So, I have this obsession with rings. Big time. I got this brilliant idea last week – why don’t I show off my FRIEND’S rings instead of random pinterest rings?! So I begged some friends, who were all gracious enough … Continue reading
Radiant cut white sapphire – .75 ct. The band is a REAL TWIG set in 14k recycled gold. It’s only $785 too! Click on the image to go to the seller’s site.
Classic brilliant cut diamond with a pave setting and pave wedding band.
The groom MADE his ring. Whoa. And the bride’s rings are custom by a place called Virtu in Chicago.
I love this band. Love. This. Band. $1,920 for 22k gold.
Gorgeous ring. I couldn’t find the image source!
This is a classic setting with a contemporary twist, set in rose gold. Love!
Bezel set brilliant cut diamond flanked by two round sapphires. I love the bezel set diamond wedding band too. This is so unique and gorgeous!
Gorgeous pink engagement ring. I’m not sure what this stone is, but I love the color of it against yellow and gold and diamonds. Stunning.
Cushion cut diamond flanked by a trilliant cut diamond on each side with a brilliant cut infinity band. OH MY GUH.
Antique style engagement ring. Lots of brilliant cut diamonds = expensive!
Classic and stunning. I have NO idea what this cut is. It’s similar to emerald but much more facets..
Such a unique and beautiful 3 stone ring. I’m in love with the proportions of the side diamonds to the center stone.
This is so beautiful! 3 stone brilliant cut diamonds surrounded by pave diamonds.
I saved the best for last 🙂 3 pear shape diamonds. I love how the side pears are turned sideways. So unique and blingy!
These are just some of my favorites from my pinterest boards. Trust me, there are many many more!
We all know that celeb engagement rings come in all shapes and colors, but mostly very big sizes. I have always loved keeping up with celeb rings, especially since I got ‘wedding fever’ a couple years ago. It’s pretty obscene how big and gaudy they get, but hey, if you have the money, why the hell not. I personally believe in investing in a big and beautiful rock for a few reasons.
1. It’s a token of love, it should last forever and be special!
2. It’s an asset. It won’t depreciate in value, and in fact, rings often appraise for more than what you pay if you shop smart.
3. It’s a family heirloom – you can pass it down to generations and it can always stay in the family.
Colored stones can be fun and unique. I wanted a diamond, but colored stones are becoming much more prevalent nowadays. The nice thing about them is that you can get a stone other than a diamond, which means more carats for less cost!
Jeweler – Johnathon Arndt Flawless yellow diamond estimated at 5+ carats worth around $150,000. As far as celeb rings go, I think this is tasteful and beautiful.
Elizabeth Hurley’s blue sapphire flanked by two approx. 2 carat trapezoid cut side diamonds set in platinum estimated at $100,000. Stunning!
Heidi Klum’s approx 12 carat canary diamond set in yellow gold designed by Lorraine Schwartz. Estimated at $150,000. Personal favorite of mine
18 ct sapphire oval surrounded by 14 white diamonds designed by Garrand estimated at $65,000. Timeless and elegant.
Halle Berry’s 4 carat emerald set in yellow gold, designed by Robert Mazio. I love how unique this is!
I love pave. Lots and lots of pave. Some of these are pave, but not all of them.
4 carat center stone flanked by trapezoid diamonds designed by Bader and Garrin. Estimated worth $125,000.
Molly Sim’s approx 6 carat cushion cut designed by Diana Von Furstenberg. SO gorgeous!
3 carat pear diamond surrounded by a pave setting set in platinum. Pear is one of my favorite cuts, unique and elegant.
Nicole Richie’s 4 carat brilliant cut center stone surrounded by a pave diamond setting designed by Neil Lane.
Mariah Carey’s 10 ct center stone surrounded by 58 pink diamonds and 2 half-moon diamonds, totaling 17 carats. Designed by Jacob and Company and estimated to be worth $2.5 million Talk about big spending!
Cathy Waterman engagement ring. Some sources say it’s a ‘rustic diamond’ others say it’s a moonstone. Estimated 1.5 carats. Totally unique, and totally Anna Paquin!
Asscher cut diamond set in a micropave frame with a double band. I love this ring! Almost as much as Heidi’s.
5 carat oval cut diamond set in platinum and rose gold. Estimated worth – $250,000. It’s no secret ovals are a personal fave 🙂 My favorite element of this ring is the subtle inclusion of rose gold.
Hillary Duff’s 14 carat radiant cut diamond is estimated to be worth $1 million. Whoa.
Britney Spear’s 3 carat brilliant cut Neil Lane in a pave setting. A very timeless ring!
Well if you were wondering if Jay-Z is rich… Beyonce’s 18 carat flawless emerald diamond set in a split shank pave setting. Worth $5 million!!! I love the dainty setting contrasting the massive rock.
Angelina Jolie’s elongated tablet diamond flanked by the same shape stone graduating in size. Designed by Robert Procop with Brad Pitt’s help. Not a huge fan, honestly.
Amber Rose’s Oval cut solitaire. One site said it’s set in rose gold – but I’m not sure about that. It’s a gorgeous and simple ring and I LOVE it!
Reese Witherspoon’s 4 carat Ashoka diamond set in a micropave band. Designed by Willam Goldberg and is estimated to cost around $250,000. Another top pick by me!!
Nikki Reed’s 3 carat, 3 stone Tacori engagement ring. Fun and bohemian!
Brilliant antique, conflict-free diamond in pave setting set in recycled platinum. Designed by Jamie Wolf. Such a cool looking ring!
Kate Hudson’s 9 carat emerald cut with tapered baguettes set in platinum. Estimated to be worth $200,000. Classic and all about that center stone!
So what rings are your favorite? I love Heidi Klum’s the most – the yellow gold with canary diamond is just stunning, really. I also really really love Reese Witherspoon’s and Gwyneth Paltrow’s but they are all beautiful and unique in their own way!
When I first started looking at dresses, these were a few that I loved –
Maeve Priscilla of Boston
They are all very simple dresses – not much sparkle or details and either ball gown or A-Line. I love low backs, a cinch at the waist, and I preferred sweetheart neckline. The one thing they had in common is that they were all way out of my price range. I was shooting to spend around $1500 – most of these dresses are in the $3,000-$6,000 range. HA!
I had a very short dress-shopping experience. It started with my mother and I just randomly popping into a consignment store called Renaissance Consignment by our house one day with zero expectations being that it was the first place we’d looked. I browsed the racks and picked out about 5 that I liked. One of the dresses I wasn’t that fond of on the hanger – BUT it was Carolina Herrera and had never been worn. I am a sucker for a designer gown, especially when it’s 75% off.
The first dress I tried on was about $400, I liked it, but really the belt made the dress and the belt didn’t actually come with it. I loved the style/silhouette, but the back was plain and I really wanted a jazzy back. And as snooty as this sounds, it was just TOO cheap.
First dress I semi-liked
The third dress I tried on was the Carolina Herrera. I didn’t expect to, but I definitely had ‘a moment’. It fit so well and the back was seriously show-stopping. But I didn’t like the neckline that much. I walked out and looked into the big mirror and the back just blew me away. It was enough to make me cry, but not enough to convince me it was ‘the one’ since I had only been engaged 12 days, the wedding was 1.5 years away, I had only tried on 3 dresses, and I had to decide on it immediately. So we put it on hold (for only 2 days, yikes!) and decided to go check out David’s Bridal since they had a new Vera Wang line out.
The back, seriously. OMG
The front was pretty too. And yes, I am crying here.
Let me just say to all you finicky designer label snobs like myself out there – David’s Bridal is NOT a wonderful experience service wise, but they certainly have a wide selection of very expensive looking dresses. I seriously considered 2 or 3 from there, but in the end, my heart was set on a designer label. Here’s a few I tried on below. Just my faves.
I liked this one – but it was SO trendy. Just too trendy for my taste. This was a Vera Wang White Label gown.
This was probably my favorite there – but it really had an uninspiring back and I knew a girl that had worn it before and it looked so good on her, so it kinda took the fun out of it for me.
I loved almost everything about this dress. But the belt was sewn-on and kinda chunky. Plus, no awesome back.
I loved the neckline AND the back of this dress, but it felt SO youthful, not how I wanted to feel on my very grown-up day.
Can anyone say, Cinderella? This is a Vera Wang dress also. TOO. MUCH. DRESS. I could barely walk!
So after driving back to school and having some time to really think it over, I decided that with the tiny modification to the Carolina Herrera neckline, that dress was really going to be the one. I felt like God had led me to that dress – it had NEVER been worn, had the designer label I craved, fit almost perfect, had a stunning back, had the cinch at the waist, and most importantly was marked down from $5,000 to $1,200. I called my mom, told her to go buy it, and almost immediately felt very relieved that decision was over!
THE dress.
You can kinda see the neckline modification – it made all the difference in the world for me! I’ll have better pics of my dress once the photographer finishes them up 🙂
My dress is hiked up here – but you can see the neckline!
In the end – don’t have your heart set on a specific silhouette – I absolutely did not think I wanted a dress that looked like this, but it was timeless and classic. I knew it would NEVER go out of style. Go into with an open mind and you will end up much happier! I am SO SO happy with the dress I chose and I felt like a million dollars in it.
Until I become the SO proud wife of this dapper young gentleman. Mrs Moulton Mrs Moulton Mrs Moulton Mrs Moulton Mrs Moulton…….
He's my happy boy
We don’t have any pictures from the night we got engaged, so I’ll just share some cute pics from the engagement shoot with Chris & Adrienne Scott, Photographers, we had a few months later. I’ll tell you all about the e-session and how awesome Chris and Adrienne are another time.
We're laughing cuz we're laying in a stranger's yard. And it was hot. And awkward. It turned out cute though!
It all started when I headed to Auburn for an internship fair because I had scheduled some job interviews. I was doing an off-campus thesis at the time that is community-based, while Corey was on-campus doing a research-based thesis.
We both had some internship interviews that day, and mine ran later than his, so I told him that I’d meet him at his house after I finished up. We had planned on having a date to Olive Garden because he had a gift card there. So I got to his apartment and got ready and we went to Olive Garden. They never brought out our appetizer and then when they finally did, they brought it out with our entree. The server gave it to us on the house. Now, keep in mind we are both struggling college kids. I made some off-hand remark to Corey that we should just get a dessert since we got a free appetizer, and he actually accepted! If you know Corey at all, he is not a sweets guy, nor does he ever believe in splurging on dessert. I should have known then that something was up!
We love the 'hi' caught in the corner of the pic.
We headed back to his house where our good friend Kristy was going to meet up with us for board games and wine. I plopped down on the couch to watch my favorite show The Bachelor while we waited for Kristy to get there. She was supposed to be there within the hour. I got out my new iPhone and started going through all my daily blogs on my Google Reader. Most people don’t know what that is, but it’s basically an archive of blogs that shows when your blogs you follow have new posts.
(Now this requires a back-story so I don’t seem quite as psycho. My sister got engaged in the Fall of 2009 – when she did, I became obsessed with researching all things wedding-related. I have about TWENTY-FIVE wedding blogs that I follow daily on my Reader. I browse through them every night, because I love weddings. Any and all weddings.)
So as I scrolled through my blogs, Corey got up and RAN to his bedroom. Naturally, because he’s a boy, I thought he was being polite and passing gas in the other room. I clicked on one blog called “Our Engagement” that I didn’t recognize. I gasped as I scrolled through the blog and the girl had MY NAME and my favorite wedding color combo, yellow and grey. I said to Corey, “Wow this girl has my name and my favorite color combo!” Not until I got halfway through the blog did I realize what was going on and looked up to see Corey on one knee. I honestly was so beyond shocked. I had NO idea. I screamed a lot, and cried, and screamed more. Kristy got there about 3 minutes after it happened – which was exactly as as it should be – and we called people and celebrated and drank wine.
Turns out he got the ring on Thursday, I arrived Saturday, and he planned the whole engagement Sunday night while I sat on the floor in his bedroom assembling my portfolio. On Monday, he created the website, photoshopped in the pics of us, took the pic of himself holding the ring while I was at my last interview, added the blog to my reader, called my parents to tell them he was proposing that week, and just waited. He had no idea when or if I would look and sure enough I did 4 hours later.
It was creative and perfect – I had always told him I didn’t want a big show when we got engaged, that it was just about us two, and me made it that way. I wouldn’t change a thing!
Here is the proposal blog – http://ourengagementmandc.blogspot.com/2011/01/our-engagement.html
This is at the pedestrian bridge in downtown Nashville
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**
threembride 