DIY Wedding Rings
As I typed the name of this post, I thought, “Jesus, that sounds so hipster.” You know, we’re so alternative and non-conformist. So we’re going to make our own wedding rings out of ironic vintage T-shirts or a Dave Eggers book we pretend to understand. Profoundly.
As awesome as that would be, I found something even better– Wedding Ring Workshop. Couples spend five to six hours working with jewelers to design and actually make each other’s rings. Like with hot metal and a soldering iron.
This is what their Web site says about the process:
- Melting: First melt your metal and cast your ingot (which is a fancy term for a piece of metal you can shape)
- Milling: You mill the ingots into square wire and then into the shape of your choice
- Bending: Using specially shaped pliers you bend the metal into a rough ring shape
- A few more steps that involve tools I’m scared of
- Polishing: Finally, you apply jeweler’s polish for that extra sparkle on your very special rings
Very special indeed. Call me a hippie, but I love the idea of making our own rings. The rings will mean a lot more to me if I risked losing a finger to make them. Brian’s crafty and good with things like saws, and they claim they won’t let you screw up these expensive symbols of your love and happiness. The workshops are offered in a few cities– including San Francisco, New York and San Diego (where Brian will be for a few weeks when he finally gets back from deployment).
I have to call for exact prices since the cost of gold and platinum changes so much, but it’s supposedly cheaper than buying from a retailer. Sweet. Let’s just pray mine doesn’t turn out all special like some of my previous attempts at being crafty (lopsided clay bowls, a skirt with a crooked hem that took me a whole semester to make, papier-mâché projects that never quite dried). If I’m feeling extra sassy, maybe I’ll attempt engraving something inside. What should the message be? (Note: “I will cut you” is not appropriate, Ide.)
Creative Commons image courtesy of DJOtaku’s Flickr page.
12 comments
I heard about a charming woman who etched “Put it back on” onto the inside of her husband’s ring. Uplifting, right? I have a feeling yours will be better.
That looks like fun!
I have some suggestions, but you probably won’t like them much because I think “I will cut you” is quite appropriate.
“Abandon hope, all ye who enter here”
“Asian Sensation!!11!”
“Navy Wifey”
“Demure Navy Wifey”
“Barefoot and Preggers”
“Make Me A Sammich”
[…] As I typed the name of this post, I thought, “Jesus, that sounds so hipster.” You know, we’re so alternative and non-conformist. So we’re going to make our own wedding rings out of ironic vintage T-shirts or a Dave Eggers book we pretend to understand. Profoundly. As awesome as that would be, I found something even better– Wedding Ring Workshop. Couples spend five to six hours working with jewelers to design and actually make each other’s rings. Like with hot metal and a soldering iron. Thi Source: http://no-dowry.com/?p=29 […]
“Put it back on.” Wow, really? So much trust and love.
Lil Lisa, I can always count on you to remind me of my role in the household (demurely making sammiches while barefoot and preggers). When you get married, you should engrave “Tiny Fists of Fury” on your wee little ring.
How about “Don’t you dare leave on another deployment… esp. when I’m preggers! Love, Your not-so-demure Navy wife.”
Didn’t work for me, but maybe it’ll work for you. ;-)
Take care, Gil.
Trish
I like the picture you chose to accompany this post. What a precious moment.
Analrapist?
Oh wait. I don’t even KNOW you that well yet ; )
Congratulations Beaner. Making your own rings is really cool. My friend Bryzzle did that with his wife and they did all kinds of intricacy and meaningful additions and symbolic stones. So special, and not in a corky way.
Precious moments indeed! I thought of you when I posted that photo, Ide.
Mimi, I’m glad you made the distinction between special and “special.” Very important.
Trish, your idea might just win! My sentiments exactly.
[…] few months back, I wrote about wanting to go to this great wedding ring workshop, where couples can actually design and make their own rings. I signed us up for the one in San […]
[…] wedding rings like my sister and brother-in-law did for their wedding. They did the most awesome Wedding Ring Workshop, a one-day private class with a jeweler who guided them through the step-by-step process of […]
I tried to check out the wedding ring workshop site because I thought it would be great for my fiancee and I but it appears that the site is either down or no longer exists. is this place still in business and do they have a website?
Ah, you’re right, Richard! It looks like they may have rebranded to A Wedding Ring Experience: http://www.aweddingringexperience.com/. I’m pretty sure this is the same company. Good luck, I hope it works out for you and your fiancee! We really loved the process, and our rings mean so much to us.