No, this is not the One Ring to Rule Them All. It’s the wedding ring of Reddit user laporkenstein. What’s so special about it? How about the fact that he made it himself from a meteorite.

The meteorite cost him about $200 online, and then he got started forging. No, there is no matching ring. The lady had already fallen in love with something else, and neither insisted their rings had to be an exact match.

According to laporkenstein, he and his wife are now happily married for three years with a small daughter.

May this ring – and the marriage it represents – never be unmade.

But this does raise a question I’m curious about: how do you all feel about mismatched wedding rings? Love? Hate? Don’t care? Tell me what you think.

For my part, I think rings are a truly individual choice. I’m very much down with either choice, so long as both parties are happy with it.

According to R.J. Licata, the dangers include:

- Marrying the wrong girl
- Waiting too long/Proposing too soon
- Buying the wrong ring
- Overspending on the ring
- Being uninformed
- Overlooking an important detail
- Ruining the surprise
- Destroying your nerves
- Letting her down

I think about the only thing he left out was the heartbreak of psoriasis.

Oh, wait! That was a dandruff shampoo commercial in the seventies. My bad.

But Licata has the answer! He has written the book he wishes had existed before he proposed marriage. You know, the one that would have stopped him marrying the wrong girl. Or maybe it was that he was uninformed… or maybe he let her down. It’s hard to tell.

Anyway, whatever the heartbreak involved, Licata turned it into a media empire with The Ultimate Marriage Proposal Guide!

With it, a man can be prepared, informed, and recognize his own girlfriend in a crowd. Er… maybe that wasn’t quite what he meant with the crack about marrying the wrong girl, but my brain does work in mysterious ways its wonders to perform.

Licata will explain why it’s necessary to ask a father’s permission before asking the lady’s… which frankly would have bewildered my father and made me turn down the proposal, because not everyone thinks that way anymore and it’s more important to know what your lady thinks than the opinion of the author of a book designed mostly to disengage you from the contents of your wallet. He’s got the tools to keep you from blabbing the secret to the world before you ask your girl. Seems to me most of us understand the key to keeping a secret is not to tell it to people. Oh, and not to buy a great big book that will give the secret away by the very title of it.

Of course he has testimonials from a whole two guys (Jason in Indianapolis and Jamie in Syracuse) saying why they love this product. In the deathless words of Jamie in Syracuse:

Call me what you will, but I thought my girlfriend deserved a bit more than a piece of jewelry and a commitment.

Look, I have nothing against elaborate proposals when they fit the personalities of both parties involved. I think it’s great that there are guys out there who think the object of their affections deserves something unique. I even thought it was kind of cute when Jamie mentioned doing a scavenger hunt proposal… until I found out the instructions for a scavenger hunt proposal were part of Licato’s full package of goodies, along with the book, a set of checklists, and full access to his wedding proposal forum (a $300 value!).

All this could be yours for just $17. No, really. It’s worth over three hundred, but he’ll sell it to you for less than the price of dinner and a movie with your sweetheart for a limited time… most likely limited to as long as it takes him to unload all the copies of this stuff. After all, there’s that miracle wrinkle cream that’s been claiming to be looking for just one hundred first time users to accept a free jar in my area for the past two years. They keep telling me that’s a limited time offer, too.

This thing just strikes me as more wedding related stuff nobody actually needs.

A nice proposal is a lovely thing. I’m all for hearts, flowers, romantic music, and I’ve got no problem with a guy who goes down on one knee or arranges something he feels sure will make the moment magical for the very specific person he wants to marry.

But in the end, the most important thing a guy needs to know about the person he wants to marry is what actually matters to her. It doesn’t matter whether that’s a huge diamond and champagne or the simple assurance that the question is sincere. You’re proposing to a person, not a lab specimen. There is no one formula that will result in the reaction you want.

Make it about the two of you.

And you can have that advice for free.

But one groom took the question even further: he decided to make them himself.

David Curtis and Jessica Stonex fell in love while working with the homeless through their church. They’d known one another from childhood, but finding they shared values and priorities sealed the deal.

One of those values? Deliberate simplicity. So when they decided to marry, they didn’t want to go out and buy fancy gold rings or involve diamonds. But they did want rings to symbolize their union. What to do? David remembered a story he’d heard about a friends’ grandfather who hammered his wife’s wedding ring from a silver coin. David and Jessica knew they’d found their answer.

David set out to find real silver coins, which meant they had to be minted before 1964, the year alloys started being added. The pure silver would be more malleable and thus better for jewelry making by hand.

A Ben Franklin fifty cent piece was perfect for Jessica’s finger, and David found a silver dollar would suit his hand nicely.

Then came the painstaking work of hammering them out into rings.

“You can’t hit it too hard,” he said. “You have to be slow and steady, and make small taps. It’s kind of a metaphor for marriage.”

In the end, though, David and Jessica have a pair of unique rings that reflect not only their beliefs (the words ‘Liberty’ and ‘In God We Trust’ can be read inside the bands), but their unique bond as well.

As Jessica says:

“Every time I look at my ring, I think, ‘Man, my husband spent 20 hours making this ring to bless me with.’ ”

What more can you say after that?

For instance, check out these gorgeous cufflinks. They feature a fragment of an antique map (in this case, Italy in 1899) encased under jewelry grade magnifying resin and set in a combination of sterling silver and stainless steel. I can imagine many a groom, groomsman, best man, or bridesman who would be delighted to wear these links on the big day… and use them again afterward. At just $26.00 a pair, they’re also very affordable.

Oh, and don’t worry if you’re not excited about Italy. There are plenty of other places represented in the shop, as well as similarly themed bracelets, pendants, and earrings.

In fact, these attendant gifts might just put your wedding on the map.

(ducks hurled tomatoes)

The wedding was held last night and was attended by such family friends as the rest of KISS, Hugh Hefner, and Bill Maher, as well as the happy couple’s two children, Nick and Sophie.

The tune is may be bit of a wedding cliche at this point, but when the couple had their first dance to At Last by Etta James… I gotta say, it might be the most appropriate use of it ever. Twenty-eight years is a long, long time to be meandering toward the alter, but it seems to have worked for them.

I hope you’ll all join with me in wishing Gene and Shannon every possible joy as they begin a new chapter in their relationship. Mazeltov, you crazy kids!

Sometimes doing things a little differently works out really well, as in this rather fabulous wedding held in Poland for this lovely couple, Kabinka and Wisnia.As you can see, she’s wearing trousers and a gorgeous frock coat while he’s wearing a long skirt. Both accessorized with joyful smiles.

You can get a better look at both outfits in this photograph:

After the formality of the ceremony, Kabinka removed her coat for the reception and danced the night away looking fresh and comfortable and every inch a bride:

And the lesson we learn here is that unconventional isn’t something to fear. Follow your heart, whether you’re choosing a life partner or what to wear while marrying the person of your dreams. It’s all about staying true to who you are.

(all images by Ania Roth Photography via This Charming Wedding)

Lovey-dovey, sure, but I feel like there's some happysilly there, too

Hot stuff!

Laughter on your wedding day, can't beat it!

La Petite Acadienne had this to say about the photos she shared: “Our photographer was Anthony Vazquez. My husband and I went away to New York to get married — just the two of us — and Anthony was one of the very few wedding photographers who was willing to come shoot for just an hour. Most of them had a 6 hour minimum, and what would I need 6 hours of photography for when it was just the two of us? Anyway, we were absolutely thrilled with the photos. There are so many nice ones, I could have sent you an entire album. I’ve selected a few that I adore, though — I think they really speak to who we are as a couple: goofy, passionate, and very much in love.”

Now it’s your turn to gush in the comments about how gorgeous they look – don’t be shy!

Let's hear it for those helpful grooms!

Some of these involved grooms-to-be are even blogging, though admittedly they tend to give it up after they tie the knot unlike some people – hello! – who just keep on going on about wedding planning like nothing happened. There are even wedding planning guides for grooms! Unfortunately, some parts of the wedding industry have yet to catch up to the trend of the helpful groom and continue to focus only on brides-to-be and their desires. I’ve even heard stories of wedding vendors who, when meeting hetero couples, talked only to the bride and all but ignored the presence of a groom. Uncool, vendors, uncool. Was The Beard as involved as he could have been? I plead the fifth on that one and state for the record that I can be a a force of nature when it comes to party planning.

How about you? Is your other half – if your other half happens to be a groom – pulling his weight? If not, and you want him to (some brides don’t), then TELL HIM THAT. Don’t just stew in a sauce of resentment until you explode. Your groom, like many, may have been told by a well-meaning male relative that he shouldn’t participate in wedding planning. Inside many an uninvolved groom is a helpful groom waiting to come out.

Image: Peacock Photography

A Jewish wedding tradition with a growing following

Am I the only one who likes seeing wedding traditions from one faith or heritage embraced by people from other backgrounds? I know that there are some people who don’t like the co-opting of wedding traditions by “outsiders” but I my take is that wedding traditions wouldn’t have become traditions if brides and grooms didn’t find value in them. It’s not for me to say that so-and-so can’t do X, Y, and Z because those practices belong to another culture. Take the ketubah, a traditional and beautiful element of the Jewish wedding and marriage. According to a recent New York Times piece, more non-religious and Christian couples are embracing the ketubah in their own weddings.

“We wanted a permanent reminder of the covenant we made with God,” Mrs. Austin said. “We see this document superseding the marriage license of a state or a court.”

Such sentiments have been reshaping the market for ketubot (the plural in Hebrew) in the past decade. Michael Shapiro, an observant Jew from Toronto who sells artistic ketubot through the Web site ketubah.com, said he had seen the non-Jewish share of his customers rise from zero to about 10 percent. He is forming a spinoff site, artvows.com, that concentrates on non-Jewish consumers.

The decade of non-Jews discovering the ketubah coincides with three relevant social trends: the rise of Christian Zionism, the growth of interfaith marriage, and the mainstreaming of the New Age movement with its search for spirituality in multiple faith traditions. As a result, an increasing number of gentiles have taken up Judaic practices: holding a Passover Seder, eating kosher food and studying kabbalah, the Jewish mystical movement.

What began as way to protect the bride’s interests in the event of a divorce and morphed into a beautiful and artful representation of specific contractural provisions for marriage had a resurgence of popularity in the 1960s Jewish counterculture. Suddenly the ketubah was back and once again something to display rather than something to be hidden away. And, like I said, the ketubah is now finding its way into non-Jewish weddings and onto non-Jewish walls. I’m cool with that – in fact, I think it’s very cool, especially for those Christians who want to give a nod to their religion’s Jewish roots.

How does it strike you, this flow of wedding traditions from one faith or background to another? Do you think it’s cool, or kind of weird and inauthentic?

Not everyone has engagement photos taken, of course. But if it’s something you’re planning on checking off your pre-wedding to-do list, have some fun with it like these couples did!

Here’s a future bride and groom at deCordova Sculpture Park, posing on some of the art. It would be tons of fun to run around 35 acres with a photographer. Maybe even a great way to relieve some wedding planning stress!

Here’s a couple kissing on the Charles River esplanade – this is my absolutely favorite of the bunch! I’m sure you and your sweetie could think of *plenty* of places to get your smooch on, no?

Then there’s the couple who posed at Duxbury Beach, in a lifeguard tower! That sounds like a super like a fun idea – especially for the beach fanatic – as long as it’s the off season and no one chases you away.

Or Stanza dei Sigari, an awesome cigar bar in Boston’s North End!

And finally, here’s my second favorite engagement photo in the bunch, taken in Wompatuck State Park in Hingham in weather that looks a lot like what I’ve been seeing out my living room window for the last, oh, hundred years. It just goes to show that you can’t let the weather get in the way when it’s time to meet with your photographer – work with it!

Are you planning to have engagement portraits taken? I didn’t, and I’ve always kind of regretted it because I love great photos – especially when I get to be in them!

Images: KLC Photography