Brooke's ring

Last week, one of our close friends (Brad) proposed to his girlfriend Brooke (also a friend of ours). Though we were not able to be at the actual proposal, we helped in a small part... Brad created a book for his bride-to-be. We helped him with some cool techniques in Photoshop, and I captured a few shots of THE ring. CONGRATULATIONS Brad & Brooke! Here are a couple of the images...



But, just for some reading... some of you (guys probably) may wonder why we typically have a diamond ring for the engagement, so I found one guy's research for askmen.com. ;-)

"There seems to be near universal agreement after all, on the historical origin of engagement rings, or diamond engagement rings to be more precise. Many sources, and yes the Diamond Trading Company, the world's leading diamond sales and marketing company, is one of them, concur that the tradition began in 1477 when Archduke Maximillian of Austria bought his future wife Mary of Burgundy enough carats for Snoop Dogg to remark, " bling bling my nizzle !" Since that momentous event, the tradition has spread throughout the Judeo-Christian ethos and men have spent an inordinate amount of effort, time and money in an attempt to find the perfect ring for their soon-to-be spouses.

Here's some bonus information, free of charge, that you can use to romance your lady as you slip the ring on: In ancient Egypt, it was common belief that the vena amoris (love vein) ran from the fourth finger of the left hand to the heart. So if you want to point the blame at anyone, fault the Hapsburg Empire of Austria, Ancient Egypt, as well as the global diamond consortiums, for our modern obsession with engagement rings."

By Lawrence Mitchell
Relationship Correspondent - Every other Wednesday