Wedding Band Recommendations

[ZTAngel]

I guess this is for all the married or about to be married GCers.

My fiance and I have started looking for wedding bands. He's adament about our bands matching which is fine (although I really LOVE the diamond bands but oh well) but we're running into a bit of a problem. We both don't want plain bands - we want some sort of etching/design on them. He has very big hands and I have very tiny hands (I'm only a ring size 5). The wide bands look best on his hands while the very narrow bands look best on mine. We haven't been able to find any bands that suit both of us. We went to a few mom & pop jewelers that were willing to do custom bands but they just weren't able to do the same etching on a narrow band that they do on the wider bands. There's not enough room on the narrower band or something.

Have any of you had this problem? What did you end up doing? We may end up going with a plain band although that's our last resort.

[ADqtPiMel]

We have the same problem - I'm a size 5 too. We just ended up getting different bands.

Sorry, I guess that isn't too helpful. That's weird that they can't just do the etching smaller, although I know nothing about jewelry.

[shinerbock]

Matching how? Like completely? I figured for most people matching the metal was enough, but I guess if he wants it totally matched then thats different.

[HBADPi]

I opened this thinking you wanted recommendations for a band to play at your reception...nm

[GeekyPenguin]

You could try greenkarat.com - I know they do custom work.

[ZTAngel]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

Matching how? Like completely? I figured for most people matching the metal was enough, but I guess if he wants it totally matched then thats different.

Yeah, he wants it completely matching down to every last detail except for band width. Sigh. I'd argue about it except this is the only thing in our whole wedding process that he's wanted a say in (besides the food at the reception...lol). I'm hoping that if more and more jewelers tell us it can't be done that he'll give up.

How far in advance am I supposed to order the rings, btw? I guess I should know this type of bride stuff but I never read the magazines or go to the wedding websites because they're just too cheesy for me.

[AlphaFrog]

Do a search for "Trio Sets"...I know they all have the engagement ring (which I'm assuming you already have), but it can give you an idea of what they con do for exact matches.

[Emory Kappa]

That is so sweet of your fiance! But here's hoping he bends just a little, since matching is hard, especially when yours has to go with an engagement ring.

My wedding band is a 4 3/4, and it's plain. His is traditional, has three flush mount bezel set diamonds, but is otherwise plain. It's like this, only the diamonds are larger and it's gold:



I'm glad we went with plain bands, because 18 years later the style doesn't look dated. Except that they're yellow gold, and now everyone is getting white gold or platinum.

The most important thing: make sure his is engraved with the wedding date so that he won't forget your anniversary.

[valkyrie]

What about titanium?

[AOIIBrandi]

What about an eternity band? This one is from Tiffany, but I'm sure you could have them made in different widths for less.

[valkyrie]

No offense, but I don't think a guy who would wear a diamond eternity band from Tiffany would be marrying, you know, a woman.

[AOIIBrandi]

Originally Posted by valkyrie

No offense, but I don't think a guy who would wear a diamond eternity band from Tiffany would be marrying, you know, a woman.

None taken, and I didn't necessarily mean that one, it was just the best place I could find a picture at the time. BTW, weren't the bands Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt had eternity bands in a similar style?

I also saw this while searching - a little more understated maybe, but still a style that would be easy to do in wider or thinner bands...

[ZTAngel]

Originally Posted by AOIIBrandi

Those are nice. They're plain but do have a unique quality to them. The only problem with those is that he would prefer not to have diamonds in his band.

I've looked at the titanium rings but all the ones I tried on had an extreme color difference from my engagement ring which is white gold. I want to stick with white gold since I plan on wearing my engagement ring and wedding band together (maybe even possibly bonding the two).

I guess we'll have to keep on looking. I never thought I'd say that I'm actually tired of going to jewelry stores on the weekend but I am.....

[stagebear]

i'd look at goldman and artcarved brands. you can find them at a lot of national jewelers (littman, zales, etc, etc). don't just look at what's in stock - make sure to ask for the books cause they usually dont have a lot there on hand.

i know you said he wanted them to be identical, but maybe you can compromise a bit. i've been looking at a set that looks great in the male version, but the female version is too wide for me. so we've looked at a small band for me that matches the interior design of his. (it's basically looks like the female verison has borders to make it wider for the male.)

[TriDeltaGal]

ZTAngel,

When I was looking for engagement/wedding band sets, I went to one of those huge engagement ring stores (Robbins Brothers... I don't know if they are only on the West Coast). I know they have a huge website that had thousands of rings to look at. I found the style for my husbands' ring on there, and he is extremely picky! However, we didn't buy them there, but had our rings custom made by my cousin, who is a jewelry broker. (I have an eternity band and his is based on an ancient beveled edged design).

Check it out, it will at least give you some ideas or pictures to take to another jewelry store....sorry if it you have already seen it!

www.robbinsbros.com

Good Luck! I know how stressful all the wedding planning can be!