A No Rules Or Timeline Followed Engagement Story: Amanda and Ian
Our next Engagement Story is a wonderful example of how throwing out the typical timeline (and storyline!) of an engagement story can lead to a very beautiful result...
Photo Credit: Kate Grace Photography
Our client Amanda came to us after she had already picked out and purchased her engagement ring. In fact, she had already planned an entire wedding... only to experience the pain of multiple COVID-related delays. So to celebrate Amanda and Ian finally getting married this year (after four postponements!), we sat down with the couple to go over their cute engagement story and what led to their decision to design a bespoke celebration ring:
How did you meet?
Amanda: We met online in the tail end of 2014 or early 2015 but did not start dating until August of 2016... it took a while for Ian to give up his bachelor life (which sounds more salacious than it was... he basically just liked being able to play video games all weekend and sleep until 2pm!)
What drew you to each other initially?
Amanda: I was drawn to Ian for a number of reasons. He's endlessly positive, sometimes to a fault. He will do ANYTHING for friends, and there is literally no one who does not have a story of something Ian has done for them; I swear my friends like him more than they like me. He's incredibly good at little moments of kindness and small, sweet gestures that speak to my heart more than sporadic, big, commercial showings of love (but nothing wrong with that too). He's also pretty funny, and we like travel, wine, and theater (sometimes hard to find in a man).
Ian: I found, and still find, Amanda very attractive both physically and for who she is as a person. She's got an exceptionally kind heart, she's very intelligent, and she's motivated and knows what she wants. We both shared similar interests in wine, musicals, music, and television shows. She puts up with my terrible jokes fairly well and is constantly pushing me to be the fantastic person she thinks I am. She's definitely my better half.
What made you decide you wanted to get married?
Amanda: Gosh, I'm not sure there was a defining moment. I knew before Ian. I knew before we were ever officially dating. One week after we started dating, we took a weekend trip to Charlottesville (we planned this even before we were "official"). I got a little too wine happy at Pippin Hill and announced, in front of our designated driver, that I was going to marry him. We were only EIGHT days in at that point. But he didn't run away or act weird, he simply said "ok" and kissed me. If I had to say what made me decide, it's all the things from the above question, mixed with the fact that several friends said I was a much calmer person when I was around him.
How did the proposal go down? Was it a surprise?
Amanda: Here's a fun and weird thing we did: we booked our wedding venue AND engagement photo session (in Iceland) before we ever had a ring! We picked my actual engagement ring out together the morning before my best friend's wedding. It's not from Alx&Co - we were back in my hometown, and there was a sale, and we were nervous, and we left the store twice before actually committing. We were not worried about the actual getting married part (at least I wasn't), but we had never spent that kind of money before. We told NO ONE what we had done, but secretly it was fun being in my friend's wedding and knowing I was next.
We officially got engaged about three weeks later at the tippy top of the Ferris Wheel in National Harbour. When he asked me, I opened the ring box, and it was a ring pop! Now every single time we pass by it, I point and scream, "We got engaged there!"
The picture on the left is a rendering of Amanda’s ring (right).
Tell us about the design process. What inspired you to design a second ring for your wedding?
Amanda: We are a pandemic bride and groom. We were to get married on April 11, 2020, and like so many, we had to cancel our wedding. We ended up having to re-plan our wedding FOUR times before it happened on April 15, 2022. We got legally married on June 28, 2020 (my parents' anniversary) in my aunt's backyard with just our immediate family and my aunt's neighbors (who got ordained online to marry us because I couldn't find anyone that wanted to risk being around people).
For our larger celebration for family and friends, I decided I "needed" a new ring to signify that day. I had some ideas of what I wanted, something a little antique. When we decided to still move forward with looking, I knew I wanted something more cocktail ring-like, something not perfectly symmetric, and so going custom just made sense.
Can you describe your design process in one word?
Amanda: FUN! I was probably not a favorite client because I did change my mind a few times and was slow to make decisions (I get nervous about spending any amount of money), but in the end, my ideas were all heard and used and tweaked to make it all come together seamlessly! Alx&Co. was also great with suggestions about where we could safely save a few dollars and where it was needed for impact. Also, that computer program y'all use is really amazing! It is so cool to see something on a screen and then hold it in your hand a few weeks later, like it kind of blows my mind.
Any tips for those who are thinking about getting engaged?
Amanda: In terms of the ring, don't try to get something that you "think" will impress others. My engagement ring is moissanite, which was much more cost-effective for us, and I gave up nothing in terms of look or size, AND we were able to buy two cars and a house the same year without having to eat Ramen. My other tip was hard to learn... don't put your wedding date on ALL OF YOUR WEDDING DAY DECOR AND STATIONERY! Or be prepared to travel "back in time" to make it all make sense.
