When Rich proposed to me in October 2008, he pulled out all the stops: He took me back to my beloved Italy, where I spent several months as an undergraduate studying my life’s passions, Classical languages and archaeology, and proposed amid the rustic, natural beauty of Vernazza, a village in the Cinque Terre. He presented me with the exact diamond and platinum engagement ring from Tiffany that I had been salivating over for months. The setting and the ring couldn’t have been more perfect, though my reaction to the surprise proposal — choking and then coughing hysterically — could have been a bit more polished and lady-like. In any case, almost as soon as I got my beautiful sparkler, I started thinking about what sort of wedding band I would wear with it.
