First (real) wedding post: engagement ring

I know I posted a zillion years back (at least in internet time) about Boyfriend+ and I getting engaged and I said something about maybe doing wedding posts if people were interested. And people said they were. And then I didn't post anything (other than bitching about that advice lady). Whoops. But that's because I haven't really had anything to share.

I'm not big on planning things. And I haven't been dreaming of my wedding since I was little. We're also spreading out this engagement thing so we can take our time figuring out what we want and give us a chance to win the lottery or find a pot of gold or something. So while I don't have any plans to write about (yet), I do have something that's not me complaining about wedding/marriage advice: the engagement ring.

When Boyfriend+ proposed he didn't have a ring*. He'd been telling me if he was going to propose he would do it with an onion ring. A vidalia onion ring. You know, keep it classy. But he didn't have one of those either. Something to do with he wouldn't be able to sneak it past me and the grease would stain his shorts.

It took a lot of shopping around before I finally found a ring. Well actually I found a ring that was really beautiful fairly quickly, but the problem was it wasn't an engagement ring, which meant it was kind of a funky shape, which meant it didn't fit nicely with a wedding band, which means getting it to fit would required getting a custom band made, which is lots of money. I could wear it on my right hand, but I'd really rather wear both rings together. Besides, I like the claddagh that I wear on my right hand.

FYI, if you're ring shopping and you mention that you don't want a diamond, be prepared for people to insist that no, no, you DO want a diamond, silly girl. You're just confused. See diamonds are for engagement rings. After a few stores we stopped telling people we were looking for an engagement ring. Unless they asked point blank, but most don't. I guess they assume if it's an engagement ring, you'll tell them. But yeah, I didn't want a diamond. I wanted an aquamarine. I love the stone, I love the color and it's both my and Boyfriend+'s birth stone. It means more to me than a diamond.

I FINALLY found an awesome store that is all about getting you what you want instead of making sure you're sticking with tradition. The woman I talked to there was so friendly and so helpful. And she got me a bunch of aquamarine stones to choose from. So yeah, if you're ever out on Long Island and need jewelry (I know, happens all the time), check out Frassanito Jewelers. Figured I should mention them by name, since they kick so much ass.

So 78 days after the proposal I got my ring! And I love it. It's not like what I thought I wanted (except for the aquamarine). It's much simpler than I thought I wanted. And here it is!

Preeeeettttttyy

So given how long that took, it should be awhile before I have any more wedding updates. Although Mom is already ALL ABOUT dress shopping, so perhaps I'll have something about that next. Or else I'll complain about something in a wedding magazine. Lots of inspiration there.

(So I meant to post this this morning. And instead I forgot about it until now. Whoops.)

*Which TheKnot.com says is the number one proposal faux pas and shut up. The engagement wasn't any less legit because I didn't get a ring right then. The "propose in front of an audience" thing is on the list, and I agree with that. It says even if you DO accept the proposal, you sorta want to be in your own bubble for a little while. Boyfriend+ and I stayed in that bubble for a week while we were on vacation (we told people when we came home) and it was lovely.