An Engagement Story: Sarah & Mike

I’ll be completely honest: Sarah and Mike are the type of clients we dream about. We first met Mike last year when he contacted us about designing an antique-inspired engagement ring for his girlfriend, Sarah. Fast-forward to today and we have created not only this ring, but we repaired and reset Sarah’s family ring, created some beautiful bridesmaids gifts for Sarah, and restored some treasured antique costume earrings that Sarah plans to wear on her wedding day.On top of all this, they’re incredibly warm, thoughtful people whom we’ve loved getting to know. I sat down with them to talk about their engagement story, their thoughtful use of Sarah’s antique diamonds, and how an impromptu dance party with a bunch of strangers can lead to love...  Meaghan: So you and Mike have known each other for about five years. How did you meet? Sarah: Mike and I met downtown over Thanksgiving weekend of 2013. My girlfriends and I went out to Policy that night and at some point in the evening a friend of mine started chatting up one of Mike’s friends. I noticed Mike immediately and thought he was so handsome. I’ll be honest, I thought he looked like James Franco and I have a huge celebrity crush on James Franco! I was feeling especially outgoing that weekend so I just went up to this incredibly handsome man and asked him for a drink, and he one-upped me by ordering a fine vodka instead of the rail option I originally asked for! Mike: You know, when you’re at Policy and paying $12 for a rail drink, you might as well pay $16 for a good drink (laughs). Honestly I never usually go to Policy but that night my friend and I went on a whim and lucky for us, Sarah was there with her friends. Meaghan: So you connected at the bar, did you know you had found something special from the beginning? Sarah: Oh, yes. We talked and danced and laughed through the night; we really had our own improvised dance party at Policy with all of our friends and I knew I wanted to spend more time with him.  Mike: I felt the same way. I knew she was something special and I wasn’t ready to say goodbye after a few hours at the bar. Meaghan: What drew you to each other initially? Sarah: Aside from the James Franco look-alike factor, he’s also so incredibly genuine. He knows who he is- - for better or for worse -- and he is very comfortable with it. I love that. He’s also very calm. I could sense this from the beginning and I definitely needed someone in my life with his type of balancing energy. At the same time, though, I’d seen he could totally cut loose and break it down at a dance party, have fun, and be uninhibited. Mike: Well, she’s gorgeous. She has this incredible smile and presence. As we kept talking she was engaging and happy, she made me laugh… she was very easy to talk to and banter with. It was always very easy to fall into things with Sarah. There was never a moment of awkwardness. Meaghan: What made you decide you wanted to get married? Sarah: Honestly, we had talked about our future pretty early on in our relationship and we just got to a point where it was understood that we would be together and that we were partners. At that point we had been through enough tough conversations and honest discussions to feel like we could build a future together. We were always very transparent about our plans and our needs and while it hasn’t always been easy to work through those things, we did, and it was ultimately good because it forced us to talk through a lot before taking this next step. Mike: We took our time to figure it out and I’m really glad we did. Marriage is not easy and we know that, especially in today’s world where divorce is so prevalent. There’s so much pressure and stress to get it right that it almost makes it so that you hardly want to get married at all. But, we took the time to really get the fundamentals of our relationship to where they are now and we’re learned so much about each other in the last five years that we feel confident we can figure out and work through things that come up in our future.  Sarah: When we moved in together, it really felt like we were building our lives and home together. I’m in grad school at Georgetown right now, but I had considered doing a year-long grad program at UVA before committing to Georgetown; I realized while I was in that consideration process that I really wanted to be with him and be present with him. School has been a big thing to balance with our relationship. I feel like I should give him my diploma when I finish it at the end of this year (laughs). Meaghan: Can you tell us about how you got engaged? Mike: Well, I knew I wanted to marry Sarah and I told her that, and I also knew that she had family diamonds that she wanted to use in her engagement ring. So, I knew things couldn’t be a complete surprise because we needed to get her family involved so that we could use these meaningful pieces passed down from her great, great grandmother. Before getting engaged, we wanted our families to meet, so we planned a trip to Savannah. Her family is from south Georgia, mine is from Maryland, so it was a good opportunity for everyone to spend time together while the city was in bloom. It was beautiful. At the end of the weekend I went for a walk with Sarah’s dad and I asked him for permission to marry her…he gave me a huge hug! He’s a big guy so it was a very big hug. Sarah: So, after that my dad came to me and said to me, “I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you this but you’re my only daughter and I can’t keep things from you. Mike asked me if he could marry you and I am so happy for you!” He’s very sentimental and sweet so this was a very big deal for him. From there, we talked to my parents about using my great great grandmother’s antique diamond, which was set in a beautiful antique setting that I love, but I knew I wanted to create something new for my engagement ring. Meaghan: How fortunate that you already had a meaningful diamond that you could use for your own ring. What next steps did you take?  Mike: Considering how important Sarah’s family’s ring was, I really wanted to make sure I did not screw this up! The ring has been in her family since the early 1800s and I wanted Sarah to be able to look at the new setting and really love it and appreciate it and know it was just right. So, we decided to take it to a jeweler together to get things started on the design, with the understanding that Sarah would bow out once we had a good idea down of what we would make, so that the final ring would still be a surprise for her. Meaghan: How did you choose your jeweler? Mike: We did some research into jewelers, but ended up coming here based off of a recommendation from a friend. We knew from the moment we walked in that this was the right place. I felt like you guys really appreciated our experience and the history we wanted to honor with Sarah’s ring and it was so comfortable here from the beginning. Sarah: Yes, I mean, I had this ring that has been worn and cherished by four generations of women in my family and I really wanted us to steward the story of this ring. Tim really clearly understood this and I felt right about working with him. Meaghan: Before getting engaged, did you know what you wanted for a ring?  Sarah: I definitely had the proverbial secret Pinterest board going for a while! (Laughing) I knew I loved vintage Edwardian details and I actually found a ring on a website that I was obsessed with but couldn’t make work with my family diamond. So, I basically showed that ring to Tim and he made something very similar to this, but set lower and made some small adjustments to the design to be more in tune with my style. Meaghan: So once you had the ring, how did the proposal go down? Was it a surprise? Sarah: I’ll answer here -- the proposal was definitely a surprise. (Laughs) Mike finished the ring and we had gone through this whole design process and then…nothing happened. I was definitely to a point were I was very, very ready to be engaged. We went on a couple of trips together where I was positive he was going to propose and nothing happened! I was, admittedly, really disappointed. I had this vision of getting engaged in 2017 because I really wanted to get married in 2018. In Judaism, 18 is a lucky number so it was special to me to have our wedding this year. And then suddenly it was almost New Year's and we still weren’t engaged… Mike: I’ll be honest, I really had no idea how to do the proposal. I picked up the ring in September and then spent the next four months trying to find the right moment. I even started carrying a backpack with the ring in it so that I always had it ready, but the right moment just never came. I knew I wanted to include her family somehow, especially considering the provenance of the diamond, so I needed to wait for a time when we would all be together but still able to propose in private with Sarah. We had planned to be back in Savannah with her parents for New Year's so I decided I would propose while we were there, but I still wasn’t sure exactly how I would do it… Sarah: So yes, I was disappointed that it looked like I’d close out 2017 without a proposal, but I had kind of moved on from it at that point. On New Year’s Eve Day we went for an early morning walk like we had every morning we were in Savannah; it’s such a beautiful city and especially that morning, we had the whole place to ourselves at 8am on New Year’s Eve Day. We got to this particular square -- Monterey Square -- where there are some amazing historical buildings, including the synagogue where my parents got married. I pointed it out to Mike and he looked around and said, “OK, this is good,” and I said, “Oh, do you want to go home?” and he says, “No, I have something for you…” and then he dropped to one knee and proposed right there. It was absolutely perfect. 

Sarah and Mike, right after the proposal

 Mike: The moment she mentioned her parents getting married there, I knew it was just right. We were able to have the moment to ourselves, but then we could immediately go meet up with her parents and brother to show the ring to her family and share the celebration with them. They were so excited for us and it was really great to be able to bring the ring full circle with them. Meaghan: What a beautiful story! I love the care you took in making this a meaningful and personal event but also were generous enough to share this with Sarah’s parents. Now that you’ve been through it, do you have any tips for those who are thinking about getting engaged? Sarah: I would just say that you need to feel comfortable sharing your ideas about what you want out of your ring or whatever you’re making. I really appreciated that with you guys. I mean, I honestly kind of feel like an idiot when I come here because I have all these crazy Pinterest-inspired creative inspirations but I don’t know what’s possible or a good idea, but I have always felt so comfortable sharing these zany projects with you and being vocal about what I want. I always knew that you guys would guide us through the process and make it right. Also, enjoy the time right after getting engaged. Everyone says this but it’s true, it flies by! Mike: It’s no different from deciding to get married. Bring all your ideas to the table, trust the person you’re working with, and believe it will come out with something beautiful. (Well said, Mike!!) Meaghan: Can you describe your design process in one word? Mike: I can’t describe it in one word. I can say that our ring symbolizes who Sarah truly is, and that’s what I wanted. When I look at it I see grace, and that’s what Sarah brings into a room. Grace and beauty. (Well said again, Mike!!!) Sarah: Personal. It was very personal from when we first came and met you guys, to all of my emails back and forth, to all of the renderings and going over those together, to using my family’s stones, to caring about our story. Very personal and customized. This whole time I’ve just felt so taken care of. Thank you, Sarah and Mike!  

Engagement session photography: https://www.finnlivelyphotography.com/Other photos generously provided by Sarah & Mike