Wedding Band Shopping....for Al

Sunday, October 5, 2008

I put in a few hours of overtime today in order to avoid completely drowning in crazy work. This next week is going to be CRAZY!!!

Then, I convinced Al that despite his hesitation at possibly being completely overwhelmed, that we should consider actually going to a jewelry store to put the ring on his finger and actually try it on. He eventually consented and we drove up to the Shane company to just get an idea of what is out there. My argument is that exposure to these things is the most valuable tool when it comes to making a final decision. Going into this venture we had no idea what brushed finish versus polished would look like. We didn't know that you could get two toned rings or what they would look like. We were able to finally see what a "hammered" texture looked like up close.

After sifting through almost 25 rings, Al decided upon this one:

I was really surprised with this ring. Much like my dress, it was not at all what we envisioned when going in. However, when he put this ring on, it just seemed to fit, and he just knew.
This ring is now our benchmark for the great wedding band search that is officially on. Since I operate on the 3 vendor motto, we still have at least 1 more store to check out. We ended up hitting both the Shane company and D Gellar and Sons since they were quite close to each other.
It was like night and day. D Gellar seemed to be run by a bunch of high school kids who really didn't want to be there and had nothing to offer in the way of customer service. They had an "ok" selection of rings, but there was nothing there that even remotely caught Al's eye. The only thing we did take away is that D Gellar is so desperate for business that they actually told us that if we found something at another store that we should bring them a picture of it and they would get it for us at a lower cost. Honestly it seemed a bit odd. In addition, their "layaway" plan required a 50% upfront deposit and if it was a custom piece there was not guarantee. Eh......we were not pleased and do not intend on going back. Erin got her ring at Soloman Brothers, so we're going to check them out next.
Since we're not in a huge rush, I feel like we can really take our time on doing our research and really get what we want.

Ok, and so I looked for mine too.....but, what we quickly realized is that I have two options. Either I get a guard (a single piece that basically consists of two rings soddered together that the engagement ring slips in between) or I wear my engagement ring on my right hand and get a stand alone band to wear on my left. I also have to decide if I go with the second option whether or not to get a band to match Al's or something that will match my engagement ring. Decisions, decisions....I ended up finding a ring that was perfectly curved and would fit flush against my ring with not too much of a gap. It was gorgeous with milgrain, pave channel set diamonds and just an elegant feel to it. Then I looked at the price tag and had a minor heart attack. Back to square one, but now at least I know what I'm looking for.

More to come.....