As I mentioned in my piece about our engagement, my fiancé, Richie, and I had talked seriously about our future for years but we’d never made a specific timeline until spring 2020. At that point, we agreed that I would get the details of my dream ring together and send them to him so he could start the design process.

It weirdly didn’t seem like a big deal to me especially since I already knew I wanted a Heidi Gibson ring and had known that for years. But I buckled down and got serious about figuring out some VERY specific details.

I perused Heidi Gibson’s site for the specific ring that I would be happy wearing for the rest of my life. I’d always wanted a marquise stone because, one, I love the shape and, two, it elongates my stubby fingers…so I immediately filtered to those options. I came across the Starlet and just knew...that that was almost it. So I kept searching and saw the Valentina. I realized I preferred the softer east/west (right/left) sides of this ring, as opposed to the sharper Starlet. However, didn’t want it to be as soft as the Valentina (feel sorry for Richie yet?). Instead, I decided I still wanted three baguettes on either side, like the Starlet, but I wanted them to be slighter shorter to soften those edges.

Now, for the main event, the stones. I’ve known for years that I didn’t want a diamond. It’s just not my thing and I love color too much. I saw a morganite stone probably about five or six years ago and knew that was the gem for me. I did strongly consider amethyst for a bit there but, ultimately, because of my skin tone and the more neutral tones of morganite, landed on the peachier color. I definitely wanted to be sure the shade was more peachy than pink because I’m not a pink gal.

We’ve now come to that stunning double halo. I was very clear that I did not want Richie spending a ton of money on this ring. I mean, you really never know, my style may completely change in 20 years and I might want a new ring! I seriously doubt it because I’m absolutely obsessed...but it’s the principle of the thing! So, I asked that he do white sapphires, not diamonds, for the surrounding stones. He did not listen to me and went with diamonds instead...I didn’t even find out until I got my insurance (BTW, GET INSURANCE ON YOUR RING ASAP!) and saw the appraisal lol. He neglected to mention because he knew he went against my wishes. However, I actually am glad he did it now because it was his way of still throwing some surprise into the design and diamonds are his birthstone.

Now how about the setting and band color? I’m very much a silver person, my skin is too pale for those gold tones! But as I studied morganite rings over the years, I fell in love with rose gold and, although I’m not a big fan of going with “trends” when it comes to wedding stuff (just do whatever you want!), I was all in on this one. And I’m SO happy I ultimately chose to go that direction.

Do you know your ring size? It’s kind of almost the biggest factor in all of this! Especially if you want stones on your band, that’s going to be an expensive resize if it comes to that. I wear a lot of rings so I was pretty clear on my size, or so I thought. I also tried on my future sister-in-law’s ring and we landed on a 7.5. However, some months later, I was at Kwiat in NYC capturing some content (literally the biggest diamonds I’ve EVER seen) for work and figured I’d ask them to size me while I was there. Turns out I’m a 7 so I texted Richie, figuring he hadn’t even reached out to the designer yet. Little did I know, he had to scramble to contact her before anything was finalized. My bad!

If you know your ring size, you might think, huh, a 7 is a little bigger for a female...yup, I’m aware. I have those stubby fingers. In fact, I specifically told Richie to tell Heidi that “I’m concerned about my fingers being short/stubby so I don’t want the ring to overtake it. Might need to be smaller. I can send a picture of my hand if needed 🙃” Yes...I’m a psycho...actually, no, I’m not, I just wanted this lifelong piece of jewelry to be perfect! I knew there would be two halos and I didn’t want the ring to be massive, so I ultimately suggested they go with a 0.80 carat in the center and I think it’s about that size? I’m actually not totally certain on that one lol.

Obviously I know about ring details, I’ve worked in the wedding industry for over six years. But my point to breaking all those decisions down is to hopefully help you think about what certain aspects you may want in your own ring, or why you may want them. And, to really hammer in the fact that communication is EVERYTHING.

I mean, I wrote out a list with every detail from shape to style and metal, plus another note that “I do NOT want a crazy expensive ring” so that Richie felt informed when going to a ring designer by himself. I mean, I know he was nervous as shit! I’m clearly a perfectionist and he knows I’ve seen gorgeous rings at least once a day for the last six years. That’s a lot of pressure!

And, you know what? It’s absolutely perfect. Not only that but, it’s one thing to plan every detail, it’s completely another to actually see that designed ring. It’s everything I could have ever wanted and more and I’m so fucking happy that I’ll get to wear this for the rest of my life. I mean, seriously. Every time I look at my hand, I’m blown away by how gorgeous it is.

If you have any questions about shopping for your own engagement ring, remember GET INSURANCE ASAP! And then please leave a comment or DM me at @heyheyitskatiek.

xo,

Katie