At Last . . .

So it really hasn't been long at all, but I feel like saying, "Our photos are finally done!" Today, I got the best email ever from our photographer, the lovely & talented Maureen of Sullivan Studios. It informed me that our online gallery of images is up & running. It contains 417 images, and good lord, are they ever amazing! Of course, my favorites are of my goddaughter, but there are some great ones of me & the Mr.

DIY Invitations

We finally settled on an invitation suite. I told you about the ones I loved but couldn't justify the price. I thought about designing them from scratch, actually was pretty set on that. But in the end, we decided to buy invitation kits from Michaels. Yeah, that's right. . . the arts & crafts place. They're not really what I had in mind from the start, but I like them - a lot. They're simple & elegant and, let's face it - at the end of their journey from box to printer to envelope to guest, they'll probably be tossed in the trash. (Shh, don't tell them that!)
"So what do they look like?"
This:

I didn't bother blurring out names or any other information since this is just a photo of the example invite that comes with the kit.
Of course, they come completely disassembled. I'll post step-by-step instructions as we assemble them along with tips on how you can customize or create a similar design from scratch.

E Photos

Yesterday, Jakob and I had our engagement photo shoot with Maureen Sullivan of Sullivan Photography. We met in Lyons, and at out first location, an autumn storm moved in, raining us out. We were able to get a few shots in before driving to our second location. Luckily, the weather in Colorado is ever changing - rainstorms blow in quickly, and just as quickly out. Our second location was St Catherine's church near Estes Park. It's this great old stone church with Mt. Meeker in the background. For photos of the church, click here. I'm glad we decided to keep going, since at our third and final location (for the day) we got some great shots with the most incredible rainbow in the background.

Maureen is incredible - she's so full of life and so much fun to be around. She made our engagement shoot a lot of fun, and had some great locations chosen. She even offered to finish the shoot next week since the weather wasn't cooperating for much of it. Naturally, I took her up on her offer, so we have another meeting with her this Wednesday at 8 am. Since we have appointments at 11am and 1pm in Estes, we're meeting Maureen at St. Catherine's and will make a day of it. As soon as we have the photos back, I'll share them with you!

The Opposites Game

We've finally decided on a baker. In my last post, I told you a little about Colorado Rose Cake Company, our vendor of choice. I love that their cakes are four layers of cake with three layers of filling. That definitely makes their cakes stand out among the competition. The best part is we didn't have to make all the decisions about what we wanted for our wedding cake that day. it's a good thing, because I don't think I could have! Going into our meeting, I planned on an ivory cake (to match my dress) with lavender ribbon (to match my bridesmaids' dresses). I pictured something like this:

I also wanted some simple scrollwork just above the ribbon. I was sure I knew exactly what I wanted and there would be no changing my mind.
Then I saw these:
China Lace
I love how the design on this one covers the top of each tier and folds down over the sides. Instead of chocolate icing, we would go with lavender or platinum (ish) icing.
White Mountains
How perfect would this be for our Rocky Mountain wedding? It would definitely be a unique cake.
So you tell me. . . which cake should we go with - the elegant China Lace or the rustic White Mountains?

Will you wear a pink taffeta dress for my wedding?

A couple of months ago, my MOH and I went dress shopping for bridesmaids dresses. Because of my great experience at Pearls Place when I went shopping for my wedding dress, we went there and let Lisa work her magic. She already knew what my dress looked like, so we just asked her to pick out some dresses that were complimentary. We narrowed our choices down to two:

Sorry, I have no idea who designed this dress, but it's modeled by my fabulous MOH. And yes, she always has sunglasses on - the only time I can remember her not wearing shades was the day she got married. We teased her about getting some white sunglasses to match her dress.


Source

In the end, this is the one we decided to go with. After reviewing the photos we took that day, she decided dress #1 actually fit her better, so I don't remember why we opted for this one. These are the stock photos from Jasmine Bridal. Their dresses will be lavender ice with platinum accent.

I love the way the chiffon accent falls down the the hemline. I'm actually kinda jealous I can't have one too!

STD Fever

We have STDs! (Save the Dates, that is.) The ever-so-wonderful FedEx man delivered them early yesterday morning while I was at my management meeting. Jakob was just opening them when I got home. Normally, I would be putting a photo of what they look like right here:


But since today I sent out a mass email letting friends & family know about the existence of this blog, I will not be posting pictures of them. I want everyone to see them for the first time when they open the envelope. Instead, I will tell you we ordered them from Favors You Keep and show you some other designs we considered before deciding on the one I'm so happy about.

This one was just too cute. If the two dogs looked like Max & Simba, I would have been all over this design.


When I was little I secretly wanted to be a mermaid when I grew up, but in the end, we decided against this one. While Jakob loves to scuba dive, I have a huge fear of drowning, so we felt it would have been an inaccurate representation of us. Yeah, I don't know how I planned to reconcile the drowning thing with being a mermaid - although if you think about it, it's impossible for a mermaid to drown, so it's the perfect career move for me!


This one was a close second. It's a cartoon rendering of the Denver skyline. Since we haven't been residents of Denver for long, we honestly don't know what a lot of the elements in this one are, and figured someone was bound to ask us, "Hey, what's that?" In the end, our inability to answer that potential question was what made us scratch this one off the list.

Favors You Keep makes the whole customization process super easy. You figure out whether you want black and white or color cartoons, choose you design, paper color, ink color, type in your wording, and you're done! (If you opt for color cartoons, it also allows you to customize your hair color & skin tone) After we placed our order, we received an email saying they needed to move a word or two down a line, so they sent us a free email proof to approve before printing them.

Are you doing something a little unconventional for your save the dates?

At Last

We have our first signed contract! Jakob & I made a trip to Estes Park last week. We signed our contract for our fabulous venue, Marys Lake Lodge, and put down a deposit. I feel unbelievably relieved. If nothing else is accomplished, we have a place to get married!


This is the site of our outdoor ceremony:

Naturally, there will be chairs and an aisle and all that jazz. Hopefully there will even be a bit of snow!


And our reception site:

I love the fireplace with double mantle. On the lower mantle we'll have candles, and the upper one will be decorated with flowers. This is the basic setup. For our reception, we will have ivory chair covers, not white and chair sashes to coordinate with our colors. We may even have colored table covers. Unfortunately, Marys Lake Lodge only has white chair covers and no chair sashes, but gave me the name of a rental company they use. Add another item to my list of "things to research".

My question for you today is this: How did you get from "what it is" to "what it could be" with your ceremony and/or reception site? Did you visualize it spontaneously or need inspiration?

To Bling or Not To Bling

It's been a few days since my last post (I think). Sorry for the delay, but in my defense, I've been feeling like, well...a co-worker of mine described it as "my head feels like a water balloon" - like there's stuff sloshing around in there. I hate being sick - I know no one likes being sick, but I REALLY hate it. Unfortunately, my job really doesn't allow me the luxury of curling up in my bed and just sleeping it off so I've been going to work, coming home again, taking care of my zoo, and passing out. Rinse and repeat.

Today, while at the Cherry Creek Mall on a job-related errand, FI and I passed by Papyrus. We decided to stop by just to comparison shop. Naturally, I fell in love with an invitation suite that is completely out of our price range. Meet my new love, Bijou:

I love the design on the bottom right of the invitation and how it's carried over onto the reception & reply cards, as well as the note cards. It's exactly what I was looking for - elegant but not boring, timeless but fun, grown-up but still me. The custom print specialist at Papyrus told us you can even further customize the invitation by adding a genuine Swarovski™ crystal to the center the design. Personally, I don't think my guests would mind if we left that particular detail out. Especially since adding the little sparkly thing would cost $1 per invitation. Although we're only ordering 50 or so, that $50 could be better spent elsewhere. And just think about what you could do with the money you'd save by being bling-free if you had 150 or more invites to pay for!

I also adored this Checkerboard invitation suite:

Her name is Braquette - not quite as stylish a name as Bijou, but alluring none the less. My favorite thing about Braquette is the beautiful plum ink - it would fit right in with the colors we've chosen - lavender & platinum. Plum would be a great accent color.
In my dream world, I would be able to combine the two invitations into one super-invite. Said super-invite would be extremely economical in addition to being beautiful and of course functional (since it is, after all, communicating all the important information about my wedding).
Do you have an aspect of your wedding planning - invitation, cake, caterer, venue, band, photographer, dress - that's completely out of your price range but you still love to day dream of?

Exciting & Overwhelming

I just found out my former coworker, Liz, is engaged! It's so exciting to have someone else who's also planning a wedding. She made the comment that it's exciting & overwhelming at the same time. That's the perfect way to describe wedding planning.
There are days when it seems like the whole planning process can be a bit much. I have papers with floral ideas and lists of photographers, a wedding planner that is half filled out, business cards and bridal magazines all over my dining room table. Bridal books are taking over my bookcase, and I have well over 100 wedding-related bookmarks on my computer. Most nights, I come home from work and spend 90% of my time researching various aspects of the planning process. However, I'm sure the day of the wedding, when I see everything come together, it will all be worth it.

I'm a Bonehead

As promised, today I will tell you the story of what is perhaps the most embarrassing thing I've done thus far while planning my wedding. I posted a crappy photo of my engagement ring that I took myself a while back. It's a white gold euro band with four channel set princess cut diamonds on each side of a princess cut diamond, flanked by four round diamonds on each side - in a square pattern. The princess diamond is set on an angle, which I love because it's so unique.

A few weeks after Jakob proposed, I was at work and looked down at my ring and realized one of the round diamonds was no longer there. Of course my first reaction was to freak out, then I remembered he got the extended protection plan (smart cookie, I say) so I called the jeweler and they told me bring it in and they'd fix it no problem. Apparently one of the prongs had just broken right off. I got it back in a day or two, and it was good as new - better than new I guess.

A few weeks after I got it back, I had this crazy dream that ALL of the stones fell out of my ring. The next day, I stopped at the jeweler and made them check all of the settings. Yeah, they probably thought I was crazy, and Jakob laughed at me. He even made me tell his friends the story and they laughed at me.

What A Dream

Last night, I had a horrible dream - I suppose you could call it a "wedding nightmare". In this dream, it was my wedding day, and I was wearing my beautiful dress, but when I looked down at the skirt, I realized there was something seriously wrong with it. The entire front half of my dress was black. Apparently the wrong color had been ordered, and somehow this detail escaped my attention until I was about to walk down the aisle.
I did not wake up screaming, and no cold sweat was involved, but the memory of the dream laid heavily on me all day. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and picked up the phone. Although I knew there was a very good chance the person on the other end of the line would think me completely neurotic, I had to call the shop where I ordered my dress just to make sure they ordered the ivory & silver one that I wanted. It also gave me the opportunity to inquire when it was expected to me in, and I found out it should be there no later than October!
This isn't the first time I had some crazy off-the-wall dream and ended up risking my reputation as a sane person to ease my mind. Tomorrow I'll tell you about the time I did something so bizarre that Jakob teased me for a solid week. In the meantime, tell me - am I the only one who has random wedding dreams and then is compelled to make sure it was really just a dream?

The Venue Pageant

In our search for a venue, Jakob & I found some really unique places that were incredible in their own right - just not the right fit for our wedding. I thought I'd share some of them with you before revealing The One.
These are our requirements:
1. Located in or near Estes Park, Colorado
2. Views of the mountains
3. Nearby lodging for our out of town guests
4. On-site catering

The first runner up is Taharaa Mountain Lodge, a quiet bed & breakfast with a completely unique vibe. From the moment we walked through the door, we knew it was someplace special. It has nine lodge rooms and nine suites, each with its own fireplace and deck with stunning panoramic vistas. Each has its own unique motif that reflects the beauty & history of the Rocky Mountain region.

Taharaa is a chic venue which combines Native American with American West, from the Arapahoe Room to Columbine Room to Cattle Baron Suite. It also boasts a Great Hall, where our reception would be. It met all of our requirements and then some - except for the last one. Catering is done by a pre-approved outside vendor.
Next time, we'll reveal the lucky winner!
Black Canyon Inn came in second runner up. It is located in Estes Park, but its views, while beautiful, are not of the mountains. Futhermore, catering is done by Twin Owls Steakhouse, which is next door.
Our reception would be in the Steakhouse, which has three rooms. The loft was far too small to accommodate a dance floor. The garden room had a strange view and was too dark for our tastes. The main room was much too large for our small reception, even with a dance floor.
The people there were very nice and helpful. They seemed like they would have been great to work with had the venue been a good fit for us.

Finally, our third runner up was Lionscrest Manor in Lyons, Colorado. Lioncrest boasts unobstructed views of Steamboat Mountain, Hatrock, Mount Meeker and Longs Peak, so it definitely met our mountain view requirement. It's only 20 miles from Estes Park, but catering is done by an outside company of your choosing although they urge you to use an approved vendor from their list. However, the largest drawback to this venue is its distance to accommodations for our guests. In the end, we knew it would be selfish to ask our families to fly from New Orleans to Denver, rent a car and drive an hour and a half to Estes Park to their lodging, then turn around a drive 30 minutes back down to Lyons for our ceremony. It's really too bad - this staircase totally made me swoon!

I'm in Love

With my fiance? Yes, this is true. But I'm also in love with my wedding dress.

Jakob, if you're reading this, STOP NOW!

Way back in May, not long after Jakob asked me to marry him, I decided to stop by a couple of wedding dress shops just to figure out what style of dresses flattered my figure. The first shop I went to was Pearls Place in Metairie, LA where I was helped by Lisa. I had a short list of requirements: I wanted a train but wasn't sure what length. I didn't want anything too flashy. No lace, and I thought anything strapless was out of the question since let's say I'm blessed upstairs. I told Lisa I was open to suggestions, so she grabbed a variety of styles for me to try. I tried on off-the-shoulder styles and halter styles. The halter style made me look too busty. The off-the-shoulder style I just wasn't too crazy about. Next was a strapless gown with detachable train, but the train was cathedral length which I quickly decided was longer than I wanted. I was getting a bit discouraged, then she came along.

(Yes, I'm referring to my dress as female - I'm going to be spending a lot of time with her on my wedding day, but Jakob's the only guy for me.)
She is sparkly but not over the top. Her train is chapel length and exactly what I wanted. I love the organza overlay and the ribbon detail at the hem. Even the back is pretty, and since that's what our guests will be looking at for the majority of ceremony, I wanted something that had some visual interest.

Best of all, the price was right. Pearls Place has a reputation for not inflating their prices in outrageous manner. In fact, some sources tout the shop as being a great place to get a deal on wedding and bridesmaids dresses. In addition to their already modest prices, my dress was on sale. I half expected the "hard sell" to begin, but it didn't. Lisa encouraged me to think it over. She told me if I decided that really was the dress for me, I had a full week to stop by again and lock in the sale price. I didn't even have to put half as a down payment - I could choose how much to pay. Once my payments reached the halfway mark, I would be measured and my dress would be ordered. This gave me the added luxury of not having to worry about the dress style being discontinued before I ordered it. If the manufacturer informed Pearls my dress would soon no longer be available, they'd give me a call so I'd have the option of completing my payments & ordering my dress.

Of course, I did go back a week later to put down $50 and lock in my price. First, I went to two other shops just to be sure. I'll write more about those shopping excursions next time. Honestly, it all just seemed too easy - I found "the one" at the first shop I stopped by, on sale, and the sales staff was super nice... I can't even buy shoes that easily, and I love shoes.

Has anyone else had this kind of experience? Was finding your wedding dress a walk in the park or did you search high and low for it?

Let Them Eat Cake

Today I scheduled my first (two) cake tastings! I can't tell you how freaking excited I am. I am a total cake fanatic. I even took a Wilton class at my local Michael's so I could make birthday cakes for the kids in my life. When my niece got married a few weeks ago, I made her three tiered wedding cake AND the grooms cake. I even got upset last spring when she called to tell me that the girl who was co-hosting her baby shower with me was going to buy a cake for the event - I was that dead-set on making the cake for her shower.
Since Jakob and I are planning a trip to Estes Park on the 26th, we decided we'd check out a couple of bakeries that are on the way. I made a couple of phone calls today to schedule our consultations. One place lets you taste from whatever they have baked, but the other one (Haute Cakes in Boulder, CO) has an online menu that we got to choose from. We were told to pick three options, so I perused their selections. The first two were easy to pick, but I was having trouble deciding between numbers 3 and 4 on my list. When I called the owner, Kim to ask a few question before giving them our final selections, she told me not to worry about choosing - we could taste all 4! I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.
Don't worry - LOTS of photos will be taken and I'll be writing about our favorites from our first round of cake tasting.

Mind Meld

There are so many great traditions and design elements from growing up in Louisiana that I'd love to incorporate into our wedding plans. Since most of our guests are coming to Colorado from there, I'd also like to give them a taste of Colorado. In many ways, my overall vision for our wedding is very much like Jakob and myself. It combines our love for the beauty of the mountains with our strong ties to our roots in Louisiana.
One New Orleans tradition I definitely plan to keep alive is that of the wedding cake pulls.
The fleur de lis is very popular in Louisiana, especially New Orleans. If it's not the official symbol of NOLA, it may as well be. The beauty and elegance the fleur de lis has always appealed to me, and I'd like to incorporate it somehow.

I heart these fleur de lis toasting flutes from Mignon Faget!

For both ethical and financial reasons, we're incorporating local floral and culinary elements. I love azaleas, but they don't grow in Colorado and are not in bloom even in Louisiana at the end of April. Instead, I'm working with our florist to incorporate flowers that are readily available locally. And although I'm sure by the time our wedding rolls around, Jakob and I will both be jones'ing for some boiled crawfish, instead our caterer will be serving fare that is more typically Colorado. It will be a treat to our guests and minimize the overall carbon footprint of the celebration.

Designer Crush

I've been thinking a lot about what kind of veil I'll wear for my wedding, and there's just something about birdcage veils that really appeals to me. Now, I don't know anyone personally who wore a birdcage and had never seen one up close so I called a few bridal boutiques today to make sure they had a nice collection so I could go in and get a better idea of what they're all about.
You know what I found out? That the overwhelming majority of bridal professionals I spoke to today didn't even know what a birdcage was. In case you're among those who have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a photo of one.

So after several frustrating & disappointing phone calls, I spoke to a boutique whose owner referred me to Sara Gabriel Veiling & Headpieces. And things just kept getting better. . . I found out the flagship location is right here in Denver and only 15 minutes from my condo. I called the boutique before heading that way and the person I spoke to was incredibly nice. When I arrived at Anna Be' which houses Sara Gabriel in addition to bridal & bridesmaid dresses, I was directed upstairs. Imagine my surprise when the "salesperson" introduced herself as Sara. It took me a moment for it to sink in that I was meeting the designer of all these beautiful veils. I'll admit, I was a little star-struck. I don't know about you, but it isn't every day that I meet a real, honest-to-goodness designer. All of her pieces are custom made, so after choosing your favorite from her extensive collection, you can customize it to your heart's content.
I wish I'd thought to bring my camera so I could post some photos of her beautiful and glamorous veils, but I left it at home. You can check out her website. There are no photos of Collette or Astyn (the veils I tried on) but you can find a sketch of Collette.
My original plan was to have a traditional fingertip length veil for the ceremony and switch to the birdcage veil for the reception. I hadn't really thought out the whole scenario, and Sara pointed out that if I wear the birdcage for the reception, my guests may feel a bit ill-at-ease trying to have a conversation with me through a veil. She showed me an alternative to the regular birdcage veil. It's similar to the one worn by the oh-so-fabulous Mrs. Gingerbread for her wedding to Mrs. GB 2.0 last month. Check out her wedding recap post with photos on Weddingbee.
Now I'm rethinking my game plan, but I'm so in love with Sara Gabriel's designs. I like that she is not about the hard sell. She was helpful and friendly, immediately putting me at ease. She answered all of my questions and even made suggestions for alternatives. Even if you're not in the market for the oh-so-classy but elusive birdcage veil, definitely check out Sara's designs. The way I look at it, if I'm going to spend some cash on a veil, I may as well be giving that money to someone who's super-nice and cool to boot.
What kind of veil or headpiece will you wear on you wedding day? Are there any other birdcage brides out there?

Why Cakes in NOLA Have Ribbons

There's a tradition in New Orleans weddings that make our cakes look a little odd. Silver charms, attached to a piece of ribbon, are placed under the bottom layer of the cake so the end of the ribbon is visible. It's a tradition that seems to be unique to New Orleans, brought over from France and adopted by the Creoles.
Here's a beautiful set of cake pulls from Mignon Faget.

Before the cake is cut by the bride & groom, the bride chooses a number of single ladies, and each chooses a piece of ribbon which they pull out from beneath the cake. Each charm has a meaning. Here are the meanings of some typical wedding cake pulls:
WEDDING RING.....Next To Marry
HEART.....Love Will Come
FLEUR-DE-LIS.....Love Will Flower
RED BEAN.....Luck
ANCHOR.....Hope
CLOVER.....Good Luck
WISHBONE.....Good Luck
HORSE SHOE.....Good Luck
DIME.....Riches
PENNY.....Poverty
BUTTON.....Old Maid
THIMBLE.....Old Maid

What local traditions will you incorporate into your wedding celebration?

She's Gettin' Married in the Mornin'

My niece Athena told me a few days ago that she's getting married July 18th. . . of this year. Allow me to put this in perspective for you. She (and I, as her MOH) have three weeks to coordinate a venue, flowers, attire for the bridal party & parents of bride and groom, music, photographer, cake, food, and a bridal shower. Seems a bit overwhelming, right?
Actually, it's not too bad.
Friday morning, I drove across the lake to meet her at her home, and we were off in search of a wedding dress. She's a good girl & did her homework. She found a dress she liked from JC Penney's bridal collection. Unfortunately, we soon learned none of the stores in Louisiana carry the bridal collection - you have to order them through the catalog, and we didn't have time for that. We decided to check the department stores at Northshore Mall for white formal dresses. Athena found one she liked, but alas, they did not have it in her size. After a few hours, she was beginning to get discouraged and a little worried that she wouldn't have a dress for her wedding when I remembered a money-saving tip I read in one of the many books I've perused in planning for my own wedding. . . consignment shops!
The first one we went to had three wedding dresses, one which was her size. She liked it, but we decided to keep looking. The second store we went to had a much larger selection. Athena tried on several dresses before finding "the one." She kept asking me & her mother what we thought. Finally, I pointed out that unlike every other dress she'd tried on, we practically had to force her back into the dressing room to take it off. Athena, you are right - you look like a "pretty pretty princess" in that dress. And it fits her perfectly - it's even the correct length.
Bonus score at the consignment shop - we also found my bridesmaid dress! It's a blue two piece Alfred Angelo, and more importantly, fits me perfectly. It just needs to be hemmed, which Jakob's aunt is going to do for me. Since it's two pieces, I took the skirt to be hemmed while Athena kept the top to color coordinate the best man's attire to mine.
After we're finished dress shopping, we stop at Bed Bath & Beyond where Athena and fiance Spencer are now registered.
So to recap, in one day, we were able to find, purchase, and take home Athena's wedding dress & my bridesmaid dress and register for gifts.
Day Two:
We buy hubby's wedding band, cake topper, veil making kit (we thought it'd be fun to make it together), bridal shower invitations, shower games, and bachelorette party attire for Athena.
So I have to wonder, is it really this easy or does my niece just lead a charmed life?

The Kiddie Room

While on vacation in Estes Park, Colorado, Jakob took me to dinner at Cascades Restaurant at the historic Stanley Hotel, made famous by the mini-series “The Shining,” based on a Stephen King novel. We were seated in an alcove with a wine rack/chiller. We joked about why we ended up in the kiddie room. Come to find out, he had contacted the people at Cascades and requested romantic, somewhat private table. I remember wishing we were seated nearer the fireplace - I love fireplaces. . . maybe because I was born & raised in south Louisiana and therefore have never had reason to have a fireplace.
The hostess was overly smiley when she seated us. I didn’t find out why until later that night. We were talking about my upcoming visit to my mother. He reminded me to pick up the kennel for the puppy I was getting when I got back home to Metairie.
“And you’re going to tell her you’re moving to Denver, right?” Distracted by my glass of Riesling, I responded that I was.
“And you’re going to tell her about this?” Confused, I looked at him, then down at the box he held in his hand, then back at him as he uttered four words I honestly didn’t expect to hear at any time in the near future, if ever. . . “Will you marry me?”
Of course I said yes. Then it all made sense - the kiddie room, the overly happy hostess, the waitress who alternately hovered and disappeared for obscene amounts of time, even his comment about how I had “no idea” how much this vacation cost. I should have realized something was going on - Jakob is a very practical person, not one to spend money on frivolous things like a cabin on the river with a hot tub and elk in the yard.
After the reality of it sank in, my first thought was, “I can’t wait to tell Athena.” Athena is my niece, eight years my junior. She’s one of my best friends, the mother of my gorgeous goddaughter, and now my maid of honor.
And so, without further ado, my engagement ring:

Sorry it's not the best photo in the world, but taking a picture of a ring is really hard!