By now, you know we’re obsessed with lab-grown diamonds! It’s an easy decision to make when the choice to go lab-grown means finding an ethical engagement ring you love while protecting vulnerable communities in diamond mining countries. To help you choose the right ethical engagement ring for you, we’ve partnered with our friends at Great Heights to showcase some of our favorite rings in different styles.
Great Heights is a company combining great quality and great ethics. Founded by industry veterans, these experts are bringing you the very best in clean diamonds and fashion-forward engagement ring styles. Great Heights believes you should feel good about every facet of forever — and we do too!
Shopping for your engagement ring isn’t quite like shopping for any other piece of jewelry. You’re going to wear it every single day for the foreseeable future, so you want to make sure it’s The One! With so many to choose from, it’s overwhelming to find the ring that best fits your vibe, which is why we’re narrowing down your search with gorgeous, ethical engagement rings for every personal style.
Bohemian
Boho babes rejoice over the Delicate Milgrain Vintage Ring, which features alternating round and marquise shapes along the band. Don’t worry about your new everyday piece clashing with your collection of favorite jewels — this eclectic style will be a perfect complement to your stacks of unique rings!
Feminine
Floral-inspired engagement rings aren’t new, but Great Heights’ Collette Halo Ring is a true stunner with its halo setting and chic, subtle flower shape. This sweet engagement ring is giving us romantic vibes that will pair seamlessly with your mani and feminine style.
Edgy
Featuring a burst of marquise-shaped diamonds on either side, the Pela Vintage Ring is pure rock ‘n’ roll. While this unique ring may be too much for some brides, you’ve never been one to shy away from bold fashion choices. Your style is far from boring and there’s nothing ordinary about this show-stopping engagement ring
Minimalist
Minimalism shouldn’t mean boring, especially when it comes to your engagement ring! The Crest Vintage Ring‘s delicate style and geometric accents are a dream for minimalist-lovers looking for something special to represent their one-of-a-kind romance.
Vintage
Don’t tell the other styles, but vintage babes really do have it made when it comes to choosing an engagement ring! There are endless gorgeous options inspired by every era of time, each one more dazzling than the last. We personally can’t get over the romantic Lily Vintage Ring, which might just be the loveliest thing we ever did see!
Trendy
If you’ve been searching for a modern engagement ring that feels more chic than stuffy, look no further than the Grace Modern Ring! The open studded band is ultra-cool and this setting will age beautifully thanks to Great Heights’ thoughtful design.
Classic
The Celesta Classic Ring is the timeless engagement ring you, your mom, and your grandma can all agree on! This ring is reminiscent of elegant styles from the past, made better with the help of expert designers and lab-grown diamonds.
Still not sure which ethical engagement ring is right for you? Great Heights is here to guide you through choosing exactly the right diamond, setting, and ring for you!
Music is the soundtrack of our lives. The music—or soundtrack—of your wedding is an important choice and an important reason to opt for a wedding DJ! Hiring a wedding DJ for your style and mood comes down to the details.
Most couples dream of having everyone on the dance floor, fist-bumping in their seats, or lip-syncing while they drink champagne. We are firm believers that weddings are a unique expression of couples and your music should stay true to you. We asked a few Junebug Wedding vendors to give us their best tips on what to look for when you are hiring a wedding DJ. If you’re on the hunt for the perfect wedding DJ, scroll down to find out what you should be looking for and how to add them to your vendor team.
Find Your DJ Personality And Style Match
Not all DJs will play the same songs, which is why you should choose one that knows the songs that speak to you. Whether you’re into 80s throwbacks or ethereal EDM, your music should be what you want and what your guests will enjoy. Meet with multiple DJs, chat with them about music, and make sure that they are a good personality and style fit for your wedding. Here’s what one of our vendors had to say about it:
Finding the best DJ for your event begins by finding the person who best matches your personal style and vision for the event. Picking the right sound and mix of entertainment for your event will help set the tone and ensure that your guests have a night to remember. When you contact your DJ, be thinking about what type of music you like and what kind of experience you want your guests to have.
While it may be tempting to take an offer from a friend whose cousin is a DJ, hiring a professional makes a difference. When looking for a DJ, don’t feel pressured to pick one because the pricing is the lowest—unless they are absolutely perfect for you.
Wedding DJs can seem expensive, but the last thing you want is music that’s all over the place. Not only that, but you want your DJ to be professional when it comes to your wedding. You want to be able to request from the DJ a specific song without them completely vetoing your decision because of their ego. Don’t just take our word for it, here’s what one of our expert wedding DJs said:
It’s important to keep professionalism and passion in mind. Find someone who loves their work and that passion is sure to show. It is also crucial to hire a DJ that is personable, reliable, punctual, has excellent communication skills, and a system to handle potential emergencies.
Years of wedding experience will equip your wedding DJ with the ability to seamlessly direct the party throughout the evening with customized music and non-cheesy emcee skills. It will also allow them to efficiently and gracefully address weather emergencies or last-minute changes. In addition to the years, finding a DJ who has experience as a musician, sound engineer, lighting designer, or even in standup comedy will add greatly to their service and your experience.
The great thing about hiring wedding DJs is that you can work with them ahead of time to make sure they play all the jams you want to hear on your day. Because of their experience, they’re also able to give feedback on some songs that may not match the vibe or tone of your wedding. Take their advice into consideration. You should also provide your DJ with a “don’t play” playlist so your DJ can make sure that they don’t play those songs you love to hate.
The search for your perfect DJ should also include time listening to their sets and getting to know their style. When it comes to getting to know your taste in music, it’s also really helpful to give your DJ a list of not-to-play songs, so they know what to avoid! Having said that, overwhelming them with a huge list of requests or vetoes isn’t very productive, because the smoothest and most fun dancing experiences come from hiring someone whose taste and judgment you trust.
Pick songs that mean something to you. Find a few that are classic enough to randomly hear and that will make you smile when you hear them. Work on that playlist along the way! To get your guests in on the fun, have them RSVP with a song they want to hear.
Find A DJ That Connects With Your Audience
While searching for your wedding DJ keep your guests in mind. A great way to do this is to check out their previous work, their samples, and look for someone who is just as excited to be the DJ at your wedding as you are to hire them. You want to find one that is a good emcee, who will tell you when there’s a father-daughter dance, or a conga line coming up!
Asking to listen to their sets and to see videos of events they’ve DJed will reveal more about what their set-up will look like, how they handle crowds, and whether their overall style aligns with yours.
Our advice is to find someone who has great party energy and who wants to connect with you as a couple and to get to know what you want the dance floor to feel like.
With all these tips in mind, we know that you are going to find the perfect DJ for your wedding. If you’ve got a few DJs in mind, find out more about them. You want to be certain that the DJ you choose is going to understand you, your guests, the venue, and the vibe! Once you’ve narrowed down your search to one, make sure they fit into your wedding budget, request a quote, then contract, and sign when you’re confident you’re ready.
Finding the perfect songs for each part of your wedding can be tricky, which is why we’ve got tons of playlists you can go through to get your own playlist started. Check out these mother-son dance songs, these unique processional songs, and these first dance songs. Stay calm and boogie on—hiring a wedding DJ should be fun!
When a Junebug ties the knot, our entire team celebrates! We also cry while looking at our beloved team member marrying the love of her life, swoon over the insanely awesome decor, and gush about every detail for months after the big day. So, as you can imagine, hitting “publish” on Nicole and Oodie’s New Orleans elopement has got us all in our feels.
Nicole is our Executive Editor here at Junebug Weddings. As you can imagine, she quite literally could write a template for “how to elope in the most badass way possible,” but it was more fun to pull it off herself with the help of Emily Aitken Events and Oodie, of course! Oodie and Nicole’s wedding day was not only full of lots of love and style, but creative, sentimental ideas. We love how these two read letters from loved ones on the morning-of and that they fit in a game of gin rummy (a staple in their relationship) before the big “I do.”
Maggie Grace Photography and Summer Leigha Photo captured these emotive moments with precision, creativity, and honesty. We dare you not to tear up at least once while looking through them! If you’ve ever dreamed of a New Orleans elopement, or anywhere for that matter, we know you’ll be inspired by Nicole and Oodie’s colorful, mid-century day!
Since we decided to elope, we wanted to find another way for our family and friends to be involved in our day. We asked our closest people to mail us letters that we could open in bed the morning of our wedding. It was the perfect way to start the day, reading love letters to us from the people who care about us most. We cried way more than I think we expected to — thanks, friends and fam — but it was so special to feel close to our people even when we were far away and now we have the letters to read forever and ever!
Starry-eyed over this gown? Shop more sparkly styles by Needle & Thread.
From Oodie on their wedding day oufit: It was important to me that as much of my look came to me secondhand as possible. I hated the idea of buying a new suit I would never wear again and that didn’t feel like me in the first place. We spend a lot of weekends vintage and thrift shopping so I used the 8 months leading up to the wedding sourcing each item for my outfit. A few days before the wedding I put it all on and felt like something was missing. One trip to my favorite Austin vintage store led me to the perfect tie to (literally) tie it all together! The whole outfit cost me less than $120!
I kept saying that I wanted to look like a sparkly rockstar and really it’s true! A crown, silver boots, and a sparkly dress were all I could imagine for myself and I LOVE how it all came together! I stalked my dress online for a year before getting engaged and I happened to find it on sale from a UK department store’s website. My version of “bridal” may be different than what some might expect but it’s exactly how I wanted to look and feel on my wedding day.
After hiring hair and makeup for the day, I ended up taking it all off and doing my own. It was a tough decision to feel like I was throwing money away as I brushed through my hair and removed my fake lashes, but it was more important to me to stay true to my vision and most of all myself! Our planner Emily rushed to Ulta with instructions to buy sparkles and peach eyeshadow. She returned with a Frozen 2 palette that was perfect and ultimately I loved how my hair and makeup turned out!
We love New Orleans for its bright colors and diversity (plus it’s driving distance from our home in Austin!). Our goal was to find a home we could rent for the wedding where we could stay and also get married. I found The Louie on Instagram through our florist and we immediately knew it was the spot. We had the first wedding at the space and the owners are incredible and were so accommodating. We especially love that we can go back and stay at The Louie to celebrate anniversaries in the future!
Another thing we did was play rummy together before our ceremony! We’ve been playing rummy since our early dating days and initially planned to go to a coffee shop the morning of the wedding for a game or two. We decided to stay at The Louie instead to soak up our time there and make use of the gorgeous porch overlooking the backyard. This totally helped get out any jitters we had and allowed us to connect before heading down to say “I do.”
We envisioned a colorful, mid-century backyard elopement with fun shapes and a little bit of a tropical vibe. To say we (AKA the brilliant Emily Aitken Events) nailed it would be an understatement! We pulled inspiration from ’70s interiors and our own apartment as well as the vibrant spirit of New Orleans. Emily helped us every step of the way from choosing colors and shapes for our DIY backdrop to implementing special handmade pieces into our dinner table. We wanted it to feel bright, we wanted it to feel warm, we wanted it to feel curated especially for us.
The biggest surprise was Oodie and Becky cheering me on as I walked down the aisle (stairs). I have seen thousands of weddings in my five years working for Junebug and have never seen that before! I was overcome with emotion and cried the whole way to the altar.
A lot of our ceremony was truly a surprise. We wrote our own vows and asked our officiant, our dear friend Becky who knows us better than anyone, to write a ceremony that felt like us. She started the ceremony by having us stop and take a deep breath together and I think everyone should do this!
We made our ceremony backdrop from scratch! We needed to be able to transport it from Austin so we built it in several pieces that we could reconstruct once we got to The Louie. Apparently we did a good job because the neighbors asked if they could buy it from us for their own wedding. We declined and now it serves as our headboard behind our bed at home!
In deciding to elope, our vendors became more important than ever. We hired some of the most talented professionals in the biz who happen to be friends and we wanted more than anything for them to feel like loved guests. Our photographers, planner, and officiant were all with us for every part of the day, including sitting next to us at dinner with their own place setting! We can’t imagine the day without any of them there.
Look for style inspiration outside of other weddings! Our Pinterest board was mostly interior design and art photos we loved. This helped our planner Emily feel inspired to create something brand new for our New Orleans elopement instead of trying to come up a new way to repeat what’s already been done. We also took a ton of influence from our apartment, which we’ve curated with pieces from vintage and thrift stores all over Texas.
A funny story about our first dance: we were walking to Bourbon Street to take photos and as soon as we rounded the corner one of “our songs” — Sold by John Michael Montgomery — started to play from a nearby bar. It was kismet and we started dancing in the street as passersby clapped along and cheered for us! Our planned first dance song was Waxahatchee’s cover of Jessica Simpson’s With You, which we danced to after dinner back at The Louie. I say “danced,” but truthfully we sobbed and swayed around the dining room in each other’s arms.
We had planned on having our “reception” dinner in the backyard at The Louie under the twinkly lights, but a cold front came in and we decided to move everything inside. Emily promised the setup would maintain the same magic as it did outside and it’s safe to say she nailed it again. Since we eloped, we were able to make impromptu decisions that best fit the flow of the day without having to impact a whole bridal party and guest list.
Congratulations, Nicole and Oodie, and many thanks to Junebug member’s Maggie Grace Photography and Summer Leigha Photo for sharing their New Orleans elopement with us! Love Nicole and Oodie’s day?
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