" We had 22 people at our wedding... Collectively we drank 42 bottles of wine. Yes. 42. For 22 people. WINE.

I had the pleasure to work  with Lauren multiple times.  First, in 2016 when she came to me to work on a custom band to match her platinum Art Deco engagement ring.  Next, her husband chose the platinum Birch Ring as his wedding band.  I worked with Lauren on a customized earring and necklace set to match her wedding gown.  And finally, a year after the wedding, I wound up working with her on a custom rose gold and tourmaline alternate engagement ring to wear on work days to protect her vintage diamond ring.

We talked a lot and shared throughout our work and design collaboration, and I came to view Lauren as more of a friend than a customer.  Recently, I reached back out to her to find out how her wedding went and what she's been up to since...

How did you meet?

"honestly, there is something to be said about shared experiences - it’s definitely made our relationship stronger.

We actually met in high school but reconnected again much later.  He remembered my '67 Mustang and that I apparently was nice, so he reached out to me to see how I was doing. We started talking and connected pretty quickly. I was going through a bit of a rough patch and was in the process of moving closer to my sister, and it just so happened that he lived close to her too, which was crazy, because we went to high school about an hour and a half away.  Serendipity, I guess! 

He asked me to move in after we had been seeing each other for a month, and proposed after three. 

I always wanted to get away from my hometown and high school people growing up, but honestly, there is something to be said about shared experiences - it’s definitely made our relationship stronger.

How did he propose?

"It was perfect. No fluff, no knees, just us, the sound of the waves, the stars, and the old man dog. 

We had taken a long weekend trip up to Northern Michigan on July 1st to see if we could see the Northern Lights. We spent the day seeing his favorite places in his home-away-from home of Indian River and then went to the Headlands Dark Sky Park to see if we could see the lights. It’s a really fond memory for me. We brought my dog, Digby, with us, which isn’t something we usually did, and he was all about the sand! It was a beautiful clear night - unfortunately no Northern Lights, but it was nice to lay on the beach together next to Lake Michigan and look at the sky. Afterwords, we tried to find a place to camp and spent about an hour driving through the national forest. We found this secluded turn off with beach access and pitched our tent on the beach at about 1:30 am. 

I remember laying there with my guy and my dog and looking up through the tent mesh at the Milky Way wondering if life could get any better, when we started talking about marriage. Neither of us can quite remember how the conversation went, but we had been talking about marriage for a month or so, so I didn’t really think anything of it when he asked if I would marry him. Thinking he meant sometime in the future, I told him that of course I would. Then he said ‘well, will you wear this ring?’ and I realized he meant right now! It was perfect. No fluff, no knees, just us, the sound of the waves, the stars, and the old man dog. 

Why did you decide to go with one of my rings?

I’ve always been a big fan of fantasy novels, and there is something about being in the woods that makes the magic seem real.

My ring is an antique 1920’s Art Deco style which is impossible to pair with pretty much anything. I knew I needed a custom band, but I wanted it to be true to me. I’ve always been a big fan of fantasy novels, and there is something about being in the woods that makes the magic seem real. I got lucky and stumbled across your Etsy page and found exactly what I was looking for in your style. I reached out to ask some questions, and I knew you would be wonderful to work with!

I asked my husband why he picked his band (he has the Monhegan) he shrugged and said ‘it looks cool?’. Haha. He likes that it isn’t super thick, but durable, and the birch bark pattern brings him back to his Northern Michigan roots.