The Bold Italic: "I Dude"
As a guy with basically no knowledge about jewelry that isn’t meant to be eaten, the pressure to find the “right” rings is very intimidating. So why not forge your own like mighty Hephaestus, the Greek God of blacksmiths? Adam Clark, a local jeweler who founded DIY Wedding Ring, has been helping couples make their own rings for the past 19 years.
Would-be smiths can either bring their own heirloom rings and stones or buy metals and gems directly from the shop. “100 percent of our customers are beyond amazed at what they produce,” says Adam. “And it means so much more.”
SF Gate: "With these self-made rings, couple forge a future." by Sarah Adler
Sara Faith Alterman and Sam Hawes differ in their diets (she's a vegetarian; he's an avid carnivore), their career direction (she's a novelist and features writer who also performs, he's an MBA-type management consultant) and personalities (she's emotive and posts frequent Facebook updates; he's practical and posts only photos every six months).
On one crucial matter, they both agree: Weddings often focus too much on pomp and often seem impersonal.
"I always associated weddings with a lot of drama, a big puffy dress, and lots of bridesmaids, and all of that made me feel uncomfortable," Alterman says.
"When it came time to plan my own wedding, I wanted to have a ceremony but didn't want to pretend to be people we are not." When these self-described nontraditionalists got engaged in December, it didn't take long to arrive at a consensus on how their wedding ceremony and reception would play out. The couple would appease family and friends with a low-key ceremony in their New England hometown. When it comes time for them to exchange rings in the MIT Chapel (where Sam went to graduate school), the traditional symbol of the union itself will be highly untraditional. They will slide wedding bands on each others' fingers that they forged by hand. "I am excited about the contrast of Sara wearing a ring that I made just a few weeks ago next to the 100-year-old engagement ring I gave her last year," Sam said. "It says that we as a couple like to be unique and have things that are interesting."
How it all started
The idea of making their own wedding bands hadn't occurred to them until Sara discovered jewelry designer and metalsmith Adam Clark while researching an article for the Bold Italic about localizing her wedding.