At Claudia Jewellers, our favourite part of designing and creating bespoke engagement rings is having the opportunity to build relationships with our wonderful customers and walk the journey with them. Through the process of choosing or designing an engagement ring there’s so much to be learnt about each couple and pearls of wisdom to be gleaned along the way.
We’ve reconnected with some of our wonderful customers to learn a little more about their love stories and what they’ve learnt along the way.
Introducing Claire and Aidan…
How did you meet?
We met at a mutual friend’s birthday celebration five years ago. I was seeing someone at the time, and I think Aidan actually had the hots for the birthday girl, so we just chatted and nothing really eventuated. Later that year, we saw each other out at another social gathering and I remember we met with a hug as if we’d been best friends for years! We’ve been together ever since.
Aidan, can you tell us about how you proposed to Claire?
I organised a camping trip to the East Coast and mentioned to Claire it would be a good idea to climb Mt Amos (Coles Bay) on the Sunday. It’s a really special place to me, having spent every summer there since I was born and as many weekends as I could fit in between, so I knew that’s where I wanted to propose. On the day, I’d cooked my back and it was on the verge of raining so I had to really convince Claire it was worth the mission. She soon found out it was! The weather cleared, it was perfect sunshine up on the peak, and when Claire wasn’t looking I got down on one knee and proposed.
Your engagement ring is very unique; Aidan, can you share a little about how you chose it?
Choosing the style of ring was the easy part, it was sourcing the unique stone that was tricky. Claire isn’t a regular diamond type and I knew a Parti Sapphire would be the perfect stone for her with the blue/green shades. The next step was figuring out how I could get one and who would make it. I’d even thought about going gem hunting myself but we probably wouldn’t be married by now if I’d done that!
After calling every jeweller in Tasmania and even as far as New Zealand, I ended up speaking with Scott at Claudia Jewellers and made the trip down to Hobart to see him. Instantly I had a really good feeling and he was a top bloke so it made the whole process better. Even though the stones in stock weren’t what I was looking for (as they are all so unique), he ended up sourcing one for me and as soon as I saw it I knew it was it.
When it came to the size of the ring, I had to guess as the whole engagement was a complete surprise for Claire. One night she had taken off her regular rings and I quickly grabbed one, took a picture of where it sat on my finger so I could roughly estimate her size. When it came to proposing, it was the perfect fit. I couldn’t believe it!
Claire, can you tell us a bit about your wedding day?
Much to my parent’s disgrace, we decided that we wanted to get married at my family home. It was such a special and surreal experience, stepping into real womanhood in the place where you’d shared so many childhood memories. Having a backyard wedding meant that straight away it had a relaxed and casual vibe which is what we wanted. It also meant that Aidan and his groomsmen could rock up on a boat as the property has water access which was pretty cool! We had the mother-of-all feasts which was all cooked over an open fire and included a spit pig all from local Hobartian, Sarah Glover (@misarahglover), a festival-style stretch boudoir tent (@eventavenue) with lounging velvet couches we had collected over the years, live music from Taylor Yates (@sundaze_au) and a shed-turned-bar (that Aidan and I had be slaving away on all the way up until the wedding) which was filled with unlimited drinks and probably too many rounds of espresso martinis. All of this to share with our nearest and dearest friends and family. It really was the most fun and best day of our lives.
As a designer, did you have a vision of what your wedding would look like?
Absolutely! It’s the job of a lifetime and I could really get creative which made it so enjoyable. Plus, I think every young girl dreams of their wedding day right?! I was able to design the wedding invitations and signage, all the way down to the little details. When it came to styling, I know what I like and don’t like which made the process quite easy. I love earthy tones, dried flowers, unique vintage items — I guess that became our “theme”. I also had Aidan’s carpentry skills on hand which was a bonus so he made a lot natural edge timber discs which our food was served on, holders for our place-cards and the bar itself was a natural-edge huon pine slab. We also had amazing vendors to help achieve our vision like Emma (@murphybloom) and the others I mentioned before, they pretty much ran with it and made it their own! At the end of the day, they are the best at what they do so you just have to trust that.
What is your secret to a happy marriage?
I don’t think we’ve being married long enough to know! But we’d say just regularly checking in with each other’s needs, communicating your thoughts and laughing often. At the end of the day, you both lose if the other person is unhappy or frustrated and you’ve got to go home and share a bed with them!
You’ve been on a spectacular extended honeymoon since your wedding, can you tell us a bit about travelling together?
We’ve been slogging our guts out for the past five years building houses and trying to get in a good financial position, so to finally have a break and soak up being married has been the best thing ever. Travelling really brings out your personalities. I’m the organiser who knows where we’re going and Aidan hasn’t got a clue but knows what the wind’s doing and where the waves are breaking! Luckily we both love the same things like warm weather, the ocean and surf so choosing where to go was never an issue, and we’ve been lucky to go back to some of our favourite places in the world like New Zealand and Indonesia. When we were in New Zealand we were ‘van-lifers’ for a month — I’d recommend travelling a little together before you get married because in a small van you really get to know someone fast! Luckily we had, and it was a dream!
Claire and Aidan very kindly shared a few of their wedding photos, which were taken by the talented Vladan Gajic (@vladangajic).
If you would like to share your story with us, please get in touch.
