Put A Ring On It

Today, we made a stop at Shane Co. to get my ring cleaned and to check out wedding bands. I don't think that either of us really intended on buying them today... but when it's right, it's right :).

Example of a contoured band

I wanted to find a wedding band that matched the band of my engagement ring. A normal circle band wouldn't work b/c of the way my ring is put together, so the band would have to be contoured (it would form kind of a "U" shape; see the pic to the left).

They brought out somewhere around 8 different bands that could work well with my ring, and the choice soon came down to two - both of them had bands the identical size (with identical diamonds) as my ring. The only difference was that one of them had a row of diamonds along one side (in addition to having a row of diamonds around the edge). Wearing the band below my ring (closer to my body), the difference was amazing. I see the side of my ring every time I look at my hand, and other people can even see it if I have my arms down at my side. The additional sparkle really enhanced the ring.

I seriously considered choosing the other band (with no diamonds on the side) b/c it was less expensive and it still really looked good. Patrick and I talked it out, and both of us admitted that the extra row added sooo much. Since this isn't a piece of jewelry I'll only be wearing every once in a while and just seeing the ring and band together made me smile, we decided to go with it and put it on layaway!

Next, we went over to the men's section to look at the men's wedding bands. They had rings of 4 materials: platinum, gold, tungsten & cobalt. There were positives and negatives of each option, but Patrick really liked the simple look of a white gold band.

The thing that helped sell us on it - and that impressed me the most - was the fact that they said Patrick could choose to have more than one finish on the ring! It's apparently a really easy change, and if he wants to change the look of the ring down the line, he can change it! It's free and takes only 3 days. A 5mm band looked great on his hand, and he's thinking of combining a brushed finish and a shinier finish with a stripe: similar to the ring to the right. I love it!

I asked him if it was strange having a ring on his finger; he said 'absolutely' and it would take him a while to get used to it. Hey, even after only three months (it's exactly 3 months today), I'm still not completely used to wearing my ring... but it feels really weird if it's not on my finger!

Since the value of gold has been fluctuating so much lately, we decided to put his ring on layaway and lock in the price. If the gold's value goes down in the next 9 months, we can lock in that lower price and not have to pay a higher amount. If the value goes up, we're set on the pricing we got today. Win-win situation!

I feel like this was a big step, and it was a very productive day!

- Lisa