Handmade wedding bands say I DYI do

For Yoana Voynova of Lewes, Del., incorporating her late grandmother's gold teeth into her wedding band was a fitting tribute.

The process became even more personal when Voynova and her betrothed created hand-forged wedding bands to symbolize forging a new life together.

"It was exactly what we wanted without knowing what we wanted," says Voynova, 30, a marine chemist at the University of Delaware's College of Marine Studies.

Under the guidance of non-squeamish jewelry designer Heidi Lowe of Rehoboth, Del., the couple used the 22-karat gold fillings to craft a set of indisputably unique yet traditional bands in under eight hours.

They have joined a growing number of couples across the country who will spend from $600 to $2,000 for the privilege of carving designs into wax, wielding soldering torches against metal that melts like cheese, and etching inside jokes in their own handwriting on bands that stand the test of time.

"You're only limited by your imagination and what they can teach you in a day," says John Rose, a jeweler who co-owns A Wedding Ring Experience, headquartered in Anaheim, Calif.

The company offered about 600 private ring-making workshops last year, up from 160 in 2007, partnering with licensed jewelers across the U.S. and U.K. Delaware could soon join the list of locations, Rose said.

Durable metals like white gold are the most popular, he says. Couples add their fingerprints or create an infinity band that can be rejoined like puzzle pieces. A handcrafted engagement ring can be a "deal-closer," notes Rose.

The centuries-old tradition dovetails with the artisanal wedding movement, a retreat from mass-produced memories. It also gives couples bragging rights.

All told, couples paid an average of $5,500 on engagement rings and his-and-hers wedding bands in 2012, according to a report last year from the Jewelers of America trade group.

After the wedding, after the $25,000 champagne toast, after the honeymoon on an island with a name you can't pronounce, there are only two things you'll see every day (hopefully) for the rest of your life: Your spouse and your wedding band.

"It's something they can wear again," notes Lowe, who has been offering ring-making lessons for eight years. "They know they're not going to wear that dress again unless they chop it off at the knees."

Lowe, 36, creates custom jewelry, and has worked with an "amazing amount of bodily functions" over the years, including bones and ashes. Customers ask her to recycle gold from bands that endured longer than their relationships. According to wedding lore, Lowe says, if you urinate on a ring from a failed relationship, it will cleanse it of all the bad juju.

Lowe will oblige for an extra fee.

Grandma's fillings, brought in last month, were a first for Lowe, who teaches about 25 couples a year how to make their own engagement rings or wedding bands. Beginning April 30, she will teach a four-week class on ring-making at her gallery.

But heirloom pieces require private lessons. Lowe recommends two months lead time, so she can survey the couple about their design aesthetic (the thickness and finish of the band) and chosen materials. She won't let them make rings from platinum, because it requires a more advanced skill set.

She will also ask them to sum up their relationship in five words to get to the "core."

"I ask them not to use the word, 'love,' because that's not really helpful," she says.

Half of Lowe's business is wedding-related. One couple brought a grandmother's old coins and cut out the center to create a distinctive edge for the band. Others bring silverware from both sets of grandparents to represent the merging of two families. Lowe will also design statement necklaces for the bride and coordinating bracelets or earrings for the entire bridal party.

She teaches by example, demonstrating cutting, shaping and soldering techniques with a silver ring while the couple works with their bands. A simple flat or half-round band can be produced in one afternoon. More intricate designs are carved in wax first. No one leaves disappointed, she says.

The process engages both sides of the brain – the logical, recipe-driven side and the inventive, free-spirited side, according to Lowe.

For everyday wear, Seattle-based jewelry designer Stephanie Tomczak Selle recommends 14 karat or 18 karat gold. She has instructed college lovebirds and same-sex couples who have been together for a half-century at her workshop, With These Rings. Some couples add stones to the bands after each child is born.

Selle, 32, began offering DIY ring-making last year, after her then-fiance offered to make her wedding band.

"After they were made, they sat on the dresser in a box," she remembers. "I would catch him going in there and touching them up. He was so concerned that it was just right."

When Voynova and her fiance picked up their bands from Lowe, they put them on immediately. Just to see how they felt.

"I know they're really simple," Voynova says. "But we know how much work went into them. And where they came from and how they came to be."