Photo: Courtesy of Chloe Melas
Meet Chloe Melas, the Senior Entertainment Reporter at HollywoodLife.com and host of VH1's morning show The Gossip Table! Chloe is in the midst of planning her New York City wedding, and she's sharing each step of the process. From her bachelorette party to the honeymoon and everything in between, stay tuned for the reporter's wedding chronicles. For her latest installment, Chloe gives her tips for designing your own wedding band.
The band is such an important part of your wedding day. No, I'm not talking about the music, (but yes that's important too) I'm talking about that piece of metal you'll wear on your ring finger for the rest of your life! Here's how I look at it, the man, at least in my case, designed the engagement ring. My fiancé did the most amazing job, he spent months agonizing over every little detail with our jewelry designer, Laura Bee. When the time came for us to pick out our bands, it felt right working with Laura again but this time, I had a few ideas. My thoughts ladies, it's now your turn to get creative and design your own bling! Here are some things to keep in mind while customizing your band:
1. Get creative.
Don't be bashful, if you want rubies and emeralds, speak up now, you're wearing it f-o-r-e-v-e-r! Plus wearing something that you designed will truly feel even more special when he slips it on your hand. You can do things that you can't do when buying a ring out of a case in a store, like mix up the metals and stones. I actually had Laura reset mine twice because I ended up going for a scooped eternity band. You get that kind of flexibility when you work one-on-one with a designer.
See More: 35 Men's Wedding Bands He'll Love
2. Don't feel obligated to choose a band that matches your engagement ring.
Everybody gave me their opinion about how I should design my ring. "Do something small, you don't want to take away from your engagement ring," "I'd do something that connects like a puzzle piece." Don't listen to anyone's opinion, you are the one who will be wearing this every day, not your mom, aunt, cousin or best friend. Consider this a stand alone ring that you will wear without your engagement ring on occassion. Honestly, my band is a bit, ahem, flashier than many suggested to go for, but hey, I might wear it on one hand on a Monday and my engagement ring on the other on Tuesdays. But then some days I'll have my Elizabeth Taylor moment and want my ring finger blinged out! You can never have too many diamonds, so stop worrying about what everybody else says and just go for it.
3. Design your man's ring too.
It's not just about you! Guys are actually excited to wear a ring too. In Brian's case, he didn't think he would like wearing a ring because he's never really worn jewelry. But after we spent time trying on different bands, picking out various metals, and working out what width he felt most comfortable with, it ended up being really fun. He ended up getting two bands so that he can switch it up depending on what watch he's wearing — no I'm not joking. So involve him in the process and don't forget to engrave something sweet.
f you don't have a jewelry designer you or your family already works with, check out TrueKnots.com. They are available across the country at various retailers and they do tons of custom wedding bands — we actually got Brian's from here at Laura's suggestion!
Would you be into the idea of designing your own wedding bands like Chloe? Tweet us @BRIDES!