Google+ Engagement Rings 101 :: Follow Up! - Southern Weddings

Southern Weddings

Hello, ladies! As I’m guessing you all know, I’m engaged!! Just four short weeks ago we sent out a post all about engagement rings. I wanted your advice, and y’all were too kind to oblige! I LOVED reading your comments about your rings, your pre-engagement searching, and — of COURSE — your proposal stories!

Well, now that I’ve got a ring and a proposal story of my very own, I wanted to be sure and share it with y’all! First, the story, which is simple and sweet. John surprised me with a weekend trip to Beaufort, North Carolina, an adorable seaside town, two weeks ago. Some of our favorite memories from our six and a half years together were made at the beach, and almost all of them happened near the ocean, so even though this particular coastal town didn’t have special meaning to us (yet!), beaches in general did.

We spent the day at Shackleford Banks, a barrier island famous for wild horses and tons of seashells. (Once the surprise trip was announced, I had a hunch that a proposal might be on its way, but nothing happened all morning or afternoon!) After getting cleaned up that evening, we headed for dinner at an ocean-side restaurant. We arrived a few minutes before our reservation (which is HIGHLY unusual, if you know John!), and we decided to take a sunset stroll. On our way back, I suggested we take a self-timed photo, which we’re famous for, since we were all dressed up. It turns out I was playing right into his plans, because instead of setting the camera to photo, he set it to video, and then proceeded to get down on one knee after I thought the flash had gone off! The rest of the evening was a happy blur.

We made a little video from the weekend, which you can check out here

And now, on to the ring! Here she is:

The story: back in January, John and I decided doing some initial engagement ring research would be an appropriate activity for our six year dateversary. (Come on, y’all have one, too, right?) We decided to check out Diamonds Direct Crabtree, since we’d heard good things about them and figured a store with a large selection of different styles would be a good place to start.

I feel as though I have to back up a minute and admit that though I consider myself a wedding expert, I know next to nothing about engagement rings — really! I had heard of the 4 Cs, but didn’t really know what “normal” ranges were for any of them, and didn’t really know too well what style I liked, either. Before our trip I did a little research and had a little talk with my diamond-fiend buddy (and former SW editor!) Katharine, and both were super helpful. By the time we visited Diamonds Direct, I thought I knew that I wanted a very thin, yellow gold band, I DIDN’T want a halo, and I was most interested in oval-shaped diamonds.

Here are a few of the inspiration images I gathered before our big trip:

Credits:
First row: oval gold engagement ring from Asprey, micropave cushion-cut engagement ring in platinum from Harry Winston; Second row: photo by Whitebox Weddings; Third row: horizontal gold setting from Marvin Katz, photo by Kate Headley


As you can see, I was pretty much all over the place. Happily, though, we happened to be paired with Raj when we stepped through Diamond Direct’s doors, and I think that made all the difference in our shopping experience! He was extremely kind, patient, and knowledgeable, and put us instantly at ease. We looked through many different settings and styles, and quickly realized a few things:

1) As I had heard, diamonds DO look bigger on your finger! Anything over one carat looked pretty ridiculous on my thin fingers. Hallelujah!
2) Ovals were not the shape for me. Surprisingly, I really liked the look of an emerald-cut on my finger, even though I had never been a fan of that cut before.
3) I actually liked halos, I just didn’t like halos that were bezel-set.

Two of the other styles I tried on.

Next we looked at diamonds. For those of you who are wondering…
— I couldn’t really tell the difference between a S1 and and VS1 or VS2 clarity, so that wasn’t the most important C to me.
— I could tell the difference between color, and “I” was too yellow for me. Above “F” was almost too white.
— GIA certification was also important to me.

It turns out that after that one visit John ended up placing the order for our ring (making a few modifications to the setting, which Diamonds Direct does for no charge!), and that was the extent of our ring shopping! We never did end up looking anywhere else. We found something we both loved at a price we both loved with a customer-experience we both loved, and though we could have continued the search for months and months, there didn’t really seem to be any need to.

After January, I truly put engagement rings out of my mind, making everything a wonderful surprise in June!

So now that you know my story, ladies, tell me what you think! Did you go ring shopping for ages? Did you go at all? How do you feel about yellow gold?! I was worried other people would hate it, but I love it, and the reaction has been great so far!

emily Written with love by Emily
28 Comments
  1. avatar Cyn reply

    LOVE IT! Cute story, LOVE the ring + love the video! So excited for you!

  2. avatar Laura DeBellis reply

    Congratulations!!!! We went to Diamonds Direct Crabtree as well. Amy helped us and she was fabulous! I definitely found that engagement rings are like wedding dresses. You think you will like one style but when you try it on, it’s nothing like what you expected! I ended up with a cushion cut and halo. And I LOVE my ring! Love yours as well! Congrats, again!

    • avatar Emily reply

      Laura: Ha! I think wedding dress shopping is going to be verrrrrry interesting for me, because I definitely have a VERY specific idea about what kind of dress I like. I’m not sure what I’ll do if it looks terrible on me!! :)

  3. avatar Caroline Seymour reply

    So Happy for you Emily! Love the ring and the story was so sweet. Best Wishes with wedding planning :)

    • avatar Emily reply

      Thank you, sweet Caroline! I hope planning is going well for you, too! xo

  4. avatar Lindsay reply

    Really pretty! Such a sweet story. I wish I would have videoed our engagement. Good idea!! Your ring is beautiful. I like that’s the yellow gold is unique. As for us, we went shopping casually one time in the diamond district (we live in NYC) and then a few months later he picked out the perfect ring. Just that one time for me too. Good luck with all your planning. It’s so much fun!

  5. avatar Lara reply

    Yeah yeah yeah! Can we make this post a “sticky” at the top of the blog for forever!? I’m so excited for you and John!!!

  6. avatar Amanda Zerra reply

    Congratulations. Your ring is unique and stunning! I did not go shopping with my husband. I did however have a dream ring in mind, (Standard Tiffany’s Princess Cut) but what I got was the complete opposite. My ring was a complete surprise. A 2 ct. Cushion cut on a white gold pave setting band. I was floored by my ring! My husband took a “Diamonds” course with a friend of his who is also a manager at Mayor’s Jewelery. He ended up finding the perfect stone at a somewhat reasonable price. He also picked out the setting on his own. I can understand how shopping with your fiance is important to some girls, but I was happy to have it all come as a complete shock. I know the gorgeous ring on my hand was found with love, care and research, to me that is so thoughtful!

    • avatar Emily reply

      Thank you so much, Amanda! Your ring sounds spectacular, as well!

  7. avatar madelynne miller reply

    Emily,
    I think you and I had exactly the same ideas in mind when ring shopping! I wanted something unique and simple, and ended up getting a small halo around a nearly 1 ct oval. I loved the plain band with the diamond halo – and I didn’t like bezel set AT ALL! I LOVE the gold, by the way! I have shared a link to our engagement shoot and the third row down is a picture of my ring!
    http://glamourandgraceblog.com/2011/engagement-madelynne/

    I think it’s absolutely beautiful! We shopped from June-Sept and he bought my ring in December, and proposed to me on Jan 31st. I was SO surprised by how quickly he popped the question!

    • avatar Emily reply

      Hi Madelynne! Your ring is beautiful! And yes, that is a quick turnaround from looking to proposal — I had to wait much longer! :)

  8. avatar Kristina reply

    Emily, your ring is spectacular! And I love the video, adorable…big fan of One Republic…nice choice!

    I didn’t go with my husband to look for a ring, but he did flat out ask me what I would want (oh so casually of course ;) or so he thought) but I didn’t get the ring til about a year and a half later! lol Although, he did ask me REALLY early on in our dating about the ring (he told his Mom he would marry after only knowing me 4 months). Kudos to you and John both. Wish you the best and I’m looking forward to more planning posts!

    • avatar Emily reply

      Thank you so much, Kristina, and I’m so glad you love YOUR ring! I’m not sure what I would have said if John had asked me what I wanted beforehand! :)

  9. avatar Lori reply

    Congratulations! Your ring is absolutely gorgeous. IOur story was similar- we looked once together and found “the one”… I, too, put engagement rings out of my mind after a few months of wondering when it might happen. I was truly suprised 6 months later when CSB proposed! You are in the ultimate job position to do some major wedding planning- enjoy! :)

  10. avatar Lori reply

    Congratulations! Your ring is absolutely gorgeous. Our story was similar- we looked once together and found “the one”… I, too, put engagement rings out of my mind after a few months of wondering when it might happen. I was truly suprised 6 months later when CSB proposed! You are in the ultimate job position to do some major wedding planning- enjoy! :)

  11. avatar Sydney H. reply

    Congratulations!! What an exciting time for both of you! Such a great story and memory that you will cherish forever. Happy wedding planning :)

  12. avatar Elizabeth reply

    Congrats!! I love the ring it is similar to what I had always wanted but didn’t get. I never went engagement ring shopping. My fiance is very old south where the girl should never know that an engagement is coming and surely no idea what the ring will look like. I got my “something old” from my fiance instead. The center 1.5ct round Harry Winston diamond was his mother’s original engagement ring diamond. His godfather had taken it and some other family diamonds and platinum jewelry to a custom jewelry maker and what they made is to me a true piece of art. It is a mixture of baguettes, small round diamonds and the center diamond. My southern boy truly knew the way to my heart with this one. And I was so surprised when he did propose out of the blue with it.

    • avatar Emily reply

      Gorgeous! Your ring sounds spectacular, and I love that it has sentimental value to you!

  13. avatar Ashley reply

    That is truly an amazing story and a grogeous ring so congratulations! I just recently came across this blog and have fallen in love with it. I have religiously been following it for a few weeks. I actually was proposed to without a ring and that was a year and a half ago! Up until last week I have been an engaged woman without an engagement ring. My poor fiance and I spent an entire year (and going to so many stores I lost count) until I finally cried over one that I slipped on my finger. After shopping for a year and a half and never falling in love with something, I had lost all hope and thought I would never get a ring. I was always displeased with the service at the jewelry stores because not one of the sales associates were listening to me. Granted I didn’t know what the correct terms to use, but I knew what I wanted. Thankfully we met a wonderful lady who has helpful, listened more than she talked and showed me an arrangement of different styles before she finally found me “my” ring. I’m over the moon estatic now! Congratulations again!!!!!!

    • avatar Emily reply

      Holy cow, Ashley! I definitely couldn’t have searched for a year, but I’m so glad you found something that’s perfect!

  14. avatar Corrie reply

    Congratulations! I actually loved the Diamonds Direct experience, too. (Just in Birmingham). My sneaky husband (of six weeks) went ring shopping without me. While I was out of the country he went with my best friend. They knew the style I would like, but weren’t sure what diamond shape I would like. When I got back in town my also sneaky bf told me we should go look “just for fun” for whenever David might “start asking questions”. I only went that one time. We never went together and he did a great job!

  15. avatar Lydia reply

    Congratulations Emily!! Your ring is gorgeous! Can’t wait to have an engagement story of my own someday. Just have to find the guy! ;-)

  16. avatar Emily Plans a Wedding :: The Main Characters « Southern Weddings Magazine reply

    […] We have SO much to catch up on, wedding-wise. Yes, this is my fault: I dropped the big news and introduced you to my pretty ring, and then left you hanging. But believe me, I’ve been a busy little bee over here! Things are […]

  17. avatar Gemma reply

    Its nice to see you went with a yellow gold engagement ring. Many people opt for platinum these days and feel yellow gold is old fashioned. It does take a certain skin tone to pull off a yellow ring and I have to say that tine of gold really suits you. The perfect choice of engagement ring I say :) Oh .. CONGRATULATIONS

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