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!

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An excerpt from the book recently ran on Elle Canada’s website. Granted, it was pretty sanitized (I curse a lot in the book — I guess Elle readers aren’t as foul-mouthed as I am), but you can check it out over here: The ring with the bling: Who needs an engagement ring?

While my sweetie and I DO want to exchange rings, we DON’T want to spend a lot of money on them, and we have no interest in traditional, mainstream wedding rings. We want something simple, different, and not made out of gold. We live in a town that doesn’t have anything like that, so online is our best bet. But once we start looking around for wedding bands, all we find are expensive, boring, overly-decadent gold and diamond style rings… There’s just too much online to know where to start! -Sara

I applaud your decision to go the non-diamond, inexpensive route for your wedding rings. Diamonds are grossly overpriced, and of course there’s that whole blood diamond thing, so you’re so much better off going for either a different stone or no stone at all.

First things first: are you SURE there aren’t any custom jewelry makers in your neck of the woods? There’s nothing more awesome than designing your own bands, and if you find a good jewelry maker they can usually work within your budget. Plus, it’s cool to support a local artisan.

Here’s a first tip: Don’t look for “wedding rings” — they always cost more!

That said, if there really aren’t any around, you’re right: there are TONS of online options. Here’s a first tip: Don’t look for “wedding rings” — they always cost more! There’s this strange phenomenon of somehow if it has to do with a wedding it costs twice as much. Seriously. This isn’t just for rings, it’s for dresses, flowers, suits, chair rentals, everything. It’s a total racket. So when shopping online for rings, don’t search for “wedding bands.” Just look for rings that you like.

That said, here are a few links to get you started:

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