Building a pair of engagement rings and wedding bands is like designing a garden. There are boundaries, but there’s also room for how your love and relationships will evolve. There’s a basic framework, and there’s tending the design to make a piece that’s cohesive and true to your love story. How would you describe your relationship in one word? What’s the color of your story?

Traditionally, straight, cisgender marriages reserved the more extravagant ring designs for the bride; but we're nothing if not untraditional here at Gardens of the Sun. In our experience, same-sex couples have let us play up the designs on both rings, consistent in design theme, but each unique to their wearer.

And that’s just plain fun. So how do you build a pair of rings that’s same-same-but-different? (If you've travelled in Asia, you'll be familiar with this saying; it basically means two peas in a pod, and so fitting for engagement rings!)

We love glitter. But sometimes even a little bit of glitter is too much glitter. Depending on how flashy you'd like your rings to be, you can lower or elevate the bling factor by playing with your gemstone selection.

Gemstones come in a varying degree of shades, and this is a fun starting point. Choose a gemstone with meaning for you both (not sure which? Read our  birthstone blog posts!), then check out our gemstone collections.  Aquamarine, for instance, comes in a sweet range of baby blue colors, and you can pick two different shades to your liking. If you want a wider range of color, go for  tourmaline or  topaz. If you like some glitz and pizzaz, a pair of  diamonds– one clear, the other salt and pepper – make for a delightful duo. 

Different stones demand different cuts, depending on their physical characteristics when paired with the wearer's features. That's why you end up with such a wide range of shapes and designs – from shields to pears; from marquise-cut to rose-cut. Choose a gemstone with your significant other then pick a gemstone shape that speaks to you.

Side stones are the spice of life. They frame the main gemstone, giving it context and contrast to create a narrative of sorts.. We think side stones can amplify your ring's facade by a million.

Choose an identical main stone which speaks to your love language. Think about the effect you want to create when matching different stone colors. Are you looking to achieve a contrasting effect or a gradient? An icy kind of vibe or a fiery mood? Use our customizing tool to find your power color.

Once you add another ring into the set, it’s a whole other playing field! A ring set is used to give your ring some oomph. It’s a ring pair, with one as a nesting band and another as the main ring. They’re meant to be used together, like the beginning and the end of a story, or the left and the right side of the book. Without one, the whole design might look incomplete (although some might fancy this too!).

If you choose to wear a ring set,we can customize it in a way so one ring looks great standing on its own, and two rings give it a whole new personality.

To keep both designs aligned with your love story, choose one main stone as the center of the design. And use it as a canvas to tell your story.

There’s room to play when it comes to metals. Just think about the textures, the color, and the width of the metal.

If you want your wedding bands or engagement rings to be all-time classics, both of your rings can share one or two identical features with a slight difference to highlight your kinks. They love brushed metal, you love stardust? Go for it. Your wedding rings don't need to be the exact same. 

You get the point. A metal ring band is a timeless classic. And it’s a perfect choice for couples who are always on the go, like to keep it real, and just don’t have time to unsnag their rings from their sweater sleeve everytime they get dressed in the morning!

Which gemstone would you start with? Shoot us an email and let us know! We're always up for hearing about your design ideas.