With the house renovation taking center stage in our lives right now, and on this blog, I haven't had much time to think about/talk about our upcoming nuptials.
But today, our rings arrived and I am more excited than I thought I'd be.
When Daniel and I decided to get married, I knew I didn't want anything even remotely resembling a traditional wedding. I am not and never have been on board the wedding train. I even refused Daniel's efforts to hook me up with an engagement ring - it's just not me, and fortunately, he understands that. He totally gets me. So, when I said I didn't want a wedding, he said, "we'll do whatever makes you happy...i just want you".
Rings, though...rings I want. I like the tradition of wearing circles of metal as a unifying symbol. Rings are a symbol of marriage, of partnership and commitment, and I like that.
So, I went about looking for rings. Initially, I really liked the idea of this concrete and steel ring, but the artist could only make it in one width. Plus, even though I like it now, I may not like wearing it when I'm a withered 82 year old. It seems kinda trendy...and I wanted something timeless.
But, I knew I didn't want a mass-produced ring you could just go to any jewelry store and pick up. I'm weird like that.
I don't even remember how I stumbled across this exquisite piece by turn-of-the-century, Danish metalsmith, Georg Jenson. This ring is no longer in circulation and I could only find a few online (all international dealers), but the mobius design caught my attention for it's simplicity and elegance.
I read more about the mobius strip, and the more I read, the more fitting it seemed; the more I loved it. Strong, simple design combined with mathematical theory (In case I've never mentioned it, Daniel is a HUGE math geek. Now you know.) representing "no beginning and no end". Perfect.
But, as I wasn't able to get my hot little hands on a couple of original Georg Jensen mobius rings, I started searching online for other mobius ring designs. Believe it or not, I had a difficult time finding what I wanted...until I stumbled across this wonderful artist:
Amanda Fisher is a metalsmith working out of Northborough, Massachusetts. You can look at her website here. She was awesome to work with. She went over every step of her process in creating our rings. Made us read about the different metal options to choose the right one for us. Sent us photos along the way at each step. And eventually mailed us these:
They are perfect. Perfect thickness and width and weight. Perfect color. We used a 14k palladium white gold. White gold is typically made with nickel. The palladium gives the gold a darker, steely-er color. Also, a lot of people have or develop allergic reactions to nickel...but not so with palladium.
This is Daniel's ring on my thumb - he has big fingers.
I love that they were hand-made. Just for us.
Very exciting.
8 comments:
So, when I said I didn't want a wedding, he said, "we'll do whatever makes you happy...i just want you".Is that not the most romantic thing he could have said to you in that moment?? Sometimes it's the simple things... like when Mike wrote me an email once when he was in Amsterdam that somehow being a continent away from me with an ocean in the middle was more lonely than being in another state as he typically was for work... =) Good men rock!!
Also... beautiful rings. Reminds me too of what Mike had written in his vows, which referenced that the rings had no beginning or end, like our relationship. (He justified that we had no beginning because he couldnt define when the moment we fell in love was... it just sort of happened...) And even though he's dead now, my love for him does not end. I mean, maybe some day I'll meet someone else special and all that, but some piece of my heart will always belong to him, just like pieces of my heart belong to all the other important people in my life that I lost. As long as I am alive to feel, the love continues.
Okay, now I'm sappy, so slap me. I had what appeared to be a more traditional wedding with a few extra bonuses (ie, we wrote our own vows and I had the Star Wars theme as my recessional). If had to do it all again, I'd probably just go elope somewhere private and forget the whole family/friend extravaganza, though. So I totally love it (and live vicariously through) when people do the nontraditional thing!
Mars Girl - Daniel does have a knack for saying just the right thing at the right time :)
And Star Wars theme - Ha! That's GREAT!
The Star Wars theme was played on a harp... and you can imagine everyone's "surprise." Not really, surprise. They all kind of just nodded and thought, "Yeah. This is Heidi's wedding."
I think a wedding should be personal like that. Something that everyone would, upon attending or hearing about, nod and say, "Yep, that's such and such."
The weddings with the personal touches always stand out in my mind from the traditional standard ones. I always have the most fun at them and I remember them...
Awesome rings. The concrete and steel one was interesting, too, but maybe not for a wedding band.
So when is the shower where we buy you underwear and make you walk around with a veil made out of toilet paper?
Bwahahaha! Toilet paper veil! Can you even imagine!? :)
You forgot the penii accessories.
Love those rings, Cathryn!!
I'm with Alison: I think Cathryn needs some traditional pre-wedding humiliation (condom veil, sex toy gifts, etc.) All joking aside (or is it?), congratulations, my friend!
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