It all begins with a ring...

It kind of always does, doesn’t it. When someone proposes, they give their love a ring. It doesn’t have to be THE ring. A Ring-Pop. Twisty-tie. From the gumball machine (are there still gumball machines?). But it starts with a question and a symbol of the promise that the question holds.

For us, we talked about marriage pretty early on. Since this would be my second marriage, I knew that I wanted to follow my moms advice from many years ago and get the ring that I wanted. It might seem a little “cart before the horse”, but having experienced this before, I knew that I would wear this ring every day for hopefully the rest of my life. And while I wanted Jonathan to love it, I wanted to LOVE what I was wearing too. You think you won’t care (and maybe you wouldn’t) but I knew that I would.

But I still wanted the ring to be from him. I really did want him to love it too. I wanted him to be proud of it and know that he had a part of the jewelry that I wear everyday to signify his first promise and then mine in response. So I gave some friends some hints and told him three words: “emerald cut” and “simple”.

I wanted a solitaire. I really wanted a solitaire. I didn’t care about the size of the diamond. And I decided that I wouldn’t care if there were embellishments with the main stone, but I really wanted a solitaire. As you will learn more about me, I love simple, modern design. My home is a mid-century modern house and I have loved decorating it in that style. I think simple is elegant and understated. But I knew that he and I sometimes differ in our design aesthetic so I was ready for him to use his creative license.

Learning to photograph rings. Before I figured out the lighting…

He almost did. One week in April, he was so excited because he had probably 4-5 rings at his house from a jeweler friend of his. He never told me that he was actively searching for a ring, although I assumed as much when he would say “I wish you could see what I am looking at…” I’m not that clever, but I’m not a dummy either. hahaha. That week he couldn't keep the secret in any longer. He was dying to bring me into the surprise and so he showed me one ring he was contemplating. It was a beautiful ring, but to say it had 40 stones on it is probably an understatement. It was the opposite of simple.

“If you look at a ring, think - ‘how can I make it more simple’.” “Simple, simple, simple” I kept telling him. And he came through. Everyone has their opinion about wedding and engagement rings. I’m not sure anyone else will feel the same way I do, but to me this ring is perfect. It’s perfect in is simplicity. But even more perfect because of the man who gave it to me. I’m so thankful to be able to wear it always.

Better!