Milwaukee Fashion + Lifestyle Blog
I’ve dreamed about getting engaged and married since I was a little girl. I don’t know if it was my Christian upbringing, influences from the media, or what. I always knew I wanted to get married. The idea of finding someone you want to spend everyday with was an exciting and joyful thought for me. Starting a family, buying a house, getting a dog have long been a part of my plans. And so was thinking about what my engagement ring would look like. As a piece of jewelry that symbolizes the bond you have with someone, and the commitment you’re making to be partners in life, it holds a lot of weight.
I’ve always been a fan of wearing jewelry – chunky necklaces, statement earrings, bracelet bangles, I’ll take it all. But I’ve never been the biggest fan of rings. Maybe it was that I didn’t have the right sizes for my fingers, or my past propensity to choose statement rings that just got in the way of everything. I was never really drawn to rings or felt the need to wear them all the time. Which made me a little nervous when I started thinking about an engagement ring and wedding band. Would I love wearing it all day, every day? But what I’ve found is just like picking a partner for life, it’s all about finding the right fit.
So you already know my love story and the story of how we recently got engaged, but if not and you’re interested, feel free to check out those posts. Being in a relationship with my fiancé for the past 8 years, I’ve thought a lot about getting engaged to Jeff. I thought about where and when he might propose. How we would tell our family & friends. And how we would go about planning our dream wedding together. But one big piece of that proposal is having “the ring”.
One ring to rule them all (ha). One ring that would be a symbol of mine and Jeff’s love, commitment, and friendship. In an effort to keep this is as sappy as possible, I knew that I would love whatever ring he gave me. Why? Because he gave it to me. But I know it was also on Jeff’s mind to give me a ring that I would love. That’s where the story of how I (not so) subtly picked out my own engagement ring begins.
A few years ago, let’s call it my mid-twenties, I definitely had the engagement + wedding bug. A lot of my close friends were getting married, so it’s safe to say weddings was on my mind. I had my Pinterest board of wedding inspiration in full swing, and I was looking around to get ideas of what I might want for an engagement ring, if I had a say. In my searches for inspiration on Pinterest and Instagram, I came across the Local Eclectic account on IG (@localeclectic). They share all sorts of jewelry pieces from a variety of female designers that can be purchased on their website. I came across a few absolutely gorgeous engagement rings on their feed, and that is how I found Emi Conner. As they say, the rest is history.
Emi Conner is a self-taught jewelry maker and designer. She moved to the US from her home country of Thailand in 2005. After years of working with computers, she longed for a new means of expressing her creativity. She was gifted a hematite ring, and instantly was attracted to its beauty and the idea of the energy that crystals and gemstones carry. Which inspired her to start pursuing jewelry design. As a female-founded and owned business, I instantly felt connected to her story and to her brand.
It brings me joy to know that our handcrafted pieces can make a difference to your day, to carry the energy of your gemstone with you, to make you feel strong, enchanted, and charged with positivity.
Emi Conner
If the team at Emi Conner noticed they always had at least one person on their website for YEARS – it was me. After browsing through all of their rings and jewelry, I was immediately drawn to the style and designs from Emi Conner. Though I really love all of their pieces, there were a few engagement ring designs in particular that caught my eye. I literally had the browser tabs open to those rings on my phone for years. For real.
Now when I say that I picked out my exact engagement ring – that’s not necessarily the case. I did have the ring saved on my phone, but I had a few other options saved that I liked as well. It was still very much a surprise to me when I first saw the ring as Jeff proposed. And with a few well-time and placed helpful hints, he ultimately chose exactly the right one.
You don’t need to have your ring exactly picked out. Having some ideas of what you like is a good place to start. For engagement rings, there are so many options out there to choose from. Here’s just a few aspects you need to think about.
I had toyed around with the idea of rose gold vs. gold metal for a long time. I knew I wanted some aspect of my ring to have a pink/rose tone to it. Since I wear all sorts of metal jewelry, it was hard to choose. Knowing that I primarily wear gold, I ultimately decided that a gold band made the most sense for me.
But then how do I include pink? I knew it wasn’t a traditional choice, Emi Conner has a variety of styles with Peach Morganite or Rose Quartz stones in her designs. Seeing how beautifully the Morganite stones sat with diamonds around it or next to it, I knew a combination or Morganite and Diamonds would be a good choice for me.
After learning more about morganite and the meaning behind the stone, it confirmed it for me. Morganite is associated with romance, love, sweetness, and innocence. It’s connected to the heart and is attuned to the heart chakra. Morganite is expected to bring healing, compassion, and promise to those who wear it. For me, it was the perfect choice.
If you (or your significant other) have any concerns about your significant other choosing the “right” ring for you, a great way to drop hints is through close friends or family members. Now I didn’t know for certain at first that my friend Jackie was sending rings I shared with her to Jeff. But I did think of all of my close friends, she was the most likely to do it! And I’m so happy she did. When I saw some rings that I absolutely loved, I shared them with Jackie. Every so often, she would pass that inspiration on to Jeff.
In some instances, it’s common for significant others to browse at rings or go shopping for rings with a close friend or family member. If you have an idea of who that might be in your life, it could help to drop some hints with them as well. Without saying exactly what you want (if you know), it’s helpful to know what type of metal, stone, & shape when shopping for engagement rings. I know many a significant other who have been overwhelmed by the process.
The best way to ensure that your engagement ring has elements of it that you love is to go ring shopping or share ring inspiration with your significant other directly. Obviously, some couples prefer the complete surprise and that’s wonderful. After being in a relationship with Jeff for close to a decade, we started more openly discuss our plans for a future, and of course, getting married. I’m not too picky about jewelry, but Jeff wanted to make sure that I absolutely loved my engagement ring. By the time he picked out my ring, he had plenty of ideas and inspiration for what I might like. Some from the examples I had saved on my phone that he may have “accidentally” come across. Some from our friends from what they knew, and a few other hints from me.
When he purchased my ring, I didn’t know which one he picked out. I had an idea of what color it would be and that the main stone would be a morganite. And ever since I first put it on, I haven’t wanted to take it off. Though I have forgotten to put it back on after washing my hands a few times, I love wearing it and looking at it. Any worry I had about being comfortable wearing it everyday quickly vanished. Besides being absolutely beautiful in my opinion, it really feels like me. When a lot of my friends and family saw it for the first time, they agreed. It just looked like my ring.
And that’s probably the best compliment of all.
Disclaimer – This post was written as a part of a partnership with Emi Conner, but all opinions and experiences are my own. Including me immediately falling in love with the Emi Conner brand and her designs when I first found them on Instagram.
