Jinger's going to the chapel and gonna get married...

[IntrinsicallyDisordered]

I haven't really been following this whole courtship/engagement, but clicked on the link to the last US Weekly article and was really happily surprised by the pictures.  Jinger looks at him with what appears (to me) to be genuine love and adoration, it doesn't have that weird, submissive, worshipping tone of the way her mother looks at her father.  And I couldn't find anything to snark on with the way he was looking at her either.  I hope they do have a true connection and can build a happy life together.  

[Wenny]

We tattooed our wedding bands on our fingers because both of us kept losing our wedding rings. I think it was 7 that we've lost in total. 

[MayMay1123]

12 hours ago, VelociRapture said:

This may be my favorite proposal story ever. So stinking cute! 

thank you! and i just wanted you to know that i love hearing about your little one!

[akinom]

I have two plain gold bands, one is an engagement ring and the other a wedding ring. The custom in Sweden is that both partners get engagement rings and only the woman a wedding ring, so it's usually the wedding ring that's decorated. It was more common in earlier generations to have two plain ones, people spend more on jewelry now. Not showing you my mistreated hands!

 

proposal: we started talking about marriage at a party, realised we both wanted to get married, and said "we have to talk about this tomorrow when we're sober!". Still seemed like a good idea the next day, so we told our families. Went ring shopping later that week.

[Coconutwater]

I don't have one of my own, yet...my parents were sitting on the couch watching tv and my dad just turned around and said "so...want to get married?" My mother said "that's like asking me if I want another biscuit!" *crickets* somehow yes was confirmed and fifteen years later she received an engagement ring with the bill, he put it on credit and forgot to take out the receipt. The reaction was priceless. 

[Iamtheway]

My husband asked when we where on holiday in Malaysia, where we also met five years earlier, and got married a year later. He didn't have a ring he just stopped me outside the hotel and asked. I designed my ring and had it made (so much fun!). It's untreated white gold  and four small diamonds. 

My husband got a plain white gold band. As akinom said it's the custom in Sweden that both people get engagement rings. (The custom is plain gold bands, but I like white gold better and wanted something different.) The original plan was for me to have a plain band with it, but then I got a bit greedy.

The wedding ring is the solitair and it was made by the same goldsmith. My husband didn't want a second ring so he got a huge tattoo instead.

Still love both my rings and the man seven years later. 

[Pravda_Iskra]

This is my "promise" ring. Vintage (from the 70's apparently) with 18k gold, small diamonds, and sapphires. My boyfriend and I were supposed to get engaged next year, but the he didn't take the summer job he was going to that would have allowed him to buy the ring he wants to buy me. So, we decided to get some jewelry to be a placeholder. He got a leather bracelet with our anniversary on it, and I got this ring.  .2 ct diamonds, and 1.35 ct sapphires. If the sapphires are real, we got an amazing deal (it was from a website that does estate sales, so no way to tell unless you take it in). 

[elliha]

I am Swedish too so I also have a very plain ring as an engagement ring, a silver ring with no decorations. My wedding ring is very plain but has three tiny diamonds. The rings are totally me and I love them but haven't worn them in three years since my fingers have gotten too thick for them and I keep hoping for them to go back to normal on their own but I am starting to accept it is not going to happen now. 

We had a very Swedish proposal. We decided to get engaged as a mutual decision and went and bought rings together. The first jewelry shop was very snobbish and they got almost hostile when they found out we wanted silver rings and tried to force us to get white gold or titanium but we had already agreed to get silver since I like silver. They then totally ignored us and we had to almost scream to get them to get us a piece of paper to write down which rings we liked. We then went to another store where they were super nice and gave great service so we decided to get them there since we didn't want to benefit the other store in any way after their treatment of us. We decided to have May 1 as our official date since that is a special day for us but we actually made the decision a couple weeks before that. We decided to not do like most Swedes and wait several years to get married (and some never get married) and our initial plan was to get married the summer the following year. However, I got pregnant that autumn and we decided to have a combined baptism and wedding when the baby was 2-3 months instead. Move to April and I decided that I did not want to have a baby while not being married and our wedding was on May 20. We had a tiny wedding with three friends and no relatives but we have said we will have a big party on our 10th anniversary. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

My engagement ring is gorgeous, expensive, and unique. I love it. 

And I never wear it. I now feel like it's a waste. My advice? Get a ring practical for your life. 

[Four is Enough]

@MarblesMom my cousin was engaged for over 25 years. She and the guy were high school sweethearts, and they even got engaged. She continued to live with her parents; he lived with his mother, then alone. They travelled together, and about every five years, he got her a bigger engagement ring.. but there was never a wedding. He died in his 50s, and she continued to wear the engagement ring until she died in her early 60s. Now THAT's a long courtship!!

[Kak]

2 hours ago, caszandra said:

I am separated now but I still love my rings and wear them occasionally. My ex proposed to me while we were sitting on the couch watching the telly, not very romantic lol

So many beautiful rings!

@caszandra I love your rings, and how they fit together. 

(Nice nails too )

[jas]

I may have the most low key engagement story ever. We had been together 6 years with a 3 year old son and were planning our second baby. We were in bed nearly asleep when he asked "should we get married?" I said yes. He said "good", rolled over and fell asleep.

No ring, no fuss, although I was surprised to learn that he had asked my Dad beforehand, because we are not traditional like that.

And 6 years later we have still not got around to getting married! We are waiting until we have enough money for a good party (big families) and until the kids are old enough to take part in the wedding.

[karen77]

Sadly, I can't find my engagement ring!! it's somewhere in the house (i hope).... *(I have a separate wedding ring though, so don't wear my engagement ring often)

proposed after a fun day of going to the zoo and out to a nice dinner, in the super cold, where he almost ate it on some ice! 2 months after we met.

[lawlifelgbt]

My wife proposed in January 2013 after only 5 months of dating. Same-sex marriage wasn't legal in either of our states (I lived in MN, and she lived in IN), and it wasn't on the radar to become legal anytime soon.

She proposed with a Taco Bell sauce packet. We saved them for extra taco sauce for other things, and at the time they had little sayings on them. So she told me to get taco sauce from the fridge, and I read it and started crying. I was young, our marriage wasn't legal, and I worried what my family would think. So she hugged me and actually asked me. I said that I needed to think, but 10 minutes later, said yes, since I knew we would be engaged at some point anyway; I just had not been expecting it.

She didn't have a ring, but she had given me a tiny CZ ring two months before, just as a gift, and told me to wear that for now till we found sets. Then we found larger CZ and silver rings on online jewelry auctions (we were broke).

After we moved in and married (7 months after legalization in my state, but before Obergefell made it legal everywhere), I lost my rings in some move or other (we have moved twice in two years). So, she bought me a tiny silver one at a trunk show for $10, spur of the moment. She also specially bought me a Claddagh (she has Irish ancestry and studied there), that has the inner design detached from the ring to be an unobtrusive spin/fidget device. But it looks normal and all. Photos below!

Also, I love all your stories.

[JesSky03]

My husband and I are highschool sweethearts. We pretty much said we were going to marry each other from about 2 weeks after we started dating at age 16. Around Aprilish of my senior year I was browsing jewelry sites and fell in love with this one ring. It has a large tear drop shaped diamond with a band of smaller diamonds on either side. I showed it to my (now) husband and he said "let's get it then". So we bought it, with him promising not to propose until after graduation. He actually waited until August and surprised me by proposing on top of this tower (we went there on our first official date) that looks out over a large lake. I was looking out over the water when he said my full name and I turned around and he was on his knee. The first thing I said was "I get to wear it?!". We kept it a secret for a couple months because I wanted to enjoy being engaged without comments from people about our age until one day my mom spotted the ring on my finger and word was out. We married 2 years later, and I picked out a double band with small diamonds that matched my engagement ring. I still love to stare at my ring.

* Since we're all talking about nails too, those are my real nails in the pic. They're even longer now  (thanks to extra folic acid)

[Cassia]

My husband and I met when we were 12 and had our first kiss at 15 but we didn't start dating until we were 18. We were 23 when he proposed at my favorite lake in the mountains - I was taking a picture and when I turned around, he was down on one knee. He couldn't have done any better! We married two years later at 25.

My engagement ring is an exact replica of the promise ring that he gave me and I wore for 3 years, just a bit bigger. I was a little disappointed with my engagement ring at the time as I felt it was too plain, too boring. But I LOVE IT when paired with my wedding band.

[CreationMuseumSeasonPass]

Settle in for this one, guys, because it's a doozy.

After three years of being together (including two living together), I was getting antsy to get married. We had had many conversations about the future, and both of us agreed that marriage would be our next step. But, of course, Mr. Museum likes to drag his feet with everything he does. 

It didn't help that my friends and family who had been in relationships shorter than mine were getting married, either.

I went to my friend's wedding in September two years ago. I was with my mom. It was at the church I grew up in, and it was lovely. I kept thinking to myself, "I want this. This is beautiful. Why can't this be me?"

By the time I got home that night, I found Mr. Museum, in his underwear, playing World of Warcraft on his computer. He had a glass of cheap Hawkeye whiskey next to him. Carefully, I approached the subject.

"Today's wedding was beautiful," I said softly.

"Awesome," Mr. Museum replied in a monotone voice without ever taking his eyes from the computer screen.

"Do you think we could have a September wedding someday?" I tentatively asked.

"Yeah, that's fine," he answered, not really paying attention.

After pausing for a moment, I said, "What about next September? Can we get married next September?"

Finally, Mr. Museum dragged his eyes from the screen long enough to say,"Tell you what, if you just stop bothering me and get me a DiGiorno pizza from the grocery store, we can get married next year."

"Deal!" I shouted.

However, on my way out to my car, I finally realized, "Wait a sec, did I just propose to myself?"

One DiGiorno pizza later, the deal was finalized.

Our one year anniversary is coming up next month. It's now a running joke in my family that I basically told Mr. Museum we were going to get married, and he better buckle up for the ride.

We purchased my ring during a Thanksgiving Cyber Monday sale online. I wanted something simple, but sparkly. I also told Mr. Museum he didn't get out of doing a romantic gesture with a formal proposal.

Fortunately, my husband DOES listen to me sometimes, because he took me to Gray's Lake in Des Moines and got down on one knee on the bridge. It was nighttime, and different colors illuminate the bridge in the dark.

I was actually kind of impressed he remembered me saying years ago that Gray's Lake is my favorite spot ever in Des Moines. He came through, surprisingly. Lol.

And, that's my story of how I got my husband to propose.

 

[catlady]

5 hours ago, anotherone said:

Totally totally off topic, but how was that as a job?  I can imagine you must have encountered really bizarre things ...

yes!  *so* off topic, but here goes.... 

hotel housekeeping itself isn't a bad job.  I worked for a small family-owned company, so we had a lot more flexibility than bigger corporations.  most rooms take about half an hour for one person to clean; we had some kitchenettes, and we all got annoyed by the guests who used every damn dish and left them all in the sink.  I also did laundry, which I liked and found surprisingly relaxing.  in general, it's a low-thinking job; sure you have to pay attention to what you're doing, but you can let your mind wander a bit, and since we weren't timed (bigger hotels do things like give maids 32 minutes to clean a room and penalize them if they take too long) it was very low-stress.  I did this on weekends and major holidays while working a fulltime job doing nursing home payroll--still do that--so I had a seven-day schedule, but the motel was easy by comparison.

a lot of people would check out in a hurry and leave entire drawers of clothes behind.  phone chargers, keys, a couple wallets/purses, jewelry of varying value, prescriptions, even large items like the occasional pack-n-play.  big things are actually easy to forget:  you think you'll get it in the car in a little while, but then you get distracted and think you or your spouse already loaded it, so you drive off not realizing neither of you did.   we learned how to identify cash as being a tip or left behind.  if it's laid flat on the desk/pillow/nightstand, it's a tip.  if it's in or under anything, it's left behind.  if it's on a flat surface but folded, it could be either, so it depends on how much it is; a few singles is a tip, but mixed denominations are usually left behind.  anything questionable is given to the manager, and the manager decides whether to call the guest or let them contact us (large amounts or items of value, we'd track down the guest, but most would call us within a few hours).  if the guest can't be found--i.e. fake phone number, the item is considered abandoned and the maid gets dibs on whether to keep it.  **I know high-value items would have to be reported to authorities so they are not considered stolen, but we never found anything like that without being able to contact the owner. 

I've found more underwear under beds than I can count.  only once did I find a used condom, so at least most of our guests had the decency to dispose of them properly.  one time I looked under a bed for soda cans, chip bags, etc, and there was a really big cucumber under there.  I mean big, like a zucchini.  I had no idea what the guests had done with it and didn't want to know.  so I put on 2 pair of rubber gloves, nested three waste-can bags together, and carefully kept all five layers of latex/plastic between me and it. 

we've had trashed party rooms--I despise anyone of any age who thinks room-trashing is in any way acceptable.  these rooms involve spilled beer, empties *everywhere*, broken fixtures, puke on any surface, unflushed toilets, half-eaten food left anywhere but the trash, stained carpets and bedspreads, stolen towels, and party people never ever tip.  bastards.  (rant over.)

I can't figure out the spoiler device here, so I will leave out the really gross things, but if you use your imagination, I guarantee you'll be right.  in general, it was really a pretty good job.  I left when the owners retired and closed, and neither of their kids wanted to take it over.  and by that time, I'd spent 19 years working weekends, so I figured it was time to stop. 

it's one of the few service jobs where the idea is to have as little interaction with the customer as possible--the maid usually cleans while you're gone, and trust me, she prefers that--it's easier to work if the guest isn't hovering.  but that means she's also the least-tipped simply because the guest doesn't see her and often forgets about her, and she's barely above minimum wage.  I always make a point to tip at least $1 to $2 if I'm staying over, and at least $5 when I check out (more if it's a bigger room).

[Casserole]

Thanks to a "free gift" from a Sephora order, I apparently got an US Weekly subscription... almost happy to see Jeremy say the wedding will be indoors and "small." I'd be happier if they also were excluding cameras, but baby steps. 

[zygote373]

I got engaged about a month ago, though we've been together for 5.5 years and have been talking about marriage for a while. The ring was originally my great great grandmother's and was reset by my grandmother before I was born. She gave it to my mother, who never liked the setting very much, so I ended up with it. 

My girlfriend proposed by putting the ring and a note in the battery compartment of the TV remote. I found it when the TV wouldn't turn on. We are basically obsessed with TV so it was very appropriate, haha. I loved that it was low key, just the two of us at home.

[catlady]

1 minute ago, Casserole said:

Thanks to a "free gift" from a Sephora order, I apparently got an US Weekly subscription... almost happy to see Jeremy say the wedding will be indoors and "small." I'd be happier if they also were excluding cameras, but baby steps. 

off topic, but I also managed to get a gift subscription to US Weekly last year.  no idea how it happened, and they skipped me about one week a month, but I received it for about 6 months.

[January1231]

I have to say, I absolutely love the fact that we each have these unique stories and that despite the fact that most of us don't have this crazy romantic proposal story or a huge expensive ring.... most of seem to acknowledge the story as "perfect for us".    Kudos FJ peeps !

[Casserole]

30 minutes ago, catlady said:

off topic, but I also managed to get a gift subscription to US Weekly last year.  no idea how it happened, and they skipped me about one week a month, but I received it for about 6 months.

Well I assume it came from Sephora since they once "gifted" me a Glamour magazine subscription, but that was never confirmed. But I definitely don't pay for it... it just shows up every so often with my name on it. So strange. 

[twinmama]

On 8/18/2016 at 11:02 AM, Kak said:

I'm going to sit on my hands from now on. I didn't realise that nails are so important.

I have a solitaire, chosen by my husband. I'm very happy with it, I like plain.

But I'm a simple soul.

Same. I have the diamond from my great grandmother's engagement ring, reset into a simple yellow gold band. I love it, I wanted a simple ring like my mom's. 

And my nails are nasty, but I have the good sense to not have photos taken of them up close. Hence our wedding ring pic:

 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

On 8/18/2016 at 7:48 AM, HarleyQuinn said:

Why are fundie engagement rings so boring?

I'm guessing you don't like solitaire rings? I love them, oddly enough I don't have one, they looked funny on me.  I have VERY big hands for a girl (and a man too honestly) so I needed something a little more and no way could we 1 afford a 2 or 3 carrot ring and if we could no way in hell we would have spent the money.