Wedding Ring Workshop

I didn’t do the workshop. All I did was call for pricing… the guy who answered the phone told me they charge $ 1000 for silver, $ 2000+ for gold. I said «okay, thank you» and was about to hang up and he said in his condescending British accent «oh, that’s not within your budget? Not even the silver one?» «no it’s not, but thanks for your time.» «Well, what did you think it would cost for a whole day with an expert jeweler?!»
«Well, I didn’t know, but I figured it was worth calling to find out.» Excuse me.
Way to make me feel stupid. I was so excited about this I might have tried to find a way to afford it, but not after you make fun of me for thinking you weren’t outrageously priced. It’s not my fault you want to throw in lunch, champaigne and a photographer! I just want the rings.
Anyway, if you want to be pampered and coddled and drink champaigne and have your pictures taken, by all means. But if you’re just looking for something fun and creative and special there must be other options.

My wife and I made our wedding rings here for our October 2010 wedding and they couldn’t BE any more special as a result.
Maru was great at guiding our design and at picking out stones and my wife is now crazy to learn how to make silver jewelery herself. I discovered that I am not very good at jewelery making, but with Maru’s help and advice, I was able to make a lovely band for my sweetie.
We hung photos of the ring making process in the reception hall and our guests were stunned to see we made our own rings. When I looked in her eyes and said the ring vow of «I made you this ring, I want it to be a symbol of the life we will make together.» it was an incredible moment.
Price wise, it was right at the budgeted amount and worth every penny. Since Maru uses Paypal, it made the process very easy.
I added a picture of the ring making to my profile if anyone would like to see them.

My husband and I made our wedding rings here before our June 2010 wedding. It was a fantastic experience — I recommend it to everyone.
Here’s how it works — you block out a whole day (it takes at least 5 – 6 hours, usually). Maru (the jeweler, she’s great!) works with you to decide on the appearance of your ring — what kind of metal, what shape, how wide/​big, etc. (You don’t need prior knowledge, but I recommend going to a jeweler to just look around at rings first. You can try on different styles and see which ones you like best. The Wedding Ring Workshop has a bunch of examples, but not as many as a large jeweler does. And trust me, there’s a huge difference between 4 mm rounded and 6 mm flat.)
Once you decide on what you want your rings to look like, you get started. You actually melt the metal, pour it into a mold, shape it, anneal it, polish it, and many other metal-​working terms that I now forget. Maru’s there to help if you need it, but you’ll end up doing most of the work yourself (unless you want something complicated). The best part — you make your partner’s ring, and your partner makes yours. Lunch is included, and so is a bottle of bubbly for the end of the day!
Another piece of advice — they have open houses periodically, and I think you should go to one if you’re thinking of doing the workshop. You get to see the process and start thinking of the type of metal you want.
This was a really great experience — yes, it’s a bit more expensive than just buying your rings at a jeweler (the price actually depends on the cost of the metal when you book the workshop), but how cool is it to say that you made each other’s wedding ring?