Since we began prospecting together, I've always had the idea to mine all the gold we needed to make our own wedding bands! Instead of running about to various jewelry stores and hoping to find something that you both may like, why not just start from scratch and create something together that you would love and cherish? Something that is forged from a labor of love, memories, experiences, and creativity you brought forth together. Something that you cannot put a price tag on and is irreplaceable...Hence, the long journey and story behind our wedding bands.
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| Thermal City Mine, NC |
The wedding band is a very important part and symbol of marriage. The circle signifies our eternal love and devotion and the joining of two halves to form a whole. The center hole represents our journey into the future together and it's made of a precious metal, millions of years old. Mined by our very own hands, we had this gold forged into bands that symbolize our love and devotion in this life and the next.
It all started back in North Carolina on our third anniversary when we visited our first gold mine together and actually found some gold at the Thermal City Mine. I thought to myself, "How neat and special would that be to fabricate our own wedding bands from the gold we actually dug up by ourselves?" I then shared that idea with Jenn and joked with her that we couldn't get married until we acquired enough gold for our rings.
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| Tell them Jenn-n-Matt sent ya'!!! |
Well, fast forward several years and low and behold we ended up buying our own gold claim shortly after relocating to the west and establishing a new life for ourselves. So, the work began of exploring our claim over many different trips and getting all the needed logistics into place to start prospecting for gold in a very unforgiving environment! We were pleasantly surprised when all of this hard work began to pay off and we started to find the yellow stuff to add to our little wedding band nest egg! On a side note, I even wanted to dig her up her own diamond for the engagement ring from the Arkansas Crater of Diamonds State Park when moving out this way but unfortunately the weather and time didn't cooperate with us! I believe she is much more happier though with the diamonds she ended up with on her engagement ring! Wink, wink! A huge and heartfelt "Thank You!" for Mom for passing down a beautiful family heirloom that will be forever cherished!
Throughout our travels, we were fortunate enough to meet some wonderful people who owned the Techatticup mine in Nelson, NV. and we shared our idea with them about the rings. Well, they were nice enough to refer us to someone here in Vegas that could forge our gold and ideas into the wedding bands we had been so excited about all of these years!  |
| Gold Casters Jewelry, Henderson, NV (702) 565-7411 |
Welcome to Gold Casters Jewelry in Henderson, NV. This store has been in business since the early 1980's and we can see why; from the moment we met the owner Michael and explained our ideas to him, he and his staff were very supportive and welcoming in every way possible. They reassured us that they were highly skilled, capable, and knowledgeable in handling this unusual request! Sadie even agreed to help document and capture the entire process on camera, from start to finish. We asked, "Well, where do we begin?" They essentially guided us through the whole process, since neither of us had any experience in this area before. Sadie made recommendations on karat weight and shape, plus provided personal touches that made you feel like family there. From sizing, to design, to all the little details you normally wouldn't think about, they had it covered! They began work right away and were also on a dead line of about 3 weeks
to complete this special undertaking before our big day. Once again, no problem! They
had them done several days early! Michael and his staff kept us abreast
of their progress and we were able to visit them on several occasions
to see this transformation for ourselves!
Wax mold of Matt's band, unique and
meaningful! Semper Fidelis with a skull and crossbones: Always Faithful
and Til' Death do us part.
Wax mold of Jenn's band: A desert scene complete with a roadrunner, paw prints, mountains, rising sun, and a Saguaro cactus!
Our raw gold ready to be smelted down into our bands... We had raw gold mixed with a little key charm we found metal detecting years ago in Florida. So...we gave them our gold and came up a little short, no problem, they had the extra raw material needed to complete our bands!
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| Matt's ring after being poured |
Jenn's ring after being poured... It looks like a little ugly duckling right now. Looking at that you wouldn't know that was a gold band. 
And wallah...our finished, polished gold wedding bands that literally started from scratch and an idea years earlier! They turned out perfect to our liking and design. Some may think it's odd or unusual to go about this in this fashion but we feel it's an accurate representation of how we enjoy being a little different than the modern day norms. What cannot be captured in these photos and words, are the excited feelings and anticipation of something that we created together, out of love, which will last with us forever!  | |||
A huge Thanks to Michael and his team at Gold Casters Jewelry! We cannot speak highly enough about them!
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How unique and gorgeous! They are so much nicer and more meaningful than the mass produced kind we all get from the jewelry shops! If my daughters weren't already long married, I would have pointed them to this posting. Thanks for sharing! chris from Mary Ann's classes.
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for taking the time to check out my blog. So happy you liked our wedding band idea. My husband refused to get married until he was able to make my band from scratch. It is my most treasured piece:) See you over in the ROD Yahoo group:)