A long long time ago [… I can still remember how the music used to … err what?] I wrote a blog post about Wedding Ring Workshop – the ultimate wedding DIY. It’s a place you can go to actually craft your own, custom wedding rings, under supervisor from the professionals of course!
Andy & I, initially, wanted to do this SO BAD for our own wedding rings. I can’t think of a much cooler wedding ring, then one you made yourself! Sadly though, we ran out of time and couldn’t get it done. Fortunately, one of my readers saw my post on the workshop and her and her husband went! So Megan & Chris [you might remember them from their fabulous modern Washington DC wedding here] went and shared pictures and details of their own experience with Wedding Ring Workshop, that I now get to share with all of you!
Chris & Megan’s DIY Wedding Ring Experience
From Megan:
What a crazy concept!  When I first came across the company (through this blog) I thought it was a silly idea (there is NO way we can make good looking rings ourselves!), but I was very intrigued by it.  At the time, my husband and I were looking for wedding bands that were similar and complimented each other.  More and more as we searched jewelers and websites, we kept going back to the wedding ring experience idea.  Why not make our own rings?
We contacted the company and spoke to Lewis, he was extremely helpful, was able to ease our concerns.  He was very patient with all of our questions and did it with a smile.  Most importantly, we were reassured we would not mess up the wedding bands.  The price for this experience is dependent on the type of metal you select, and since the price of metals fluctuates often, the price is locked in when you book your reservation.
 Chris and I made our wedding bands on a very cold January Monday morning in Warrenton, Virginia.  We arrived at 9 am eager and anxious.  Christopher was our jewelsmith, and he was extremely knowledgeable and patient.  We discussed and drew designs until everyone was comfortable with moving forward.  Then he presented us with the block of palladium.  It was one solid block that looked like a Lego.  Christopher measured the the block and we cut it into two pieces.  I made Chris’ ring and he made mine.
Throughout this process, we learned how to anneal, weld, file, and properly size the bands.  The last step we did was to polish the bands.
 If you look at some of the pictures our photographer took of the wedding bands, you will notice that it could appear that my wedding band was simply taken from the inside of Chris’s.  They compliment each other perfectly…  My ring literally fits inside Chris’!
For the finishing touch, Christopher let us choose and do out own inscriptions on the bands. Mine says “Always” and Chris’ says “Forever,” with our wedding date next to them.
Thinking of making your own wedding bands? Megan offers some advice from their experience:
Some suggestions… If you are looking for a very detailed band, I would not suggest making your own band.  Some detail work can be done, but the jewelsmith will have to do the more intricate work, meaning you will actually work on it less.   If you would like stones in the band, you can not set them yourself, they send the ring to a professional to take care of that.  Ladies- make sure you wear your hair up so it does not get in the way!
 At the end of our day, we were able to go home with 2 wedding bands that we made for each other.  And a bottle of champagne too!  Our rings are amazing pieces of jewelry that we made with love.
Thank you Megan & Chris for sharing your Wedding Ring Workshop experience with us!! What do you think Romancers? Would you make your own wedding band?
4 comments
So cool! I remember that blog post you did- I would have loved to make Matt’s ring. Awesome that they actually did it!
I didn’t even know this was possible–awesome!! They look so good!
This is so cool!
It’s so great to see Megan and Chris’ experience. We’d considered this an option. Now I’m sold!