It came completely by surprise. Man he's sneaky..... :) I thought I'd take a moment to share the story of our engagement.
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 was just like any other day. I went to work, I went to school- no big deal. I work for my dad in his custom jewelry store, so I figured when it was time for me to get engaged, there would be no surprise element, because....how could there be? I run the store.
Well, tuesdays are the day that I have to be at school by three. I called Nick on my way to school (itwas his day off) and he told me he was having a lazy day at home. psh.
Little did I know, he was on his way to talk
to my dad about a ring! Sneaky sneaky......
Coincidentally, just days before, I had decided that I wanted a sapphire for my engagement ring. I could get a bigger stone for less money, and it would be unique. After all, selling engagement rings is what I do for a living, and believe me, I've seen it all. The trend right now is that everyo
ne's ring looks the same. Boo. I decided I wanted to be different. After all, the jeweler's daughter should have a pretty fantastic ring, don't you think? Well I do, but maybe I'm biased. :)
So anyway, we had a sapphire at work that we'd bought
months before. We both loved it. My dad especially- it was an amazing color with an amazing cut, almost mesmerizing. My dad had to show it to everyone that came in the store. So, like I said, days before I'd told him...... "If I get engaged any time soon- I want that."
So, he gave it to Nick in a temporary mounting so he could propose with it. Ring to be determined later.
So, later that night, I got home from school. It was around 9:15 and I was just done with the day. He met me at the door and told me he had a surprise for me. I was confused, as
he led me up to our room. When I walked in the door, I saw this:
Three dozen roses! Thinking this was my surprise, I got all excited, "wow! these are so pretty! thanks baby!" and of course, I started huffing them. He actually had to pull me away from the roses, haha.
Then, he took my hands in his and started in with all the sweet stuff (which I'll keep between us) and then got down on his knee, pulled a box out of his pocket and proposed! Oh man! EXCITEMENT ensued! After about 10 minutes, I had to ask him if I'd said "yes" or if I'd just started freaking out. Luckily, I did say yes. haha :)
Now, I admit, this photo is shamefully bad. I don't know what I was thinking when I took it. Oh well. It gets better :)
After that, Nick told me I needed to call
my mom, since she was probably on the edge of her seat waiting to see what happened.
I called, she answered immediately, and said, "Hiiiiiiiiiiii?" haha.
when I told her, she let out a squeal that Nick heard across the room.
It was cute.
Then, it was time to design a ring. I had one in mind, well because girls do that, and because it's all I look at all day. it was something I hadn't seen before. It was a Cartier design, that I thought was really classy and unique, and I had one printout of the picture, as they have discontinued it. I purposely left it out of our engagement ring idea book at work, because I wanted it. I know, I know..... :)
So Nick told me to go ahead with it. It seemed to take FOREVER. We were waiting for a set of matched Pear shaped diamonds to come in, as they would go on either side of my sapphire, among other smaller stones. The Pears finally came in Wednesday, and my dad busted the ring out. He's so nice :)
First, it starts out like this:
This is a wax model. This is the rough version, as the final wax was a lot mor
e delicate, and I didn't want to ruin it by moving it around to photograph it. My dad carved this by hand. yeah, he's that good. :) This wax, then gets put in plaster, and put under a vacuum so that no air bubbles can get in. Then, we bake the whole thing in a hot oven, and the wax melts out, leaving a mold in the plaster. Then, we melt gold and pour it into the mold, and send it through a spinning centrifuge to fill all the nooks and crannies, and to harden. Once that is finished, the mold is broken, and you have a rough mounting! He cast the body of the ring separate from thepieces that hold the bigger stones.
See Here:
This is the rough casting. The pieces sit on a button of gold to keep them together. This metal is 18K White Gold, which is the strongest and most shiny of the white golds.
Then, its time for him to file, polish, file, polish, and set the stones in by bending the metal over them.
The final Product: Dun dun dun.....are you ready?
Oh my! I love it! It turned out prettier than I thought it would! We are both very happy with it!
I am so grateful that I have such a talented dad that will make such amazing and special things for me. It's really cool to say "My dad made it". I'm glad I get to have such a special experience.
I'm also grateful that my parents both approve of our engagement and are so supportive of everything we do.
Also, for great inlaws who are also supportive and have welcomed me so graciously into thier family. I couldn't ask for more! I'm so excited to be gaining a whole ton of siblings! They are some of my best friends!
And most of all, I am grateful that the most wonderful man in the world asked me to be his wife. I am so honored an humbled to stand by his side. He is all I need. I don't need a big wedding or a big ring, but I get to have it anyway because of him and others who love me. I feel so blessed.
