Sheerah, My engagement ring is astoundingly beautiful -– the emerald cut diamond is gorgeous — we especially love the design! A very simple ‘east-west’ ring setting — a symbolic representation and a continuous reminder of the endless (as far as the east is from the west) love poured out by God for us, to us and for each other–we know it’s not a coincidence God brought Ernie from the east coast and I from the west coast together. The proposal wasn’t a complete surprise. We both expected to attend Bible study but Ernie came to pick me up with a ring in hand — he popped the question! We had an impromptu celebration at Jake’s in Del Mar.
Thank you so much for your assistance in guiding us to such an exquisite diamond. Your professionalism and expertise provided such personal touch service from my initial inquiry to Ernie having received the finished product! I will be in touch with you when it’s time to talk wedding bands. I already have the designs in mind! For me, I would like two micro eternity bands with baguette diamonds to sandwich the engagement ring and for Ernie, his band will be open and a baguette diamond will lie across east-west. We truly appreciated your hands on service and friendly follow up!
Everything went as well as I could have hoped. My main goal was to keep it a surprise, so I was able to do that and everything else fell in line. She definately loved the ring and she will probably end up keeping it as is, now that she is attached to it. I’m not sure if I mentioned this originally in our communications, but we had an Alaskan cruise planned and in one of our ports (Juneau), we had a Glacier Trek scheduled with a local company there. I arranged it beforehand with the company to do the proposal on the trek, somewhere on the glacier. The guide picked his favorite spot toward the end of our hike on the glacier itself. The total trip was probably 6-7 miles, so we were pretty exhausted by the time I actually proposed. I’m attaching some pictures from the glacier. The one with Stacy and I in it is right after the proposal.
Here’s another anecdote that you may enjoy. I don’t know how familiar you are with cruises, but in general they push jewelery sales pretty heavily, both on the ship and in each port via dozens of jewelers such as Diamonds International. DI, of course, pushes their Hearts on Fire branded H&A cut. In casually comparing my WF diamond to the various diamonds in the display cases, most times it was not even close. The WF diamond destroyed mostly everything. The only thing comparable by eye was the HoF, but the price difference is definately not comparable! Anyway that made both of us feel pretty good, so I thought you might get a kick out of that.
So I woke up on Tuesday morning to find that all four of my tires and wheels had been stolen! Apparently stock wheels for a Honda Civic are in big demand on that notorious black market. LOL Though it’s been a traumatic experience you have to look at these pictures and laugh! Thank God I’m okay and tires can be replaced—-yet another reason insurance is a fantastic thing for anything from cars to DIAMONDS!!!
Sorry it’s taken so long for me to get back with you. Thank you so much for all your help. The ring turned out great. The day after we got engaged she spent most of her time staring at her ring asking “Is it always going to be this sparkly?” The ACA stone is perfect. It catches light from every angle and shines brightly in the sun light. She loves the custom ring design and is proud of me for designing it myself (with your help, of course).
We got engaged on the roof of a historic fort overlooking the ocean on the coast of Puerto Rico. The night view over the ocean and the sound of the waves crashing against the shore made it all the more romantic. She said “yes!” and we plan getting married in D.C. sometime in the Fall of 2009.
BEFORE THE PROPOSAL:
It’s as beautiful as the pictures showed. I am truly amazed at the quality of the diamond and the workmanship of the ring. Whiteflash’s ACA is really worth every penny, and the custom design exceeded my expectation. Also, the cleaning kit and H&A kit are very much appreciated. My girlfriend will be wowed when she sees it this Friday. Finally, big kudos to Sheerah for all her help throughout the process. But don’t think you can get rid of me yet. I will be back bugging you guys about custom wedding bands real soon!
AFTER THE PROPOSAL:
just got back from my trip and wanted to share some pictures of the ring with you. My girlfriend, Lilly, absolutely loved the ring. She kept saying it must be fake because it sparkles sooo much under ideal lighting. Turns out she knew about the surprise proposal for a long time now. I stupidly left my email to you open on our computer so she knew exactly what I was up to. But everything turned out perfectly in the end!
I just wanted to write and and say a big THANK YOU for all of your help in selecting my stone and creating my dream ring! Brian proposed last week and I finally got to see the ring you helped us create, and I can honestly that it takes my breath away every time I look at it. Everything about it is perfect, and I know none of it would have been possible without the two of you guiding us through the process.
Again, my deepest thanks, and I look forward to doing business with Whiteflash again in the future! For your viewing pleasure, I have attached a photo of the ring on my finger. -Elisabeth
Hi Sheerah,
Thanks for writing, and yes I did have a nice Easter weekend. We visited my family in Pittsburgh, and we had a great time decorating eggs (see attached photos for our creative results!). I see my family only several times a year, so these occasions to be silly together are treasured greatly.
I took a look at your blog last night — and found myself reading every entry on your page, then moved to the others. What fun you all seem to have! It’s a real pleasure to find a company where the people seem to genuinely have fun at what they do. I hope it always stays that way. By the way, the salsa videos were great! And I used to have a black cocker spaniel, too. His name was Shadow, and he lived to the extremely respectable old age of 16, which is quite long for a cocker spaniel. What a character he was.
Just for the fun of it, I took a few photos of my ring and put them into a little collage for you to see. I’m no artist and I did it quickly, so I hope you like it. I really have no “story”, so I’m don’t have anything cute or interesting to tell about how we got engaged. Maybe the ring itself will speak for how much I treasure the man I love, and how much he treasures me. This will be a second marriage for the both of us, so we don’t take anything for granted anymore. The small things in life are what really counts, to us. Simple pleasures shared together. Laughing together. Sharing a cup of coffee an early summer morning on our deck with the bird around us. Cozy Sunday mornings watching a movie. Flying down the road on his Harley, feeling the wind on our faces. Hanging out together. That’s what love is, for us.
Thanks again for the wonderful, personalized service you and everyone at Whiteflash.com have provided. You truly bring the concept of “relationship” into your business philosophy. It’s nice to get to know the people behind the product… and vice versa. I look forward to my next purchase… the wedding ring. I’ll be calling you again soon! Take care, Cathy
Ken gave me my ring and it is absolutely amazing! The photos on your site do not do it justice – in person it is so much more delicate and refined than it appeared to be. I cannot even tell you how much I love it! Ken keeps joking that he thinks I love the ring more than I love him and he might just be on to something there.
Thank you so much. I never thought I could get such an incredible ring on my budget but Whiteflash managed to pull it off. Everyone who sees it cannot believe how pretty it is and all think I paid much more. In fact, I went into Robbins Brothers with a friend who wanted to try on wedding bands with her engagement ring before deciding what to buy. Even the sales associates in there were blown away by the beauty of the ring and were even more shocked when I told them how much I paid.
Sheerah - The bangle is beautiful, we are very happy with it. It was a total surprise to my wife. I went and bought some cheap CZ tennis bracelet and wrapped that, so when she opened it she thought that was all she was going to get Then I waited until everyone had opened all their gifts and I said ‘Oh wait a second, I think there is one more present over there.’ I had it hidden on top of the antique clock near the Xmas tree. I pulled it out and she knew what was up, lol. We have some halogen cable spot lights, and the multiple point sources of light really make the fire from the diamonds come out, so the bangle looked great when she opened the box.
…I just have to say ‘WOW!’ this bracelet looks fantastic with the right lighting! We took our infant son to the mall today just to get out of the house and so he could see some new sights, which he loves. Walking in the mall with all the different sources of lighting, the WF bracelet was amazing! There is so much fire from the diamonds that it is difficult to describe. Seriously, I couldn’t take my eyes off it as we walked around. In fact, it sparkles so much that it almost looks like like it can’t be real! I was saying ‘Honey, let’s go into this store/that store to see what the bracelet looks like under those lights.’, lol. I’m so happy that the diamonds I got from my first major online buying experience turned out so well. I don’t think anyone would be disappointed with this bracelet! - Mike & Beth, VA
Sheerah, I love my new diamond pendant and ring! You were right - each piece is absolutely stunning and perfect. Who could’ve guessed that a search for a simple pendant would snowball into me getting an amazing pendant and a significant upgrade on my engagement ring. I really appreciate all you’ve done each time to make the process easy, pleasant, and worry-free. Thanks again for your outstanding service and support. It was a pleasure working with you and I look forward to starting another “project” really soon. - Maria, NY
Sheerah - I wanted to mention again what an awesome experience buying from you guys was. Thank you very much for your relaxed and knowledgeable help with all my questions, and please thank David, and the others who helped too for their reliable and friendly service. The quality of the people I spoke with, combined with the fact that every facet of service was highly reliable, from timely emails during each stage of production, to as-promised shipping of an as-promised beautiful product was great. The ring made her very happy, and making her happy makes me happy. I’ll let my fiancée tell our story. - Jeremy & Elizabeth, AR
“On November 2, Jeremy and I traveled to Flatside Wilderness just outside of our home Little Rock, Arkansas. We were going to do some camping for his birthday. At least, I thought we were only there for his birthday! Little did I know, Jeremy had other plans in mind. (more…)
So my sister Lillian is a photographer and currently working on her portfolio as she nears her December graduation at Sam Houston State. She wanted to capture body movement and so came with me to a salsa social that was held on Sunday. It’s not a YouTube but I thought this might take care of a little salsa fix for those of you interested! The first photos are of me and a good friend and the last is of me and my boyfriend. Take a look at the pictures and let me know what you think. She blurred some of the backgrounds and did some other “camera-y” stuff that I don’t understand but I think they turned out really cool!
Sheerah - My big plan was delayed for almost two weeks, so I didn’t have the great story to tell until now.
Friday night was the big event, and it was an elaborate plan: First, I gave her a present about a week prior. It was a book, wrapped in gift wrap, and I told her that she could not open it until the next weekend when we were going to go out. Of course, she could tell it was a book, so the whole last week was like torture for her because she’s a big bookworm
Then on Thursday (the night before) I threw her a red herring by showing her some emails from a Tiffany representative that said the ring she wanted would be $14,000. I said that we would have to bail on that one, and start looking elsewhere, which she agreed to, of course. How outrageous is that price?! So by then she was sufficiently misled and unsuspecting, so I took her out Friday night. I showed up at 7:30 with a single Red rose, and we did a slow dance to one of our favorite songs. Then we went to dinner at the Broadmoor resort (a 5-diamond resort in the Springs), which was a lovely romantic dinner followed by a walk around the campus. And then after that was the big event. (more…)
Okay girls, here is something I stumbled upon: Wedding dresses made of toilet paper!! There was a contest started in 2005 by an online wedding advice site and this year’s winner was pretty phenomenal! The contestants must submit a photo from the front, back and profile of someone (usually them) wearing the wedding gown and headpiece that they constructed out of toilet paper, tape and/or glue ONLY. It’s pretty awesome that all that work is done with such a flimsy material! The winner also gets their dress turned into a real dress by a designer sponsor. Amazing what a little TP can bring…to look at the honorable mentions and past winners see this link.
Sheerah - Silje and I currently reside in Sweden, the last 4 weeks we have been on a holiday to Singapore and Australia. During our stay in Singapore I ordered the ring and it arrived while I was in Australia. Silje and I were visiting my home town here, the ring arrived Thursday afternoon and I proposed that night on the beach I went to as a youngster. Silje said “yes” and we spent our first week engaged cruising the whitsunday islands with friends and family. The ring got an awful lot of attention and everybody, including myself and Silje, were impressed. Most people struggled to believe I chose it myself and managed to keep the whole deal a secret. Attached is a photo we took on one of the many coral beaches in the whitsundays, check out the heart shaped coral piece (Norwegians wear their engagement ring on their right hand as you probably noticed in the pictures). I would like to thank you and the team at Whiteflash for your help and professionalism, and of course your fine diamonds. - Josh and Silje, Sweden
Yet another installment in the all too popular salsa series! Just to let everyone know there was a Houston Salsa Congress this weekend. There were lots of workshops, performances and tons of social dancing. The semi-finals and finals of the Texas Salsa Open were held Friday and Sunday. See this link for more details.
There is a lot of turmoil going on today in Louisiana as many gather to protest 6 African American students being jailed after a violent incident with a fellow Caucasian student.
From Wikipedia - On December 4, 2006, Jena High School student Justin Barker, age 17, was assaulted by other Jena High students. According to reports, earlier that day Barker, a white student, bragged about how one of his alleged attackers, Robert Bailey, Jr., had been beaten up by a white man the Friday before. Barker was then knocked to the ground after being hit in the back of his head, and a group of students followed suit by repeatedly kicking him. Barker, who was left unconscious after the attack, was examined by a doctor at the local hospital. After two hours of treatment and observation for a concussion and an eye that had swollen shut, he was released in time to attend the school’s Ring ceremony that evening, though he later testified that he left early due to pain. In the meantime, the six students accused of the attack, eventually dubbed the “Jena Six”, were arrested.”
The Wikipedia link gives a lot of information regarding the event. One of the students has actually been in jail for a year! It is amazing that such racism is still rampant in certain parts of the United States in 2007. Take a minute to search this on Google or read the Wikipedia link.
If you’ve never heard Pavarotti sing Puccini’s La Boheme then you’ve never truly enjoyed ‘Che Gelida Manina’. Pavarotti died at 5 am this morning (11 pm Wednesday EDT) at his home in Modena after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Pavarotti is an icon who helped many people fall in love with opera. I can still remember how it felt to lie on the floor in my first apartment with ‘Una Furtiva Lagrima’ blasting from the speakers and feeling the emotion he so aptly conveyed. I had the pleasure of singing under Maestro Paul Salamunovich who told my favorite story about Pavarotti…
Paul Salamunovich is a renowned conductor throughout the U.S. and knew many of the big names in opera (Pavarotti, Marilyn Horne, Dame Joan Sutherland, ect) as well as famous actors in Hollywood as that is his home…During the stint in which he conducted and gave a master-class to the Sam Houston State Chorale he told the story of a concert he was at in which Pavarotti sang a beautiful movement in a sacred mass…Paul said it moved him so much that he ran to Pavarotti and praised him for his touching performance, to which Pavarotti’s humble reply was, “Oh thank you, thank you so much. I practice very hard…but my father, he does it much better.”
That is my favorite story about Pav…he inspired millions and yet was humble and dedicated to teaching others. He is truly the voice I hear when I think of great tenors and he will be missed by millions worldwide.
So I am starting to assist in dance class now! I think it’s really weird how in everything I do for fun I end up being way too involved and end up taking on some kind of responsibility…OY. But I’m beginning to assist in the group classes and am now in private lessons so maybe I’ll end up competing someday. Anyway, here is the latest Salsa installment; I know you all have been anxiously waiting for. LOL… This is my boyfriend and me dancing it up at Sonia’s.
I just wanted to write and thank you (and Whiteflash) for all your help selecting a diamond and getting my engagement ring made in record time. I realize that you had to go above and beyond to make everything happen and I really appreciated the effort. My now-fiance is thrilled with how beautiful her ring is and I can say that you have two very happy customers! As for the actual proposal, she was aware that the other jeweler wasn’t being very cooperative and that something shiny was coming…eventually. If we did anything out of the ordinary I knew it would be a dead giveaway, so one day after eating lunch I casually suggested we should take a walk around the local botannical garden. She didn’t suspect a thing and was completely surprised. It was hot out that day but she forgot all about the weather once she had her ring to marvel at! - Brian & Rachel, PA
Dance: to move one’s feet or body, or both, rhythmically in a pattern of steps, esp. to the accompaniment of music.
Here is another example of what fun dancing is! This video is from a recent social at Sonia’s dance studio. I am dancing with Salomon Amaya-a local Houston salsa instructor I have taken several classes from. He used to be a break dancer and incorporates many different styles into the salsa he teaches.
I proposed on Easter and she accepted. I held an easter egg hunt inside our house for the 2 of us. She hid some eggs and I did too. When it came down to the last egg, i fake stuffed a big egg and told her to keep looking through it (she thought there was “something” inside). Needless to say there wasn’t. I had the ring in my pocket the whole time. So when she said she couldn’t see anything in the egg, i told her to open this instead and that’s when i took out the ring box.
We’re getting married back in Connecticut in a castle, of all places, so it should be very very fun.
Thanks again for all the help you gave me in choosing the right pieces!
Everything was great! Thank you for your help and knowledge of the ring. The ring turned out EXACTLY how I wanted it, and my Fiancee loves the ring. I couldn’t wait any longer, and so I proposed on 7/7/07 (received the ring on 7/6). Here’s a picture of both of us… with the ring on the morning of 7/7/07. When we decide on getting a wedding band, we will definitely contact you for help on finding the right bands for us. -Cho & Rosy, CA
Cho picked a ring that was 1.07 carats; same as her birthday, 1/07! Then they were engaged on 7/7/07. How romantic.
Well, since everyone else has shared about their pups I figure I will too! I have a 3 year old AKC Cocker Spaniel named Emma and she is my love! Emma is a sweet girl who lives to play fetch and cuddle! She is all black with a little white on her chest and was the runt of her litter. I got her when I was in college at a Taco Bell parking lot from local Huntsville breeders. When I walked up she was the last puppy left and the only black out of her litter (she looks just like her momma dog) and I fell completely in love!
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There is a lot of turmoil going on today in Louisiana as many gather to protest 6 African American students being jailed after a violent incident with a fellow Caucasian student.
Hi Sheerah. 
Well, since everyone else has shared about their pups I figure I will too! I have a 3 year old AKC Cocker Spaniel named Emma and she is my love! Emma is a sweet girl who lives to play fetch and cuddle! She is all black with a little white on her chest and was the runt of her litter. I got her when I was in college at a Taco Bell parking lot from local Huntsville breeders. When I walked up she was the last puppy left and the only black out of her litter (she looks just like her momma dog) and I fell completely in love!
