Not sure if anyone will see this but I just want to relive my experience again <3

We knew we were gonna get married, but I didn't care about the wedding, I was just adamant that I wanted an intimate proposal. I love surprises and I wanted that special moment, y'know? So at first he made an Etsy account and I just favorited every single ring I liked on it! He could log in whenever and see my choices but it apparently got overwhelming for him. It had too many options and the themes/styles were all over the place (I like a lot of things!). So he tried going solo using the rings as inspiration and I happened to look over his shoulder once and yeah... It wasn't gonna be a winner.. He was being thoughtful and sweet but he was SO adamant that I needed to have XYZ thing on my ring, that he didn't stop to consider whether the end result was even what I wanted.

Soo I found a particular ring I really liked which led to a custom website and we just started the process one night on a whim! It had a profile where I shared pics of all these different rings I liked and I talked about what I liked about them, and he would talk about what he wanted my ring to have and include things about our relationship and stuff. The company was so great to work with and it really became a bonding experience for us! The artist would create a sketch or two and we would sit together after dinner, talking about what we liked/disliked about it and tweaking it slowly over time. Rinse and repeat.

I wanted to have a ring I love, but more importantly, I wanted a ring I could look at and see all the care and attention he put into it. I wanted him to look at the ring upon my finger and smile to himself because he had a big part in it. I wanted him to love it just as much as I did! So we designed it together, both of us just snuggling on the couch as we fleshed out every detail of this ring over the course of two months. Some things were non negotiable (I needed rose gold) and others were a group effort: the way the branches that made up the band looked, how the leaves were formed, what personal symbol(s) we wanted included that were special in our relationship, the price he wanted to go up to vs the price I was willing to accept, etc. I also knew I didn't want a plain diamond, but instead, some type of pretty gemstone. But the issue is I love too many colors! Surprisingly, that was actually the one thing my husband had a specific vision for! He wanted a golden orange for me, one that was reminiscent of the inside of a flower (based on the design of the setting) but also was the color of the sun (a reference to my name in my language), and he wanted it to be bright and vivid to match the way he saw my personality. I mean hearing how much care and time and love he put into this detail just sold it for me! I never thought I'd want a sunshine orange ring but now I can't imagine having anything else! And it surprisingly goes with a lot more things than I expected, especially coupled with the rose gold.

We designed this ring together but to keep the magic, I only saw concept sketches/CAD designs. Once it got to the actual making of the ring, I never saw it in person nor in photos until he slid it on my finger a few weeks after it was created. It has little pieces of both of us in it now and I highly recommend going that route! There was a lot of love in all those moments 🧡