Have you ever wondered why we first began lusting after diamonds? Blame it on one enterprising archduke, who arguably started the tradition.

One of the first recorded uses of a diamond engagement ring was Archduke Maximilian of Austria's proposal to Mary of Burgundy with a ring set with thin, flat pieces of diamonds in the shape of an "M."

But we can trace this mark-your-territory wedding trend way, way back, eons before Max and his fair Lady M.

Below, how our love affair with the rock slowly evolved.

Pre-History: The caveman tied cords made of braided grass around his chosen … Read More

Recently my unattached friend Katie told me that she had taken a trip to Tiffany's, solo, to try on diamond engagement rings. I shot her a look. "But they're just so sparkly!" she protested, deeply in lust.

Before another friend's bachelorette party, doing fact-?nding for the old "How Well Do You Know Each Other?" game, I asked her groom-to-be what was the best gift he’d ever given her. "The rock, of course," he replied instantly.

Later on, his ?ancée's answer lined up neatly: "That’s gotta be my ring!" she shouted to a limo full of hooting, nodding female heads, … Read More

"Closer" was the title track on Goapele's 2001 debut album. It's also the song that Love Me Not—username of a fan on the singer's message board—will walk down the aisle to on her wedding day. "I've had people tell me that it helped them get out of an abusive relationship," Goapele says. "I've had a couple of women tell me they listened to the song while birthing their child. Someone told me that there was a fight happening in Oakland in the middle of the street, and a car drove by playing it really loud and [everyone] started dancing."

It's … Read More

Wastebaskets, ladders, driving in Canada (in the pelting rain), the bathtub, parents, movies, music, health insurance, mortgages (theoretical), rent increases (real), whether I do or do not know the best way to roast a free-range chicken, and cardboard boxes. This is just a small sampling of things Jonathan and I have fought about since we decided to get married.

I can't think of a single significant fight from before we got engaged. But after our engagement (a word also defined as "a hostile encounter between military forces"), we promptly started butting heads. It was pretty much instantaneous. One of our … Read More

After a long-planned trip to Paris with two dear college friends, I was finally ready to get down to it: planning the wedding. Jonathan and I are so blessed—with health, great families, ample resources, lots of friends—that there really weren’t any significant limits. Neither of us had an overwhelming vision of exactly how we wanted it to be. We could make this celebration just about anything we wanted, anywhere we wanted. That kind of freedom is exhilarating—for about thirty seconds. Then it's paralyzing.

What we needed was a peg to hang things on, a macro decision from which all the … Read More