**Welcome to Bride Boggles, our shiny new wedding blog! Lucie Cave, *Heat'*s editor-in-chief, got engaged to Ben Lunt (you may remember him as the T4 heart throb of 2007) and is ready to take you, dear readers, through her wedding prep process. Last week, Lucie dished on the couple's adorable proposal story and now it's time to discuss The Ring...
**
Taking into consideration that a) I have short stubby fingers and b) my taste is quite eclectic c) he didn’t want to give away the surprise, Ben decided against trying to fathom what the hell engagement ring to get me and proposed with a ‘marry me’ ring from a genius website called popthequestionring.com.This meant that I had something to wear on my little pinky while enjoying the mind boggling excitement of finding a ring myself.
Unlike some ladies who have it sketched out, ordered and burnt onto their boyfriends pillows at night - I had never imagined what an engagement ring would look like on my hands. And as I said, I have small, stubby – starting to get very wrinkly - hands, so I’ve never particularly thought about drawing attention to them with a lump of bling.
In my search, I discovered you could buy a ring that heats up each year to remind you it’s your anniversary. You can also just get engaged with a Haribo ring – and get it preserved afterwardsas a keepsake in a paperweight.
Ben stupidly told me money was no object with my ring mission. So a sweet wasn’t going to cut it. But luckily for him, until I started my Lord Of The Rings search, I didn’t know a diamond baguette from a normal baguette. I soon realised I was more of a vintage ring girl than a brand new sparking in-your-face type. Something reflected in my choice of outfits (give me a dusty old sheepskin coat from popboutique.com over a posh Prada number any day). Accordingly my first stop was this cute online boutique called Violet Vintagewhich stocks chic vintage jewellery.
Next up was the slightly more pricey but very droolsome www.berganza.com where I spent about a week earmarking different stones. Until I realized I’m not a member of the royal family.
Finally I stumbled on a cute little vintage store in the laines in Brighton called Fidra Jewellers. And after trying on some proper gems (pardon the pun) like this…
and this….
I saw the one. And instantly turned into Gollum, clutching it and cooing “my precious!” Et Volia – here it is:
A sublime art deco diamond solitaire that was made in 1890 and cost a pretty reasonable £1995.
The fact that its been worn by several (possibly even wrinklier) hands than mine over the years makes it even more special. Oh, and Ben is now smug in the knowledge he’s proposed to me twice because I wear his popthequestion ring round my neck. Which also means that if we ever have a massive fight I have a spare one to rip off and throw in his face in a dramatic fashion.
