Wedding ring workshop
Sponsors: Jewelry
By
on February 29, 2008
20
There's been talk about wedding ring workshops before on offbeatbride.com (remember how Elaina did a workshop to make her wedding ring?) and for those of you who have been intrigued by the idea, keep reading!
Wedding ring workshops happen all over the US and in two UK locations, and here's how it works: you take a day with a master jeweler who gives you one-on-one guidance through the process of designing, fabricating, and finishing your truly unique wedding rings. I've always been a big proponent of custom rings, but actually making the rings your damn self!? It don't get much more DIY than that!
I love this concept — it just seems like such a great way to ensure that your wedding bands are about so much more than bling. And what an awesome metaphor for marriage … crafting something together that binds you and acts as a symbol of your commitment. It's poetic and pragmatic at the same time!
There are some nice details put into the day-long wedding ring adventure, too — the documentarians in the house will be pleased to hear that the entire process is photographed. And the offbeat alkies will love that the day ends with a bottle of champagne to toast the wedding bands that you and your partner crafted with your own hands.
Have more questions? Check out the Wedding Ring Workshop FAQ, filled with answers to questions like "Can the rings be engraved?" (yes, for free!) and "Can we take our rings away with us after we've made them?" Lots more info on their website, weddingringworkshop.com
About Ariel Meadow Stallings
Author of Offbeat Bride: Creative Alternatives for Independent Brides, Ariel acts as the publisher of all the Offbeat Empire websites. She lives, loves, and dorks out hard in Seattle, WA.
Karen said
I'm so excited to see you posting on this! My husband and I made our wedding rings at the Wedding Ring Workshop in San Diego, and it was a truly wonderful experience. I highly recommend it to everyone! (P.S. They are very gay-friendly as well. There were lots of pictures of same-sex couples making their rings hung around the studio.)
ashilleong said
Any time they want to start doing this in Australia I'm in.
Wish some non-usa businesses would advertise here…
Sarah said
So. Cool.
Too bad it's too pricey for us.
Dai Q said
ashilleong – apparently they do do it in Australia, i have heard of Sydney based couples doing it, so there must be someone around here.
bracket said
such a great idea. wish we could afford it!
Meaghan said
For any Toronto/Ontario-based readers, we made our rings at this place:
http://www.thedevilsworkshop.ca/home.shtml. It was awesome… I can't wait until we actually get to wear our rings in a few months!
Angel said
Thanks for bringing this up again…it looks like they've expanded their workshop locations. Yay…Seattle couples can do this too!
Karen said
This sounds awesome – it makes me sad that they don't have any events in the Southern U.S.
ONE LOVE PHOTO said
My husband still needs a new ring. We have been married for a couple years but this sounds like too much fun to pass up! Great tip!
Lewis said
Meaghan:
We have a surprising number of couples from Toronto and other Canadian cities come to San Diego – mostly in the winter!
Megan said
We had a wonderful experience at the wedding ring workshop.
We attended the workshop in San Diego and enjoyed the entire process. Our jeweler was very creative and helpful, and patient with us as well.
We keep on telling people about this and hope that they can experience this one of a kind experience.
Meaghan said
Lewis: when I commented I didn't realize that this post was an advertisement, I just thought it was a post on making your own ring. I'm really sorry about that! Oops!
Ariel said
Meaghan, I'm actually pretty generous with treating comments on advertorial posts the same as I treat comments on the rest of the site — ie, unless it's rude and/or anonymous, I figure all the feedback is helpful marketing research for the business owners who are advertising.
Tegan said
ashilleong – If you're a fellow Sydneysider, check out Larsen Wedding Rings.
Leah said
ashilleong and Tegan: we made our rings at Larsens and it was an amazing experience. I love looking at my ring, knowing DH made it himself. We aren't from Sydney but made a special trip just so we could have that experience.
Jen said
I am getting married in June and absolutely must share a unique wedding ring service I discovered! The company is called Wedding Vow Rings (www.weddingvowrings.com) and they do custom engraving on the inside of wedding bands – up to 50 words of text! My fiancé and I were able to have our own vows inscribed into each other’s rings. We had the option of buying wedding bands they offer online, or buying our own rings and sending them in for engraving. We did the latter and I was so impressed with the speed of service, quality and complete reliability. I highly recommend them. Beautiful work!
Tricia said
For those of us who don't have a wedding ring workshop nearby or if the cost is too high, there's the option of getting PMC or Art Clay and making your own rings. The overall cost is fairly cheap and allows for a lot of customization.
Caroline said
I LOVE this idea, but with my track record of losing things I predict feeling absolutely heartbroken when I lose this very one-of-a-kind ring. I guess I could just never ever take it off!
Leanimal said
We've been trying really hard to make this work because it's such an incredible idea to make the ring that your intended will wear 4EVAH! However, we've had a horrible, horrible experience with the owner of the business making it near impossible to feel good about this decision. We've had the price more than double from the original quote and it keeps changing for very little explicable reason. Just a word to the wise – don't set your heart on this because the owner puts you through the mill.
Lewis said
Hi Leaninal,
I was naturally concerned to read your comment, but have searched our records and can't find any reference to you as having inquired. Is is possible you are referring to some other business? Do e-mail me directly and we can sort this out. If we are to blame, we'll happily correct the situation to your satisfaction.
LB