My Updated Wedding Ring Reveal [Part 2]

This Friday is Husband's and my 5 year wedding anniversary! Like they say, time flies when you're having fun...and all these years together have flown by so far! A couple weeks ago, I posted about how we chose to update my wedding rings through Blue Nile for this milestone anniversary. I was choosing between three options, which you can see below, and today I'll be revealing my new wedding ring!

Before that, we'll be answering some frequently asked questions about the ring updating process:

1. 14k Yellow Gold Petite Micropavé Diamond Ring 2. 14k Yellow Gold French Pavé Diamond Ring 3. Platinum Luna Diamond Ring

Why I chose these three wedding ring options
Out of the hundreds of wedding rings on Blue Nile, I narrowed my favorites to these three. I loved that these rings are all classic and elegant and they let the solitary diamond be the statement. Because my original wedding ring was set in white gold, I considered switching things up with options 1 and 2 that are set in yellow gold or option 3 that is set in platinum. My original band was channel set with princess cut diamonds, and I knew I wanted a pavé style for this updated ring, which means the diamonds are set more visibly.

Our wedding ring update experience at Blue Nile
I almost exclusively shop online, so I love the concept of being able to browse and buy jewelry from the comforts of my own home. (Yes, buying an engagement ring is a huge investment -- read more about why we trust Blue Nile and why my husband bought my wedding rings through them almost six years ago.)

The process of updating my wedding rings started with me browsing through the Blue Nile website while on my couch. Once I narrowed down my favorites, I went to my local Blue Nile Webroom -- located in Bellevue Square -- to see what they had in stock so I could try some of the rings on. If you don't have a Webroom in your city, Blue Nile has an easy 30-day free return policy.

We headed over to the Blue Nile Webroom a few weeks ago after work and sat down with one of the managers, who answered all our questions about the different types of pavé settings, the pros and cons of 14k gold vs. platinum, and more. Then I tried on about five rings that I liked, and we narrowed it down to THE ring!

More ring update options at Blue Nile
We opted to keep my original wedding rings for sentimental value, though Blue Nile does offer a couple jewelry buy-back programs. There is also a diamond upgrade program, where you can receive 100% of the original price of your diamond toward your new diamond.

How long the ring updating process takes
Once we chose the updated ring style, I gave the Blue Nile manager my original engagement ring and she put it in a sealed package to send off. From there, the rings were finished and mailed back to the Blue Nile Webroom in exactly a week (you can also opt to have the rings shipped directly to you).

Now, finally -- this brings me to the reveal of my updated wedding ring...!

I chose the Platinum Luna Diamond Ring!

After trying on the yellow gold rings, I realized I still really loved the look of white gold. However, I decided to upgrade from white gold to platinum because I like that platinum maintains its whiteness, whereas my white gold ring had started to become more champagne-colored over the years (however, Blue Nile offers complimentary replating and servicing so I don't have any worries about maintenance). The bands are .5 carat each, 1.5mm high, and 2.5mm wide (my original ring was 2.3mm wide). I love the exposed pavé of the Luna diamond band, and the scalloping and width are nearly identical to a rose gold diamond ring from my parents that I wear everyday on my right hand.

All in all, the updating process through Blue Nile was a breeze. I am absolutely in love with my new wedding rings and I get excited every morning when I put them on. Wedding rings are so subjective and personal, but the most important thing is that they're just a symbol of marriage and love. I can't stop staring at these rings, and every time I see them, I think about my husband, I think about how blessed I am to love him and be loved by him, I think about our beautiful love that we've built together, and my heart swells and I'm so happy. Rings or no rings, those feelings are the true joy of partnership and marriage.

I hope this post was helpful to you if you're thinking about updating your wedding ring. You can read Part 1 here. Please let me know if you have any questions that I can answer in the comments!

This post is sponsored by Blue Nile. Thank you for supporting companies

that make Hey Pretty Thing possible! All photography, writing, and opinions are my own.

Year-Round Wardrobe Staple: Black Maxi Dress

In the summer, the evenings are still warm from the day's sun, so I usually put on this black maxi dress for an easy night out look. This flowy material is versatile, and the dress can be worn with girly sandals (dressier look), white sneakers (casual style), or booties (for fall).

Shein black maxi dress

Zara pearl sandals (similar)

Coastal sunglasses (similar)

Moorea Seal earrings (similar)

In about a month or so, temperatures will start to drop, and this black maxi dress would easily transition to fall with an addition of a shirt layered underneath or a slouchy knit cardigan thrown over. Plus, the dress has pockets (!!!) and for $17, I think it's a steal. I've had it in my wardrobe for a couple years now and still reach for it again and again.

Shop similar items from this post:

Pops of Red in Ubud, Bali

I think I only wear color on tropical vacations haha. I brought so many colorful outfits to Bali, one of which is this look with pops of red. To me, bright colors scream "vacation!", and they seem appropriate and fun amongst the tropical surroundings.

Chicwish off-the-shoulder top (c/o)

ASOS ruffle skirt (similar)

Valentino espadrille slide sandals

Clic Clac sunglasses (similar)

J.Crew round straw bag (similar)

BaubleBar "Gabriela" tassel earrings (c/o)

Smith & Cult "The Warning" lip lacquer

I've been wearing tassel earrings all summer -- in fact, I think I own the spectrum of the rainbow in tassel earrings (these hot pink ones, these green ones I wore in this Bali post, and these orange ones I just got). Another thing I've been into is this red lip lacquer, which is more pigmented than a gloss, because sometimes it feels too heavy to wear lipstick in the summer.

Shop similar items from this post:

My Wedding Ring [Part 1]

This year marks husband's and my 5-year wedding anniversary! To celebrate this anniversary, I wanted to update my wedding rings. We got all of our rings at Blue Nile years ago (and more jewelry over the years) and have always loved our experiences with them, so I knew I wanted to do my ring update through Blue Nile, especially as they have an easy ring upgrade service. Before I reveal my new ring I thought I'd write about my original wedding ring (pictured) since I get a lot of questions about it!

We'll be answering some frequently asked questions below in the form of topics:

The wedding ring details
Solitaire round diamond, six-prong setting, with channel set princess cut diamond rings.

Our wedding ring shopping experience
Carolyn: Miguel and I went ring shopping one month into officially dating. We'd never done this before in a relationship, but I guess when you know, you know! We started off at the classic engagement ring shop, Tiffany & Co. It was a fun, quintessential experience trying on all the rings! I always thought I loved a cushion cut halo diamond ring, but when I tried on that style, I felt it wasn't really "me". The moment I tried on a solitaire round diamond ring, I knew it was "the one"! From there, we looked around some more jewelry stores. One thing about shopping in stores is that we could only see the few diamonds they had in stock that fit what we wanted, so that was limiting. But Miguel already knew what style I liked, and he took it from there!

Why we chose Blue Nile
Miguel: I did the whole brick-and-mortar shopping experience, which was okay, but I found most stores didn't offer a large selection of diamonds. Blue Nile literally puts thousands of diamonds with different characteristics and price points at your virtual fingertips. Blue Nile also sources GIA graded diamonds, which is the same grading institution that all the major jewelry companies use. This gave me peace of mind that I was getting a high quality gemstone. Lastly, Blue Nile has a 30-day free return policy, making it easy to return any items that don't work out. In my case, this was not necessary as we both loved the way the engagement ring turned out!

There is a Blue Nile Webroom in our city, so I picked out the ring styles I wanted to try online and they held them there in the store.

1. 14k Yellow Gold Petite Micropavé Diamond Ring 2. 14k Yellow Gold French Pavé Diamond Ring 3. Platinum Luna Diamond Ring

I'll be sharing more about the Webroom experience and revealing the updated option I chose in next week's post! Leave the number of your favorite ring in the comments below! Also, let me know if you have any questions that I can answer in the next post.

Casual Nautical Style

Whenever I'm by the water, I tend to subliminally dress in a nautical style. So I wore this look when I was exploring Olympia, Washington a while back, and the outfit has a slight nautical vibe without being too over-the-top in theme.

Aritzia linen shirtdress (old - similar here & here)

Sunday Best oxford shirt (similar here & here)

Joie straw hat (similar - $28!)

Coastal "Kam Dhillon" sunglasses (similar)

J.Crew hoop earrings (on sale!)
J.Crew straw bag (sold out - similar here)

Dolce Vita "Karlo" suede slide sandals 

Lancôme "Yummy Pink" liquid lipstick

I've worn this linen shirtdress from Iceland to Sweden to Hawaii, and I recently packed it with me to Bali. It just goes to show that a classic piece is worth the investment and will last season after season.

I'm working on all my Bali and Australia trip photos, and I hope to get the outfit posts and travel guides up soon! I just got back a couple days ago and am still lethargic from jetlag, but I'm slowly getting back to regular programming.

Shop similar items from this post: