Engagement and Wedding Ring Inspiration at Valerie Madison Fine Jewelry | Getting Hitched
The pure EXCITEMENT I have writing this post is palpable, y’all!! This is surely going to go down as one of my favorite journeys in the Getting Hitched series - I already know it. Today, Jared and I explored Valerie Madison Jewelry in Seattle, Washington for the ultimate engagement and wedding ring inspiration.
I have been pretty much religiously stalking Valerie Madison’s Instagram page and website for the last few years as we began to solidify our ring design ideas and look for a jeweler we’d want to work with. Valerie Madison is an incredibly talented jeweler, and also happens to be a Black, Latina, female-owned small business. I knew I wanted to work with this local Seattle biz as soon as I laid eyes on their designs.
Going into the process, we weren’t sure whether we’d need a custom approach or more of a ready-to-wear situation, and they answered all of our questions and more during our consultation!
Engagement and Wedding Ring Inspiration
On Valentine’s Day, we really kicked our engagement plans into high gear as Jared nudged me to make a ring fitting appointment for the very near future because he’d be proposing “sometime this year”… little did I know it’d be a few months from now! He originally was going to propose in spring of 2020 right before the world locked down, so it’s been a long time coming. We immediately jumped at the chance to take a Thursday off and head down to Seattle for a tour of the shop and a consultation!
Here’s a few of the questions we asked them:
Would you be able to take the diamonds out of my current ring and make a gold wedding band with them? If so, what does this investment look like?
We’re definitely not going into this with a whole lot we want to spend. What will get us the biggest bang for our buck while aligning with our personal styles?
What is your payment structure / do you offer payment plans?
Engagement Ring Inspiration
Going into our appointment, I was incredibly drawn to their Selena collection for my engagement ring - gorgeous, classic, but unique moissanite jewels surrounded by diamonds. I personally didn’t have anything against moissanite vs. diamond, all I knew is that I definitely wanted a clear stone of some sort (not sapphire or colored - I love love LOVE what VM does with colorful stones, I just know it’s not my personal vision as a bride!) with a yellow gold-colored band.
Obviously, the ring will sit lower on my finger - the example size was a good amount smaller than my size! Ha.
Once we began the consult, I have to admit I browsed lightly but there was no going back - I absolutely LOVED the Selena Marquise and that was the one I just had to have. My favorite discovery was the feature I wasn’t able to see online: In the light, moissanite reflects a shiny rainbow! Those who know me well will know just how meant to be this was. I think Jared certainly appreciates having a reassurance that I’m going to love my ring without any doubt, and now he gets to focus on putting the finishing touches on his magical proposal that I know will knock my socks off!
Wedding Ring Inspiration
One of the things I absolutely adored about VM is their stacked ring designs - if you browse their work, you’ll notice they make gorgeous, effortless stacking options, so once I was aware of this approach, I wanted to look into this for my wedding band addition. I’m a pretty simple gal - a gold band with no diamonds would be just fine for me, ultimately the engagement ring is the star of the show. I ended up looking at both a slim gold band, and one with tiny diamonds just to get a feel for the options.
I did ask if they could custom create a ring using my existing diamonds from my promise ring that Jared gave me early on in our relationship, but since it is a newer offering of theirs, they are selective in which heirloom projects they take on (which I totally understand!), so I’ll be looking at local jewelers here to get some quotes. This is my next step, but if things don’t pan out the way I would hope going this direction, I’ll be returning to VM to select one of their dainty bands pictured above.
Shoutout to both of our fingers being too large to fit the example sizes! :)
Jared has always wanted a masculine, traditional silver or grey band for his wedding ring (he’s never been a yellow gold guy), and although VM loves a yellow gold, they offer each of their masculine wedding bands in other shades without compromising quality. Jared tried on a few to see what really spoke to him, but ultimately he landed on this middle-ground white gold ring - not the thickest, but not the thinnest. He tried on their platinum equivalent but preferred the lightweight feel of the white gold.
We both know it’s going to be SO surreal when we finally get to see my beautiful engagement ring on my finger and our wedding bands at the aisle, and we are certain we wouldn’t have wanted to work with absolutely anyone else for this milestone.
Vendor Rec:
Valerie Madison Fine Jewelry
@valeriemadisonjewelry on Instagram
valeriemadison.com
About the Couple
We’re Jared and Kathryn - Olympia, Washington natives that have dated since April 2013 (nearly a decade in, baby!) and have lived together a majority of those years as well. Jared is launching into his career in IT, and Kathryn is the owner of a freelance content marketing agency serving clients across the country. Together we’re tech nerds, Pacific Northwest travelers, the ultimate foodies, and drag show lovers. We’re so excited to share our wedding journey with you + hope to provide some insight that helps you along the way!
