My wedding band

A month or so ago, we started our quest for wedding bands. I did some online searching, but did not come across anything that struck me. We decided to head into the city to see what there was in store. We found a beautiful wedding band that we both really loved. Not only did it pair nicely with my engagement ring, but it really complimented my grandmother's ring that I sometimes wear on my right hand. The only problem was that it was way more than we wanted to spend. While I love diamonds and sparkle like most any girl, I am a bit frugal and can not imagine dropping that kind of cash.

Here is the ring we fell in love with, or at least I did! :)

After some more looking, I just could not get that ring out of my head. The style was just what I was looking for, so we decided to make my band. Dave had my engagement ring made at the San Francisco Diamond Exchange, so it was only fitting that we go there to make my band. Not to mention the staff is super friendly and very helpful, which made the entire experience that much better.

We set up an appointment to go over the ring design and check out the stones, this is something that my fiance really enjoyed when he shopped for my engagement ring. The original band was an infinity ring with mill grain detail, but I wanted something with fewer diamonds and a clean bezel. We were thrilled to learn that in a week we could see a mold of the ring.

Here it is! Dave went in to select the stones and assign their placement, I can't wait to see the real thing in a few short weeks. Too bad I have to wait for September to wear it!

Guest book ideas

Before I stumbled across my mailbox at a flea market, I was on a search for different guest book ideas for our wedding. My goal for this blog (other than to update it WAY more often) is to fill it with ideas that I find along the way. I have not been the best lately at putting thoughts down on my blog, but if you "like me" on Facebook--you should be getting some pretty regular inspiration.

Anyway, back to the guestbooks. Here are some ideas that I found really useful. My big thing was that I didn't care to have a book of signatures that I'll never look at again. What's more important to me is something that will do two things: entertain my guests and give me some sort of a keepsake.

Guest book ideas
1. Have your guests sign an oversized letter of your new last name. Not taking his name? That's okay--use an ampersand!

via Style Me Pretty

2. I absolutely love this! Create a wedding style Mad Lib and have your guests fill out their own for you to laugh at later.

via The Knot

3. We really liked this idea, but since we are having a destination wedding--the idea of lugging a suitcase of rocks home was not an option. Have your guests sign small rocks and put them into a large glass hurricane. Store them there, or scatter them in your garden!


via the Knot

4. Because we're doing stumps as our centerpieces, I loved the idea of spreading out that theme to our guestbook. This "guest log" on etsy is really cute!


5. Doing a lovebird theme? Have your guests leave their thumbprint to make a tree. Use inks of your wedding colors! You can buy the one below here.


6. Want to DIY without having to completely do it all yourself? This one from Martha Stewart is great. It's similar to a traditional guestbook, but with enough design flair to make you want to hang it up. Best of all, you can download the template and customize it yourself.



7. Put a vintage typewriter out on your guest table with some extra paper and have your guests type messages up for you. There's tons on ebay. or maybe you're fortunate to have one if your own. When it's all said and done, you can scan the pages to put into your wedding album.


8. If all else fails, there's always the "signing of the mat." Pick out one of your favorite photos or save it for a wedding picture and have your guests sign all around it. I created a large version of my event poster for one of my bride's and she used that (Thanks Michelle for sending me this photo!). Any of my invites can be resized for applications like this!