So you may remember quite some time ago I started working on Keith's wedding band. He wanted a wood ring and it's not easy to find someone that does this kind of delicate handy work. He had found Touch Wood Rings, a couple that lives off the grid in a remote part of Canada and makes some pretty good looking wooden wedding bands. I knew if I was going to use them I would need to start the process months in advance to get the ring in time for the wedding. I was truly impressed with their rings - especially those with stone and shell inlays.
Since I have collected stones and shells from different places Keith and I have visited for quite some time I loved the idea of incorporating that into a wedding ring for him. I started emailing with Nicola of Touch Wood Rings back in December and started the process of designing a custom ring for my husband!
I sent her a series of pictures from their website of rings I liked and then selected the wood I wanted to use. I loved the section of their website that explained each of the woods and their meanings - I felt like it gave the ring that much more of a personal touch. You fill out a spec form with lots of different information including ring size, desired width of ring, type of wood, type of inlay, inscription for inside of ring, etc.
I ended up selecting the Hawaiian Koa wood with a Blue Spruce for the inside of the ring. The most important part for me was the inlay - so I sent them a series of different stones I had collected on our trips to Costa Rica, Hood River and locally here in Florida. I sent them the stones and they crushed them into a powder and sent along pictures to me during each step of the process. Keith and I are huge bamboo fans and we were even able to incorporate our first bamboo from our yard in the outer part of the inlay.
I sent her a series of pictures from their website of rings I liked and then selected the wood I wanted to use. I loved the section of their website that explained each of the woods and their meanings - I felt like it gave the ring that much more of a personal touch. You fill out a spec form with lots of different information including ring size, desired width of ring, type of wood, type of inlay, inscription for inside of ring, etc.
I ended up selecting the Hawaiian Koa wood with a Blue Spruce for the inside of the ring. The most important part for me was the inlay - so I sent them a series of different stones I had collected on our trips to Costa Rica, Hood River and locally here in Florida. I sent them the stones and they crushed them into a powder and sent along pictures to me during each step of the process. Keith and I are huge bamboo fans and we were even able to incorporate our first bamboo from our yard in the outer part of the inlay.
Our stones crushed into powder for the ring inlay
My thoughts on the process: The entire process is done via email and through the mail since Nicola and David live in a remote part of the world and off the grid. Nicola is extremely attentive via email so it's not hard to do and actually probably more convenient since most folks respond quicker via email anyway. However I will say that since this is the case it's important to be VERY specific in your vision. The more pictures you can send from some of their other work and ideas you have the better. They do send several pictures throughout the process but it's just tough to know how the final ring will turn out.
When I got the picture of the powder they asked me to decide what I wanted in the inlay and that they only use a very small thimble sized amount. It was really tough to tell from the picture which color popped the most and how it would look against the color of the Koa wood. I wanted it to pop like the pictures above with a dramatic difference between wood and stone. I liked both the red stone crushed and the green but trusted their judgement on what would look best once they started putting it all together.
When I got the picture of final ring before they shipped it out I really did love it b/c it meant so much to have the ring custom made and to incorporate a piece of us. But...I will say I wish it had popped a little more and that we would have used more green since the red really just blended in next to the dark Koa wood. If I was disappointed at all it was my fault b/c I should have been more specific in my vision for the ring.
Overall, I was very satisfied with the process and especially working with Nicola and David. At the end of the day we got a handcrafted ring made with special items we'd collected together over the course of our relationship. Since I had my dress handmade and my hair piece - why not the ring too?!?
Keith's ring
{via Touch Wood Rings}
{via Gabriel Boone}
I think the idea of a wood ring is awesome for a tree hugging granola like my husband and I certainly love the way they look. Just a word of advice for folks that may be considering this route - it's not a great every day ring. My husband works on a boat and is around salt water and working with his hands a lot. This is a delicate ring and needs a lot of care and it really shouldn't be worn in the water or while showering, etc.
Keith definitely loves his Touch Wood Ring and we would do it all over again but we will likely get a cheaper metal ring as well just for everyday use.
Check out more of their beautiful rings and their sweet blog for more information.
