Put a ring on it
Newly engaged?
The festive season is always a magical time for proposals... and... rings!
Now, is the engagement ring, a simple object, unimportant by itself? I am not materialistic in any way, yet my short answer to this is absolutely not, the ring isn't unimportant; in fact it is in my view one of the very few items that will on the long term still matter. It is important because it is part of your story as a couple, and years after you will remember the proposal, and the ring with it. Here is a good story about the importance of the engagement ring.
For a different story, one of my grooms had planned to propose to his girlfriend the next month, but one day as she was feeling down due to illness he decided to give her some good news here and now, so ran to the shop for a ring shaped sweet! She said yes and he later on purchased a more durable one that she is proudly showing off on the image. Cat's ring is beautiful, but in addition to its aesthetic features and carats, it also has a story, of first being a Haribo sweet, and then being chosen by the engaged couple.
I can't resist sharing my personal one: I didn't want a ring! A few months before the proposal, my boyfriend and I had a handfasting ceremony at Glastonbury festival, where we exchanged rings that we had crafted ourselves. Later on when we started to speak about taking our commitment from festival to town hall, I insisted I didn't want an engagement ring plus a wedding band on top of my handfasting ring, it just wasn't right for me. Somehow my boyfriend managed to surprise me with an engagement ring shaped pendant from Kate Spade's bridal range instead. And here goes the story: one summer day while I was working he located admittedly what was the last one in the country, dashed to the shop to get it, took me for a rowing boat moment on the Thames. Sitting behind me he put the necklace on me, popped the question and the champagne: magic. I got asked many times after our engagement why I didn't have a ring, and every time I enjoyed telling this story. And the Kate Spade necklace is pretty cool too (photo below by Kim Byrne, next to the necklace is my wedding ring, but that's for another blog post!).
What's your engagement story? Is your ring a beautiful classic engagement ring or did your fiancé chose a more alternative option? Let us know all about it in the comments before the 31st January 2015. All participants will be offered a FREE engagement shoot with all high definition edited files, and the most original/funny/quirky/personal/touching story will win a FREE wedding photography package *subject to availibility.
