Cancelled Wedding Turned Charity Event

Imagine this: 40 days before you're wedding, you call it off.

The venue is almost full paid for (most accept final payment on the day of), the flowers, the servers, the cake ... it's all ready to go. And just barely a month before you're to say your I do's, you cancel it.

That's what Carol and Willie Fowler's daughter did.

Meet the Fowlers:

From what I've read online, the Fowlers are regular, working-class parents of a bride-to-be who cancelled her nuptials (no reason for calling off the wedding has been given). Instead of cancelling the whole shebang, Mr. Fowler had an idea.

He wanted to donate the wedding to the homeless.

The Fowlers made arrangements with Hosea Feed the Hungry to host 200 homeless guests at Villa Christina, the upscale wedding venue where they were to host 200 wedding guests.

The best quote I read in the ABC News story (which is where I first saw this) was from Quisa Foster, of Hosea Feed the Hungry:

"All the plates were empty and there wasn't any leftover food at all. It was an eye-opening experience," Foster said. "You go to weddings sometimes and you see a lot of people really waste food. We take so many things for granted. These clients or guests, as we call them, they don't."

What a nice event to stem from a potentially sad one (and I say potentially sad because, who knows, maybe the cancelled wedding was for the best).

BRIDAL BABBLE: Did you hear about this?

Get 5% Back From Macy's Registry Rewards (and more)

When I registered at Bed, Bath & Beyond, you were able to mention if someone referred you. If someone did, and you put their name down, they receive a coupon for $25 off a $50 purchase.

Since my family friend is getting married in November, I used her name. I told her this (so she knew to look for the coupon) and she said I should look into Macy's because they offer you 5%.

I mentioned this to my friend who got married last summer, and she said she thought you needed a Macy's charge card. So I did a little hunting.

Turns out, they're both right.

If you create a registry at Macy's, you get a list of perks and privileges, which includes percentage and dollar off deals for specific items. Plus, there's the Macy's registry rewards program. You get 5% back based on what is purchased off your registry. So, if your guests purchase $1,000 worth of items for you, you end up with $50. The only "catch" is that you do need a Macy's card to be eligible for the 5%.

I don't have a Macy's card and neither does Pete, so we're not eligible for this. I guess we could sign up for a card, but I don't think we will. If you already have a Macy's card, though, this is a great option.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Did you register at Macy's?

Our Save The Date Cards

I had my heart set on our save the dates before we even set a date.

I knew from the very start that I wanted magnets. I just love the concept of save the date magnets because they make so much sense. I mean, if you mail someone a save the date, they're going to hang it on the fridge. It's just what people do. They have to find a magnet in order to hang your save the date. So it makes so much sense to just send a save the date that is a magnet and cut out the middle man.

I was looking at a bunch of sites for magnets and loved the float + celebrate magnets on Minted (which are $2.45 a magnet). I couldn't get them out of my head. Plus, I knew the exact photo that I wanted to take for the save the dates, and I needed a panoramic save the date rather than a square or rectangle one.

I edited our photo in PicMonkey, and then uploaded it to Minted. Online, the color choices were celery, robin's egg blue, and deep red, but Minted actually allows you custom coloring, so I was able to select celery to start and then choose plum (which is great because our colors are eggplant, lilac, and silver, and eggplant and plum are pretty interchangeable).

I was able to choose the fonts and colors too. I wanted to stick with a basic font. Actually, I'm lying. I wanted some crazy script, but it just sort of started getting illegible and text on one line was overlapping text on the second line, and it just looked like a sloppy mess. So then I decided I wanted a basic font.

At checkout, I was offered a "skinny wrap," which -- according to how it looks on screen -- is your name and address printed on the front and your date printed on the back. It was awesome. It added $45 to my set of 100 (so $.45 each, making the magnets $2.90 total), but it was worth it to me. It looked so incredibly coordinated -- and I wouldn't have to hand print or hand stamp our return address on every card. Plus, I could add special instructions to make sure the colors matched the ones on the actual magnet, so I was happy.

I wasn't happy, however, the first time I saw the digital proof. The return address text was black and was completely lost on the plum wrap. So I asked for it to be changed. And it was.

And that was the great part. The digital proof (and any necessary revisions) are free of charge. You do have to okay the proof before your order is created, which means you get to see exactly what your order will look like. You don't have to worry about getting a surprise (like the inability to read the return address).

About a week later, a huge box arrived at my door.

Inside were my 100 save the dates.


They were wrapped like a gift from my buddy Jason (he's not my buddy; I actually have never met or spoken to Jason although, but it just felt so personalized to actually receive these with my name and his handwritten on them).

The stationery the cards came wrapped in was celery, which matches the original selection I had made when I created my order, so that was a nice touch.


In fact, my envelopes came wrapped in the same celery color. And, instead of 100 envelopes, I actually received 104. It was great because the top envelope of one of the packages was dirty and I wouldn't have wanted to send that to anyone.

But the envelopes ... something was missing. They were bare. There was no address or date printed on them.

This, apparently, is because ...


... the skinny wraps were stickers.

I received the save the dates about a week before my mom was visiting. And my initial thought was that I would just wait for her because there was no way I was going to affix 100 stickers to my envelopes.

And after leaving the cards in the box for a day, I decided to suck it up and just stuff them and stick them with Pete. So one Saturday afternoon, when we had nothing else going on, I decided we were going to have a stuff the save the dates party (and yes, since you've gotten this far without seeing them, now's the time for the big reveal).

As soon as I opened the sealed packages with the save the dates and actually held one, I was in love. Absolutely in love. The magnets are matte, not glossy, which is amazing because glossy just looks cheap to me.

The coloring was gorgeous. As I said, I edited the photo on PicMonkey before uploading it, so I could optimize the color and add the text on the photo. Minted can optimize the coloring for you if you ask, but I was good on my own.

The font up top is as simple as I needed it to be, and our names on the bottom was in the gorgeous script that I wanted.

Our save the dates were simple and perfect and everything I wanted them to be.


And they were printed on a great quality magnet. I can't even tell you how many compliments I got on the thickness of the magnet (as if I had something to do with the choosing of the magnet paper). But, actually, they are really thick. There's a magnet and then the top layer is a thick paper. Since the magnet is actually a separate entity, you're getting something that is automatically thicker than those save the date magnets that are just printed on the magnet themselves.


The magnets fit perfectly into the envelopes. I asked at the post office to see if they needed to have a piece of paper (an envelope liner, if you're actually worried about this on your own) stuffed behind the magnet so they didn't get stuck and/or ruined in the sorter but I was told that they would be fine. No one mentioned any issues to me, so I'm going to thank the thick envelope for this.

We licked the save the dates closed, and then it was time to conquer the skinny wraps.

Those skinny wraps, they ended up not being that much of a pain in the neck. You can see the exact spot that needs to be on the edge of the envelope. Once you get that aligned, you just stick the front down, and then the back, and that's it. It gave such a classy appeal to the save the dates, plus it made them coordinated.

Although I was one of the only people who noticed.

But you'll notice now (because I'm pointing it out so it wasn't completely in vain).

The coloring on the skinny wrap is the exact coloring on the save the dates. The font that I used for the date on the skinny wrap is also the same font that I used for the date on the save the date magnet.

Oh beautiful cohesion.

Our return address (which yes, had our full address but I blocked our address out because I don't have enough groceries in the house for everyone to see my address and surprise me by coming over for dinner) lacked our last names. I figured everyone would know who we are (if you don't know us as a couple by our first names only, you probably didn't make the cut for our save the dates. Plus, when you open it, you see our photo). Our save the dates had just our first names, as did the return address.

Oh beautiful cohesion. Again.

The magnets are gorgeous, absolutely stunning hanging on the fridge (next to Pete's nephew's spin art).

I loved our photo. It's from our engagement photo session, but it was the one photo I refused to show anyone. I kept it safe, for me and Pete only, until the save the dates were mailed. Aside from our immediate families, I kept the date completely under wraps as well. I wanted everything about the save the date to be a complete surprise. It was so important to me.

People went nuts when they received the cards, texting and calling us. "You picked a date!" they exclaimed. "I love the save the date" so many said.

And then there were the ones who said, "I thought you forgot the M in married until I hung the magnet on the fridge." I'm not even exaggerating when I tell you half the people didn't originally realize that Pete and I are the M in married.

That element of surprise (for those people) gave one more surprise to our friends and family.

That trio of surprises, coupled with the fact that Minted created an amazingly excellent product, made these save the dates absolute perfection.

And for your save the dates, you need that. They are the introduction to your wedding and set the tone. If you do them, you want to do them right. And I know we did ours right (at least, in our opinion and that's what matters most).

BRIDAL BABBLE: Be honest: Did you realize we were the M in marriage before I told you?

We Registered (and how it all went down)

I mentioned yesterday that we were going to register today at Bed, Bath & Beyond. It was kind of awesome. It's like when you were a kid and you got the Toys R Us Wish Book (or whatever that thing was called) and you circled all the toys you wanted in hopes that Santa would put them under your tree Christmas morning.

Except instead of toys, we were picking China patterns.

Except we didn't actually pick any China patterns. Who eats of China anyway? (Dust mites is actually my real answer to that). We flipped through a book with China patterns and none of them appealed to me. They were so plain and stuffy and something you'd see in a museum (or a curio). We looked at the contemporary book and Pete found the Chirp by Lenox pattern that he really liked and I found the Noritake Colorwave turquoise set that I really liked (and could afford, if we broke a plate and needed to replace it). So we compromised and picked four of his and two of mine and added them to the registry (but ended up getting convinced by his dad's friend to add eight of each because six plates is not enough, especially if you have company or just eat at home and don't run the dishwasher every night). We then, completely blind to price, added the silverware set that I liked (because, between you and me -- and anyone on the Internet who stumbles over this blog -- the silverware set was the most important thing to me. I hate that ours is so mismatched and that a few of my knives are old and rusted).

When you're done looking at the book (which is basically a time killer while the associate sets up your Bed, Bath & Beyond wedding registry), you get a scanner and a tour of the store. Eventually, you are let loose on your own to scan the items you want to add to your list.

It's fun. It's really fun.

You kind of just get let loose and you decide what you want and scan it, hoping that one day it will make it inside your house.

We were left in the towel department, which is the hardest section to be totally honest. See, we have towels. We're short hand towels, for whatever reason, but we have a ton of bath towels. They're mostly blue and white and are very coordinated because they're all mine and came from my old apartment. So they match my blue bath mat and island-scene shower curtain, also from my old apartment, that is now adorning our guest bathroom.

Ideally, we will have a zen/bamboo theme in our bathroom. I have a few zen-like photos hanging in there, and we have a pretty toilet bowl brush holder, but other than that, you don't get the whole tranquil vibe I'm going for.

So when we were in the towel section, we tried to imagine what our bathroom in the house we don't own (and have not even searched for) looks like (well, will look like). And that bathroom will need teal and brown striped bath towels and matching teal hand towels, plus a brown bath towel and a sand and white towel (according to our registry). Do we need four bath towels and four hand towels on there? Honestly, I'm not sure. But that's what we added.

We also added a bamboo garbage pail because that is exactly what we need to fit our theme. Of course, it's $29.99 and I have an idea that if anyone realizes we asked for a $29.99 garbage for the bathroom, they'll laugh. I mean, I'm laughing at it. But, it's Bed, Bath & Beyond and there are always 20% off coupons out, so in a way, we're only asking for a $23.99 garbage for the bathroom (and, really, I don't know if that sounds any more reasonable).

What is reasonable is the Trovolo King Cube ice cube tray Pete added because the tray makes good ice cubes for cocktails. I'm just hoping that the cocktail glasses we added are wide enough to actually fit these ice cubes. If not, we'll have a problem.

I'm pretty sure the ice cubes would fit in the owl coffee mug that I added because I like owls. I added one. Just one. Which is a completely random registry item, I guess. But it's super cute.

We were actually trying to figure out if we should add a coffee mug set to our registry. We have coffee mugs, but they're all mismatched and have come from who knows where. We don't have to drink out of matching mugs all the time, but I guess it would be nice to have a matching set. Except we couldn't find one, so we didn't add it. Which is fine because those plate sets we picked out, they all come with a mug. Matching set done.

We did add a nice espresso set for Pete so he has something nice when he drinks his espresso. The set has enough plates and saucers for six, so he definitely has to have an espresso party one day.

We added some larger items too, which made me laugh when we got home. See, I wanted a Kitchenaid stand mixer for I can't even tell you how long. I've always said I'll add it to my registry. So when we were standing in front of the mixers, I decided to add it. "And we can add the pasta attachment and make pasta," I told Pete. Which has been this ridiculous dream of mine ever since I took one cooking class and we made pasta. So onto the registry it went.

I came home, looked at the registry, and laughed because the pasta attachment is $199.99 and who the heck is gonna buy us a $199.99 attachment to make pasta. And, really, are we gonna make that much pasta to justify a $199.99 attachment? Maybe we should have just registered for pasta instead. But, in my imagination, we are going to start making pasta at home and we need this. And maybe someone else will understand that we need this as well.

Now that I'm home, I'm able to sit here on the iPad and go through Bed, Bath & Beyond's site and look at items and compare prices and change our registry, if need be. And I might. See, you remember that place setting pattern that Pete liked? We added four to the registry, even though it's $99.99 a set. I was looking at the website, and you can actually get a package that has four settings for only $299.99. I don't mean only because, geez, that is expensive, but it's about $100 less to buy it as a set instead of buying four sets. But as four sets, that means four people can buy us gifts. But are four people going to chip in together to buy us the full set or are they just going to see something for $299.99 on our registry and ignore it?

BRIDAL BABBLE: For real, that's my question. Do I leave four sets on the registry, knowing that it's a 25% markup to buy all four separately or do I switch and add the bigger set to the registry, knowing that people will save but knowing there's a chance that people won't actually combine forces to buy it for us and then we'll be stuck buying it for ourselves?

We Are Registering

Everyone kept asking me, over and over, when and where we would be registering. It's not that I didn't want to register, it's that I wanted to wait. See, I knew my style would change between when we got engaged and when we got married. I didn't want to pick out silverware then that I loved, only to be completely bored with it if someone purchased it off our registry months later.

And if you know me in real life, you know it is impossible for me to fake liking something. So I would be bored of the blue forks, open them, and then I would just sit there, stunned, trying to figure out how to politely say, "Thank you for purchasing this item that I wanted but now am bored of." I would definitely appreciate that someone bought me a gift because no one is required to give us anything but a smile, but still. I know me. I know my fickle tastes. I know my lack of lying.

We are finally going to register tomorrow, so I put together a short list.

Other than those items you can read, my list is pretty empty. I have a "wish list" on the back of that paper that includes a TV for the bedroom and a living room couch, but I can't scan those things at Bed, Bath & Beyond. We live together already, so we have quite a bit of stuff. We just got new pots and pans, we have a Keurig, we have a set of bamboo cooking utensils, we have new bed sheets. I'm not really sure what to add, and I sort of want to go in tomorrow with a plan. So I need your help. BRIDAL BABBLE: What is the one item you wish you added to your registry? What is the best item you added to your registry? What item do you wish you never added?

I'd Like To Buy A Vowel ...

If you know me in real life, you know I stress out. A lot. Over everything.

I can't help it. I mean, I try not to worry and stress but it's just part of my DNA. It's how I'm wired.

I stress, and then I get overwhelmed, and I flirt with the idea of having a panic attack but since I don't actually know what exactly that entails, instead I just let my thoughts spiral into some sort of crazy place and it usually ends up so far from where I even started anyway. For a little taste of this, check out my centerpiece dilemma post (if you weren't around to read it originally).

Yesterday, I sat down to look at honeymoon ideas. I heard the Maldives is gorgeous and it's on every honeymoon top ten list I've read.

Photo credit

I'm sure you can see why.

I want a bungalow in the ocean where no one but a private butler can reach us for a week. I know, it sounds like something for only a celebrity (and in fact, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes honeymooned at the Maldives), but I want it.

I was looking at prices and resorts like the Lily Beach Resort and Spa in the Maldives are booked all of next year it seems. No worries. With the cost about $1,600 a night, I was okay to look somewhere else.

That somewhere turned into somewheres and it turns out that it would be $3,000 minimum each to honeymoon in the Maldives.

I told this to my bridesmaid Michelle who told me that I should probably go on Wheel of Fortune because the night before, someone won $25,000.

I actually watch Wheel of Fortune nightly and I always ask Pete if he would do couples Wheel of Fortune with me. He says yes. So it looks like we will be auditioning for Wheel of Fortune.

Realistically, we'll probably get to the Maldives before we get on Wheel of Fortune. And that's okay. Is $3,000 a person a lot of money? Absolutely. But is this a once in a lifetime experience that I will never do again? Yes. We're on a budget for our wedding. And I am doing everything possible to stay under that budget without cutting corners. And all that money we're saving here and there (by doing things like DIY'ing our favors instead of buying them on Etsy), that adds up. And all that money we save is going towards the honeymoon fund. And that's how we'll make it work (unless Pat Sajak calls, of course).

BRIDAL BABBLE: Do you ever dream about going on Wheel of Fortune or is it just me?

Happy (Almost) Anniversary

Pete and I met on June 27, 2010, which seems like forever ago considering the amount of things that had happened during the start of our relationship. It's a crazy story, one that seems straight out of a movie, that everyone constantly asks me to turn into a book. (I'll post the full story one day.)

We went on a practice date on June 28 and a real date on June 29, but we didn't officially start dating until September 11. Being from New York, I thought that was pretty poor timing for Pete to officially muster up the courage to ask me to be his girlfriend. It wasn't until a few months ago that he told me it was because he was sure he'd always remember the date.

Our anniversary is tomorrow, but Pete works late, so we'll go out tonight and celebrate. It's crazy to think that our third "dating" anniversary is tomorrow ... and it's our last one. We'll be married this time next year, so we'll be celebrating that anniversary instead.

Because I always chat about me and my fiance, but I don't always show too many photos of us, I figured I'd post one of my favorite pictures ever. Thank goodness for the iPhone and Frametastic to capture us being us.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What anniversaries do you celebrate?

Review: Scented Towels

A Bride On A Budget received these items for review. All thoughts and opinions belong to ABOAB.

When my mom was here, we were leaving to go dress shopping when she said, "Aren't you going to put on makeup?"

The answer was no. I used to only wear makeup in the winter because I'm pale and need it. And then I started only wearing it to work in the winter. And now I live in North Carolina where I work at home and the winter is pretty much fall, so no makeup for me unless it's date night (and sometimes, it depends on what the date is because I don't put it on when we have a coffee date).

But my mom was planning on taking photos of me in wedding dresses and sending them to ... well, to someone. And so she expected me to wear makeup then.

It was a good excuse to try my samples from Scented Towels.

A few weeks ago, you were able to request a free sample, and the company was nice enough to send me a handful of lavender scented towels and makeup remover wipes.

I put on makeup, smiled for photos, and ended up not buying a dress that day. So, before bed, it was time to remove my makeup.

I opened the towel and, though it says unscented, it actually does have a strong scent. Musky is the best way I can describe it.

I was really surprised at how thick the towel was. I was anticipating a thin wipe, thinking they were disposable, but this was definitely a thick towel. I asked the president of the company, Carl, about this.

He said: "The towels are meant to be a single use product only due to the fact that the product or scent will be removed when washing. We do however encourage our customers to use again and they make towels to use around the house or to keep in the car. "

I used the towel to wipe my entire face, including my eyes. I do tend to go heavy on the eye liner (I'm obsessed with Sephora Nano eyeliner in Midnight Black), so I need a makeup remover that would be able to remove it and still be gentle on my eyes.

I don't use foundation, but I do use L'Oreal BB Cream, so I needed something that could remove that too.

The towel worked great (as you can tell from the amount of makeup residue on the white towel above). I actually washed the towel in the sink with hand soap after, and it came out white again. I've been using it as an extra towel in the bathroom to wipe things down when I clean.
I tried the lavender scented one too, and it had a similar scent to the unscented makeup remover. I rubbed it on my arms and legs and I initially didn't smell any lavender. I was confused. Once the "unscented" scent dissipated, my body smelt like lavender. It's really nice.
Lavender is meant to be soothing, which is exactly what you need for your big day. You don't want to stress, not during the planning stages or during your wedding day. The towels did relax me, to be honest. They also helped me to feel refreshed. Plus, I'm part Japanese, so I'm used to the custom of a hot towel, especially before meals. This reminded me of that tradition, which was nice.
Depending on what your budget is for wedding welcome bags, but you could add one of these scented towels to each bag. If not, you might just want to get these as a bonus thank you for your bridal party.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you give these scented towels to your hotel guests?

Disney Princess Engagement Rings

I was joking around, saying I want a Cinderella-themed bridal shower. I don't. At all. Unless I think really hard, I don't even I know the story of Cinderella.

(Okay, I did actually just sit and think and I was like, "Cinderella. She wore a blue dress. She had a slipper. Oh, right ... she was the maid for her ugly stepsisters.")

There are so many women, though, who dream of a Disney wedding, dream of getting married at Cinderella's castle, dream of a Disney princess engagement ring.

And, according to the Internet, there's a new line of the latter.

I'm so behind on my Disney cartoons. I think the last one I saw in the theater was The Lion King. Or Pocahontas. I'm not sure which came out second (Okay, I googled. The Lion King came out in 1994 and Pocahontas was 1995, so it was Pocahontas). I have no idea who Aurora is. At all. (Okay, this post is taking forever because I keep googling stuff I don't know. Turns out Aurora is Sleeping Beauty. Really? She had a name? I thought she just had a spindle).

Anyway, back to the point at hand: This photo of Disney princess engagement rings is floating around the Internet. I've seen it all over, but no one has actually given credit to where it originated and no one has actually claimed to have originated it. So, there are a lot of missing details in this post. But, the rings are very pretty (especially the Cinderella one). 

BRIDAL BABBLE: Which of the Disney princess engagement rings do you think is best?

Review: Wedding Bands From Komo Koa

A Bride On A Budget received these rings for review. All thoughts and opinions belong to ABOAB.

Buying a wedding band for a man is so much pressure. It comes well after the fact that he has purchased the absolute most perfect engagement ring for you.

And that puts a whole heck of a lot of pressure on you. He figured out how to get you exactly what you wanted, what you dreamed about for the longest time ... and you have to follow his performance by getting him something equally perfect.

But I'll admit it. A man is a lot harder to shop for. More often than not, a woman will describe her perfect engagement ring, tell her man exactly what size and shape of diamond she prefers, and what metal she likes. And then a man will say something like, "Oh I don't care" or "I don't even like jewelry" or the worst: "I'm sure I'll like whatever you think is nice."

Thank goodness for Komo Koa, a seller of koa wood rings. The brand sure made it a lot easier for me to buy Pete's wedding band.

In fact, I actually got us both matching bands because, yes, these are unisex. The larger your finger, the wider the band will be, so if you have small fingers and your man has bigger ones, you will have a daintier ring and his will be more manly, so no worries there.

One of Pete's favorite trips ever in life was to Hawaii. He's been all over the US, traveled Europe for three months, but Hawaii is always the trip he talks about. Koa is only found in Hawaii, so I knew this had a special meaning to him. The ring isn't just wood; rather it is wood sandwiched between titanium. Titanium is pretty indestructible (according to that David Guetta song), which is perfect for Pete. The wood inlay actually has a lifetime guarantee, so no matter what your man does to it, Komo Koa will replace it.

Actually, if you check out their website, you can read about someone who actually dropped a ring in the garbage disposal -- and sure enough, the brand repaired it.

The rings come packaged in white boxes that bear Hawaii on them. Inside that box is the ring box, which has a photo of a koa tree on the inside. If you're giving this to your fiancé without him seeing it prior, this packaging will absolutely give him the story behind his ring without even having to tell him.

The rings start at $219, which is a fantastic price. You can definitely spring for the extra $40 to get them engraved (although, if you don't, all rings come standard with a photo of Hawaii engraved inside).

We had ours engraved with our wedding date (you can see it in the photo above). Originally, Pete thought that we should have it engraved with our names, but I thought our wedding date would be much more sensible ... just in case he ever forgets it; he can just check his ring for a reminder.

(Small aside, but I actually think he will remember forever. When people ask us when our wedding is going to be, I always say "next summer" or "next June". It's just easier. But Pete always says "June 21" so there's hope all the repetition will help.")

From an aesthetics standpoint, the koa wood rings are gorgeous. The site has a bunch to choose from, and we picked the Offset Koa Wood Inlay ring (the wood inlay being slightly off center is beautiful). As soon as Pete opened the box, he asked when he could start to wear his ring.

"As soon as we say I do," I said.

"Really?" he asked. "I want to wear it now." 

To hear that from a man, you know these rings are the right choice.

The rings are really comfortable too. They slide off and on with ease and don't weigh my finger down. I was a bit worried they would arrive and feel heavy, but that wasn't the case at all. They're a good size and are very lightweight.

They seem really durable and can take a punch, but the sheet that comes with the ring suggests you avoid sustained constant with heat or moisture. So take it off when you swim, shower, or decide to tour the sun. The wood inlay appears to me (and correct me if I'm wrong) to have a type of sealant over it. It's not exposed wood, although it is suggested that you periodically apply a wood finishing wax or paste. I would definitely pick that up from somewhere like Amazon; don't try to clean your ring with lemon Pledge.

BRIDAL BABBLE:  Do you think your man would love these rings?