Put A Ring On It

What's up!  It's diamond time!  Obviously when it came to shopping for wedding bands I was giddy as a schoolgirl.  I love jewellery, sparkly things and spending time with Eric, so this was such a fun day. 

Eric and I went to go see our jeweller John at Roger Watson Jewellers, in Osborne Village.  I really love how knowledgeable and passionate John is about jewellery, and the fact that this is a family owned local business that has passed through generations.  They have such beautiful jewellery in their display cases, and John is also incredibly talented at custom jewellery, which is what we were looking for!

 

I AM fooled by the rocks that you got...

We walked into the store expecting that Eric would choose a ring from the display case and I would need a custom set put together.  Because of the knife edge of my original engagement ring, we were having no luck finding a band that would fit flush against it.  We started with Eric, and as he looked at the tungsten rings, the fact that tungsten is not resizable became more and more of a problem for him.  When I asked him why, he said it was because if he ever needed a different size ring, he wouldn't be able to adjust the original one, and he would have to get a completely new one.  And he's not okay with that, because he wants to wear the original ring that we exchange on our wedding day for the rest of his life.  All together now....

 

 

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwe!

Love that boy more every day. 

So he looked through many rings in the store and settled on a couple that were in white gold and platinum with interesting designs on the band.  He couldn't quite commit to one, so that was when John suggested a custom ring.  He was able to choose the design, style, metal, and thickness of his ring and John took all the details to make a model for Eric to approve before he starts making it.  So as soon as Eric is back from Liberia, he will be able to go down and see what his custom ring will look like!

 

OMG! 

 

 

As for me, I was working with another jeweller at the store while John was with Eric, and I was just trying on rings for fun.  I already knew exactly what I wanted, so I described it to John in extreme detail when he was done putting Eric's ring order together.  To my surprise, he went to his workstation and pulled out an engagement ring he was working on that had no center stone, along with a matching wedding band.  It was absolutely perfect and exactly what I had in mind, with the small, dainty stones on each side of the engagement ring matching the wedding band.  So within 8 seconds I was sold.  The set is absolutely beautiful! 

 

 

 

Without the center stone...



I was very very sad to part with my engagement ring so that they could work on resetting the diamond into the new ring.  But they promised to have it back to me within a week, and even delivered on their promise two days early!  I have the wedding band safely tucked away for the day of the wedding, and now I'm happily wearing my engagement ring again.  :D

 

Yayyyyy I love it so much!!!  I'm so spoiled ;)

 

 

After picking up my rings and having another look at the wedding band in its box, I got very reflective and emotional about our upcoming wedding.  Sure, I am very excited about our big day and very wrapped up in the flurry of activity that is wedding planning, but what I am truly looking forward to are the adventures ahead.  Moving out of the condo and into our first house, continuing to travel the world together, building a life and a family.  I am stupidly excited about all the little things too - for example, I can't wait to use the word "husband" when talking about Eric, or to hear him refer to me as "my wife".  I can't wait to sign my name Mickaela Maxwell (my NAME is changing in 5 months, that is so crazy).  I can't wait for when we can pull out our wedding album and look back on the day, instead of looking forward to it.

 

I came across a tip in a bridal magazine to read a lovely book called Wedding Cake For Breakfast: Essays On The Unforgettable First Year of Marriage.  I bought it off Kobo this weekend and could not put it (well, my iPad) down.  The book is filled with funny and poignant stories from women writers about their first year of marriage, and I would highly recommend it.  Not only did I laugh, but I also cried a river of tears, but that could just be because my fiancé is in Liberia right now and I miss him terribly.  Whether you're right in the thick of your first 365 days, or you're coming up to your big day (like me), or if you're neither of those things but you just want a really good read, you should pick up this book!  It was a soothing reminder that the wedding day isn't the end of the journey or the light at the end of the long tunnel of wedding planning, but it's the first day of a whole new life filled with events - planned, unexpected, heartbreaking, ordinary, and joyous. 

 

 

 

Awe, look at me.  All sappy.

 

 

 

Happy Wedding Wednesday!!!

 

 

~M

 





Hello, Lover...

Hey everyone!  It's so crazy that it's 2014!  I can't believe I'm getting married in just five short months!  It feels like this engagement flew by so fast.  Time does fly when you're having fun, and 2013 was certainly a whirlwind.  The wedding is coming up fast and now is the time that we're working on more of the little details. 

A lot of people have asked me if I am going to the Wonderful Wedding Show this weekend, and all I can say is, been there, done that, got the crappy bag of flyers.  You can read about my experience at last year's wedding show here - and back then I fully planned to go again this year to check it out, and especially to enter all the draws again.  But now that it's arrived, I can safely say no way.  I'd rather get in the ocean with the whale sharks 100 more times than swim the Estrogen Sea again.  Plus, we already have most of the wedding planned and the vendors booked, and I can find more than enough inspiration on Pinterest and in my wedding mags, so I'm gonna take a pass. 

 

Indeed...

 

But I know what you're thinking, how could I bury the lead?!?!  It's the post you've all been waiting for!  Haha, well maybe not.  But I know I was excited when I finally chose my wedding shoes and ordered them!

This has honestly been such an agonizing decision.  Believe me, I know how stupid that sounds, but it has.  Way harder than choosing a dress.  I have waffled back and forth on how to approach choosing a shoe.  I knew that I wanted to strass a pair, but they needed to be exactly the right pair.  I didn't want to pay $800 for a pair of unstrassed Louboutins only to slap crazy glue all over them (have mercy).  But I also didn't want to spend 40 hours gluing $400 worth of rhinestones onto a pair of $40 shoes.  I was looking for a peeptoe pump with a hidden platform and a 4" heel or higher, and they had to be either white or beige, because even when strassing carefully some of the color of the shoe peeks through.  I looked and looked and looked but it was impossible to find a pair of quality pumps that matched all my specifications.

 

These are actually called "Very Riche".  Because you have to be very riche to be able to afford them.

Then I saw Christina Aguilera at the AMA's, wearing the exact pair of Louboutins I was inspired by.  And to be honest, once I saw them on a body, wearing a white dress no less - let's just say, me no likey.  It's like a blinding flash of bling, all up in your face.  With my dress, I am going for the "floaty and romantic" look, not the "Real Housewives of New Jersey" look.  I don't want to end up looking like I'm wearing two tin cans on my feet.  So after I saw these photos, it was back to the drawing board.

 

She looks stunning!  The shoes though, I don't love them.  :(

 

So now what?  Back to more of the CL Daffodile Strass style, with a closed toe?  More of a Manolo style, with no platform and a pointed toe?  Should I just forget this all together?  I mean, I'm only going to be wearing the shoes for the ceremony, photos, and dinner, I won't be dancing in them for very long.  And they'll be covered by my dress, so who cares?  But it's shoes.  I love shoes, and on my wedding day shouldn't I be wearing the most spectacular pair I've ever owned?  Gah.  Waffle waffle. 

It's embarrassing the amount of hours I spent scouring the internet looking at shoes after this, so I'll spare you the details, but one glorious afternoon, lightning struck.  I came across a pair of glorious Badgley Mischka bridal shoes, and fell in love right away.  I have to say I surprised myself, because these are NOT AT ALL what I thought I would pick.  I thought for sure I would be wearing a pair of pumps.  But these little beauties totally embody the floaty and romantic look I'm going for, and they will match my dress perfectly.  May I present the Badgley Mischka "Adele":

 

 

 

 

 

Ahhhhhhh so excited!!!

I love these shoes for so many reasons, and I also love how much they remind me of one of my favorite shows of all time, Sex and the City.  Oh Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda, how I miss you and all your adventures.  (Except your second movie.  That was a train wreck.)  Anyway, Badgley Mischka was the designer of Charlotte's second wedding dress, when she married Harry:

 

"Oh gawd...you look like Audrey Hepburn......owitz"

 

 

And as soon as I saw the Adele, they reminded me of these Christian Louboutin cascade ruffle sandals that Carrie wears on her last date with Big before he moves to Napa:

 

 

 

 

 

"Hello, lover...."

 

 

I still want a pair of blingy shoes, so I feel like these are the perfect pair to strass.  I can strass the heel of them and put a few rhinestones in the petals, and feel sparkly while still feeling dainty and pretty.  Ooh yayyyyy!  I simply cannot WAIT until they arrive!!! 

 

Now I just have to figure out how to stop....

Speaking of bling, Eric and I ordered our wedding bands this past weekend!  This was a really special experience, so I will be sharing that with you next week!  I don't have my engagement ring right now (sad face) because our jeweller is working with it as we speak, so hopefully by next Wednesday I'll have it back in time for blogging!


Happy Wedding Wednesday!!!


~M