{February 4, 2011}

My "engagement" and wedding rings. I put quotes around engagement because although this is a typical ring you give to someone when you propose to them, I did not receive this ring until nine days before our wedding. Yes, that's right...nine DAYS. And no we didn't do a justice of the peace ceremony either. We had a full on wedding and reception planned months in advance. However, Ryan wanted me to have a nicer ring than the one he had used when he proposed to me with--which, incidentally, he had also given to me on my birthday a mere two years prior...to the day, no less. That ring was an inexpensive cluster ring that I wore proudly and had no idea he had any intentions of replacing. Like most couples, in the weeks leading up to our wedding we went to various jewelers looking at matching bands. One day Ryan took me to visit a jeweler who did custom work. I tried on a few of the rings, thought they were very nice, but was worried they were out of our budget...so we kept looking. We ended up falling in love with matching, two-tone gold (rose and yellow) and platinum wave pattern Christian Bauer bands (ours originally had a brushed matte finish but that has since worn off on both). They were not cheap, but we justified spending a bit more given we weren't buying a diamond solitaire (or so I thought). As my birthday, and our wedding, drew near Ryan had me convinced that he was giving me a hedgehog as a present. He went to great lengths to fool me and when the day finally came, and he brought out a large "My Pet" cardboard box, I was expecting to open it and find an adorable little pet. Instead I saw my dictionary...and more books...and then a small box on top. Confused I unwrapped the present to discover another box. I could tell it was some sort of jewelry but nothing prepared me for what I saw when I opened it. Nestled safely inside was the diamond ring. It looked familiar, yet I couldn't place it. That's when Ryan confessed to his trickery. Back when we had been looking at bands, and he had taken me to the custom jeweler (Ralph Privoznik), it was so that Ralph could size my finger for the ring already under construction. He hadn't used my ring, yet I recognized the intricate criss-cross pattern I had seen in his other work. I was shocked...and thrilled. I slipped the ring on and it was a perfect fit. Although there was but a scant amount of time between receiving the ring and our wedding, I wore it by itself, flashing it subtly like a newly engaged woman. To this day I'm still shocked that Ryan had it in him to be so sneaky and so very, very romantic.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}