When I went to get my wedding dress cleaned, I learned that the minimum charge would be $120!! I'm sure that's completely normal and reasonable but I just was not anticipating anything even close to that, so I said no thank you and went on my way. I checked the donation website and they actually don't require that you have your dress cleaned before you send it to them, so they will be getting my slightly dirty dress in the mail shortly (don't judge).
Also I just finished reading this really hilarious and sweet and amazing book called Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. I'm not only bringing it up because I can't recommend this book enough and you all should read it, but also because I bought this book in the airport before we left for Jamaica, and I found out that they have this awesome program where if you buy a book at the airport and return it within six months in any condition, they refund you half of the price you paid! I thought that was quite genius.
Ok now onto the new stuff...
My engagement ring literally cost almost as much as our entire wedding. It's a round 0.71 carat diamond solitaire on a white gold band, from Milanj Diamonds. David is so proud, he could talk about it for hours... how the cut grade is "ideal" and the color grade is a D (meaning it is completely colorless, which is a good thing... like, basically colorless is the BEST color for a diamond to be). When he gave it to me he pointed out how there were actually heart and arrow shapes in the stone if you looked at it from different angles, and the symmetry and polish were both categorized as "very good." This ring was a budget buster and definitely was not "on the cheap."
Funny side note - Milanj was not subtle at all, and would send things to David in the mail, with handwritten envelopes. This can make the woman you've been dating for almost four years a little bit suspicious and anxious. The first time they mailed him something, I just put it in his mail pile and let him find it on his own, giving him the false hope that maybe I hadn't noticed it. The second time, I handed it to him directly. He opened it in front of me and then crumpled it up and threw it out in the trash can. I saw that instead of just throwing it on top of all the other trash, he actually picked up the empty container on the top of the pile and shoved the paper underneath. Of course when he left the room I dug right in to find the paper (again, don't judge me), and when I did I realized it was just the envelope - he had taken whatever was inside with him. Pretty sneaky. It was something about the insurance... but come on, Milanj. Email!!
In contrast to my not-cheap engagement ring, we spent a long time looking for a good deal on our wedding bands. David found his on ebay. It's tungsten, a thick silver colored band with two thin gold colored stripes on the sides. And it cost a whopping $45. My band is totally a story where it's all about who you know, and maybe some good karma thrown in there as well.
I run with an amazing organization called Back on My Feet, which uses running to help those experiencing homelessness change the way they see themselves so they can make real change in their lives that results in employment and independent living. Every Wednesday morning at 530am, I go with a group of students from Moore College of Art & Design (where I work) to the House of Passage shelter. Moore is an all female school, and HOP is an all female shelter, and it is an amazing experience to see these two groups interact. It's truly inspiring.
One of the non-resident members of our group who was the team leader at the time is named Chakir, and he is just a bundle of sweet smiling energy. How anyone can be so hyper and happy at 530am every morning is beyond me. It felt like a gift to start my day by being around him - you can't help but smile when you're in his presence, even if he's making you do jumping jacks or run 3 miles. After we became friends on facebook, I saw that his day job was selling jewelry. I told him I was looking for a ring and he told me to come to the store where he worked one day after work.
When I got there, I was a little discouraged to see some beautiful rings that cost somewhere around $2,000, just a tiny bit out of my budget. He said to just find one with a look that I liked, and that he might be able to find one that looked the same but was just slightly lower quality and in my price range (which I had told him was more around the $250 mark). I was skeptical, but I showed him the one I liked, which was white gold and had small diamonds all along the top of the band. The very next day he texted me a photo of what looked like the same exact ring and said he could get it for me for $245. I of course said yes, and a week later I had my ring.
Chakir could do this because he not only works at the high end diamond store, but he also has his own jewelry business called Chakir Jewelry. He can check with his suppliers to find rings that the store most likely wouldn't carry, and can also sell them to his friends at cost so you don't get killed with the crazy mark up. And that's exactly what he did for me.
Throughout the entire wedding planning process I was continually surprised and grateful for what my friends and family did for me, and how even people that I didn't know very well were willing to help. So my advice to you is to take advantage of every resource and try to look for connections... and maybe take some time out of your day to do something good for someone else too.
Oh and also, try to get engaged to a guy who thinks you're so great, he buys you a diamond the size of a... hmm... what's something that's just big enough that the exaggeration is funny? Like... a Crunch Berry? Yes. A diamond the size of a Crunch Berry.
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