Wedding Bands: Part 1 - Little Spoon

We are less than five months from our wedding day and the time has come to consider wedding bands. Let me preface this post by saying that I have been looking for several weeks now. Big Spoon suggested that we wait until late summer to shop for bands, mostly so I didn't drive him crazy and also so that I would have more time to consider the budget and my current "wants". The two don't always coincide. Instead of scaring you with revealing the budget we set for bands (here's a hint, we forgot to put it in the original budget), I'll make sure to put it in the breakdowns after the big day :)

See that little pink arrow? Little did I know, my "unique" setting would be so difficult to pair with a band of any sort. The two beveled diamonds on the side prevent me from buying a plain 'ol round band. After shopping online, in major chains and a few hometown jewelry stores, we've come to the conclusion that I need to a) have a plain band "notched" to fit the beveled diamond on the side of my solitaire, b) buy a contoured band and weld it to my engagement ring or c) have a ring custom made ($$$).

Yeah ... anyway, after Big Spoon humored me several times now and went band shopping anyway, I had an "ah ha!" moment yesterday. Hold on to your seats, folks. I bought my wedding band for a grand total of $52.93 (without sizing). Whoa wa-what? YES. I am the queen of bargains ... for today, at least.

Really though, here's how it went down: ultradiamonds.com is an online jewelry retailer I became aware of through my Discover card. I luv my Discover card* and have been saving my Rewards cash back credit for our wedding. While shopping online, I checked my Discover card's rewards retailers and found Ultra Diamonds. I went to their website and found the band above for $299.00 (which is already a steal compared to other places). It's almost exactly like ones I have tried on at the major retail stores, but for much less. Combine the already great price with their current $100 off promo code and my Discover e-certificates redeemed specifically for Ultra Diamonds and voila! A $260 savings! 

I ordered the ring un-sized so that if it doesn't work out, I can return it within 30 days. They have a fair return policy and good customer service. I just couldn't wait for it to come in before I blogged about it! I'm hoping it can save someone out there some money. Specifically, if the quality of the diamonds in your band are less important to you than those in your engagement ring. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 when we reveal Big Spoon's wedding band! 

*We were in no way compensated for this blog post by either Discover Card or Ultra Diamonds. We like a good deal and we're telling our readers about it. Good day to you.

Our Engagement Story

For the better part of our relationship, Big Spoon and I have been talking about a future together. Seven months have gone by and I can say now without doubt that we have experienced a whirlwind romance. We had only been dating two weeks before we decided to date exclusively; we had only been dating three months when we booked our trip to New York City and began looking at engagement rings. We were a six-month-old couple when we became engaged.

From the outside, everything seems to have happened fast, but to us ... well, let's just say that we had very few doubts that we had met our match. I can't remember exactly when we began talking about being married and I can barely remember a time in which I wasn't thinking that this man would become my future.

Our engagement began with a "misunderstanding." A few weeks before I met Big Spoon, the Nashville Opera performed Mozart's Don Giovanni. I missed it for a family function and I posted this disappointment online. When Big Spoon read this, he began to form a plan in which he fulfilled my dream of seeing a Mozart opera. What he didn't know at the time is that it wasn't this particular opera I longed to see, but any Mozart opera. In the end, its all very cute and incredibly sweet: he booked a trip around the Metropolitan Opera's opening of Don Giovanni. We spent five nights in New York City (four of which he carried my ring in his pocket).

On Monday, April 13, after days of rain in NYC, we finally made it to Central Park. By this point in the trip, I was off my guard and assumed Big Spoon was waiting for the opera to propose. We had just visited the American Museum of Natural History, and before going back to the hotel to ready ourselves for the opera, we took a stroll through Central Park.

It was a very short stroll. Just down the path and around the bend, there is a lovely spot where weeping willows overlook the water and one can see the skyline far off in the distance. Here, we stopped to take a picture. Big Spoon stopped a couple walking and asked them to take it for us. I went to stand by the fence and smile, but when I looked over, Big Spoon had taken a knee. He actually prefaced that move, but once I figured out what was happening, whatever he said was lost to my memory.

Sort and sweet, he asked me to marry him. And of course, I said yes. It was perfect.

The poor lady he handed the camera to was in more shock than I was and unfortunately, did not record the entire proposal as Big Spoon had intended, but that's okay. I waited until the couple wished us well and left, then I asked Big Spoon to put my ring on for me.

My ring is better than I had imagined; a beautiful solitaire in a white gold, four-pronged, cathedral setting and flat band. It even has bevel set diamonds on the front and back sides.

The opera was long but thrilling. My toe bled on the way back to the hotel. I gave away those shoes ... and we have a fairy-tale engagement story.

The Ring, Part I: What a girl wants

Perhaps the biggest anxiety I've had about the whole wedding shebang so far has been the selection of her engagement ring. From the start, Little Spoon has shown tastes that mix contemporary and vintage (e.g., 1930s) styles. From what she's told me, she likes the clean lines and flat bands of contemporary styles, but she's also partial to the tasteful ornateness of vintage jewelry.

Finding a ring that satisfies both tastes is a difficult proposition, especially when combined with her love of round cut stones with a six-prong setting (to highlight the roundness of the stone; a four-prong setting seems more standard). Oddly enough, most of the more vintage-style settings seem to use princess cut stones, which we both agree look too boxy on her slender finger. At least she likes white gold, which seems to be the material en vogue right now.