confirmed the pregnancy and realized the baby was due in May (on our fifth wedding anniversary too, actually!). 1920s Art Deco, old cut stones, my favorite.

...yeah I am maybe a leeetle bit addicted to the sparklies.

TXmamatobe

Ugh...my fingers are so short and weird but eh. My DH made a balloon drop because I love balloons. There was a fancy ribbon to pull and all the balloons fell down around us except for one that was filled with helium. The engagement ring was tied to the floating balloon and the rest is history!

countrygrl5533

This thread is making me feel like the least girliest person ever. Not saying these rings aren't pretty but so many of you have these huge rings! All I can think is "man, those look annoying and in the way." Apparently, I was not born with the "love jewelry" gene.

js8812

Jenly17 said:

js8812 said:

Oh!  I'll add this.. My engagement story is kind of fun.  I was living in Bethlehem, PA for a summer program before my senior year of college.  We had a day of programs at the UN, NYSE, and Bloomberg, so I stayed for the weekend and flew my now H up to visit me.  We took a carriage around Central Park, then went for drinks afterward.  After drinks, my H said... let's go back to look at the angel fountain at the park.  We walked and walked and walked  and could not find that dang fountain again!  It was so dark, hardly anyone was in the park, we were half in the bag, so my H just decided to propose by a tree.  It is a fun story and I love it.

@jenly17 That is an awesome story!  Fun fact: The Sound of Music is based on my ancestors.  My maiden name is the same as Maria's... the von was dropped when they came to the US to sound more American.  I, however, can't sing to save my life.

Do you ever come back to Bethlehem? I'm about 20 mins from there!

You do!?  Small world!  I haven't been back since, but I really want to.  The program I did was at Lehigh it has about 100 people attend from over 50 countries.  A lot of alumni come back as guides, so I would love to visit for a week and see some old friends.  Someday!

Merciel

countrygrl5533 said:

This thread is making me feel like the least girliest person ever. Not saying these rings aren't pretty but so many of you have these huge rings! All I can think is "man, those look annoying and in the way." Apparently, I was not born with the "love jewelry" gene.

Hey, as they say, "you do you."

I'm the opposite extreme: I love jewelry and perfumes and furs and all things expensively frivolous. I have dropped more on lingerie than my mortgage some months. Basically my style icon is a 15th-century Venetian courtesan.

Jenly17

js8812 said:

Jenly17 said:

js8812 said:

Oh!  I'll add this.. My engagement story is kind of fun.  I was living in Bethlehem, PA for a
summer program before my senior year of college.  We had a day of
programs at the UN, NYSE, and Bloomberg, so I stayed for the weekend and
flew my now H up to visit me.  We took a carriage around Central Park,
then went for drinks afterward.  After drinks, my H said... let's go
back to look at the angel fountain at the park.  We walked and walked
and walked  and could not find that dang fountain again!  It was so
dark, hardly anyone was in the park, we were half in the bag, so my H
just decided to propose by a tree.  It is a fun story and I love it.

@jenly17 That is an awesome story!  Fun fact: The Sound of Music is based on my ancestors.  My maiden name is the same as Maria's... the von was dropped when they came to the US to sound more American.  I, however, can't sing to save my life.

Do you ever come back to Bethlehem? I'm about 20 mins from there!


You do!?  Small world!  I haven't been back since, but I really want to.  The program I did was at Lehigh it has about 100 people attend from over 50 countries.  A lot of alumni come back as guides, so I would love to visit for a week and see some old friends.  Someday!


Well if you ever come back, send me a PM! We can grab a coffee or something.