Travis and I have gone a long time without wedding bands. Originally, we had some. But because we were seriously budgeted and didn't invest in... um... quality - they both broke. We didn't bother with buying another set because we didn't see it as a necessity.
The ring doesn't make the marriage, obviously. But it is nice to have that reminder on your hand that you are loved, that you are special, that you are important to someone in this world. It's a message to those you meet - saying you are committed through marriage. It's beautiful. It doesn't matter how much someone spends on a ring, it's the symbolism that matters. Some women love to have the bling - and more power to them! Others are happy with any style. And some women, like me, prefer to have something small and simple. I have really small hands, so while I may oogle over the big, gorgeous rings out there, they would not look right on my finger.
The average size ring for women is a 7. My itty bitty hands - which are my grandmother's hands - contain a petite size of 3. Any ring I get has to be sized or pre-ordered. A lot of rings in the case cannot be sized down so far without damaging the ring or loosening the stones. We figured my ring would naturally cost a lot of money.
On a whim, Travis and I were running errands today. On our way home to have dinner, Travis turned down a random street. Confused, I asked, "where are you going?" His response was, "Oh, shoot, I made a wrong turn." And he drove, with a cheesy grin on his face, into the parking lot of Will Jewelers. We were going window shopping. We agreed that this year for Christmas, we would buy each other wedding bands. Nothing too expensive, nothing super fancy. Just wedding bands. So I knew instantly why we were stopping.
We went inside and the awesome sales rep, Kelly, helped us. Before I picked out rings that I liked, I told her my budget. $200 - nothing more because that's what we agreed to. She came out with catalogs for me to look at and even pulled out an iPad that took me to a website to choose styles I liked. We had decided on a sterling silver with cubic zirconia stones. She went to the back to get more input from other jewelers and sales reps. She came out with more catalogs to look through. I was happy with a sterling silver & cubic zirconia ring. We weren't planning on buying anything today anyways. I was just showing Travis what I liked and then he could choose. He also had the opportunity to look at rings for himself and showed me what styles he liked in our budget.
Then one of the jewelers himself came out to show me a ring. His hands were dirty from cleaning and designing rings in the back and he had a white apron on. This ring was pretty. He told us, "A guy just gave this ring to me. I was cleaning it up. But, with your budget, I'll gladly clean it up and resize it for you for less than $200." I put the ring on. He went on to say, "It's 10 karat white gold with 3 diamonds in it. Better than a sterling silver ring." Travis asked me if I liked it. I could tell he was super stoked. It looked like it just fit my hand. So... needless to say.... WE BOUGHT IT!
This was the best picture I could get of it. The stones represent the Past, Present & Future. It is perfect. The jeweler managed to clean it up and resize it just for me within 2 hours! Talk about serendipity with this ring! I'm definitely going back to them to get Travis's ring. I never had any luck with jewelry stores before. They were always so rude. Will Jewelers were so helpful, kind, and totally respectful. On top of that - they gave us a GREAT deal! I'm thrilled beyond means.
For anyone in the Fort Wayne area looking to buy a ring or any jewelry for the holidays, I highly recommend going to their Facebook page and submitting your love story. They are giving away a $200 gift certificate every week and you will have an opportunity to read your love story in their upcoming radio commercial!
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