First things first – Engagement rings

There are lots of ways to get started with engagement rings. No one should tell you which way is the best way or right way to get engaged. Some girls want to be surprised. Some like to drop hints or go it alone and then tell your man want you want. Some like to shop together. Corey and I talked about it and he decided that he wanted us to shop together for a few reasons:

1. So I would have realistic expectations of what I was getting. I learned to.

2. He wanted to be 100% certain I was going to love it forever. And I do.

Fair enough. Add to it – I was DYING to look, so I was perfectly happy to oblige him.

We shopped around for about 4 months. We went to multiple cities – Atlanta, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, and Auburn. We looked at dozens of diamonds. I tried on a plethora of settings. By September (2010), I was exhausted and so was he. BUT we found the ONE and we definitely bonded over the whole experience. It got us both very excited about one day getting married. Below are some rings I tried on during the process.

Oval – loved it, needed more flair than just a solitaire. Definitely loved the diamond band with it. This was a 1.25 ct diamond.

Basket setting – way too bulky for me. Corey hated it! But I loved the halo around it around where the center stone should be.

Split shank setting – too much emphasis on setting, didn’t like round cut as much.

I found the diamond to get lost in the setting of this one. Made the diamond look smaller to me. This was a .83 ct diamond

 In all the shopping, we drew a few conclusions.

1. I wanted an oval

2. I wanted white gold

3. I wanted a simple but unique setting

4. I wanted a ring that didn’t require my band to have a ‘bump’ in it to fit around the engagement ring. (thanks for that pointer, sis)

Lo and behold – Sylvie Collection Style No. SY416. I found it in Tuscaloosa when we went to a store to look at a Scott Kay style I also really liked. I leaned over the shiny glass case while we waited for the jeweler to pull the Scott Kay one, and I swear, the Sylvie ring spoke to me. I tried it on and it was a truly magical moment. We decided to sleep over it, but we both knew which one it was going to be. And then, I waited for that 4 word sentence that would changed my life forever…

THE END.

I know, it kicks a**