Congratulations to the newest members of the Trumpet & Horn family, Johanna & Jake! The two were engaged over the holidays with one of our all time favorite rings: the Late Victorian era sapphire ring Bentley Ridge. Johanna had some ring size doubts that ultimately ended up with her ring temporarily lost in a pizza box! Oh no! Check out their full story below, as told by Johanna:

 

Our love story began in San Diego, Coronado Island to be specific. Jake had suggested taking me to an oyster bar in downtown called Water Grill, one of the nicest first dates spots around. I am a big country music fan and had heard on Twitter that Tim McGraw (my favorite country singer) was going to do a surprise concert on the beach at the Hotel Del that evening. Worried he might brush me off for even asking, I texted Jake asking him if he would be ok with changing the date to running around the beach trying to find the concert. His response was, "Looks like we are going to the beach!" Looking back, I think I feel in love with him that night dancing and singing on the sand.

 

Fast forward seven months from our first date. Jake and I are laying on the couch and he spies me looking at your Trumpet & Horn Instagram account. I love vintage jewelry, especially opal and turquoise, and had found your account while browsing to buy myself a special ring. He started asking me various questions about different styles and things I liked, which brought us to the post about what is now sitting on my hand, the Bentley Ridge. I had always wished that I had a family ring to be passed down to me, and told Jake that I thought it would be amazing to have a vintage piece and one day start that tradition for my children. This entire conversation in my mind was theoretical and would never come true. Little did I know he was taking mental notes the entire time. He asked me what size my ring finger was, to which I threw out "6.5" as nonchalantly as I would say I wanted sushi for dinner. Then a week later, I was putting on my turquoise ring and said to Jake, "Actually I think I might be a 7.5". Jake contacted you and had the ring re-sized to a 7.5. A few weeks after that, I was shopping for Christmas gifts and was trying on rings while Jake was on the phone and I said, "Oh wow this ring says 6.5 and fits my hand!", after which Jake quickly called you again, asking for it to be re-sized back to the original 6.5.

 

Our engagement was perfect. Jake wanted to make it romantic and special, but he also knew it was for me, and that meant it needed to be intimate. The perfect solution was to have my best friend take me for a sunrise walk at the Hotel Del, the spot of our first date. He made a trail of rose petals from the sand to the ice skating rink and surprised me with our 2 year-old golden retriever, Charlie running up to get my attention. Jake took my hand and led me onto the ice saying, "A Minnesota boy met a San Diego girl. I wanted you to be near the ocean, but on the ice. I love you, and want to make you the happiest girl in the world every minute for the rest of your life. Will you marry me? I said yes! Charlie was running around the ice like a crazy dog, sliding on the ice. He was a better representation of my emotions as all I was able to do when Jake pulled out the ring was stand in thrill and shock. "Do you recognize it?" Jake said, "You know this ring."

 

We spent the day celebrating starting with finally having our first date at Water Gill, and then a surprise engagement party at his apartment downtown. It was a wonderful evening with lots of friends, champagne, and laughter. When the festivities were over I began cleaning up and putting food away, at which point I realized my ring was missing. My stomach dropped. The air rushed from my lungs. I had lost my beautiful ring on my proposal day. I fell to the floor and began going through the trash, my girlfriend began rolling up here sleeves to dig into the garbage disposal. Luckily, our friend thought to look in the refrigerator where we found the ring nested between slices of pizza in a plastic container. Jake captured the whole thing on video which is funny now looking back with my ring perfectly attached to my hand (after it's third sizing to a proper size 5!).