Valley Wed Vendor Spotlight: Amy Ambroult

Meet our vendors and find out why we're not your average wedding expo.

Valley Wed is a unique wedding show offering couples a handpicked selection of exceptional wedding pros in Western Mass.  It's designed especially for couples that want to go their own way, but they don’t want to go it alone.

Meet Amy Ambroult of the Wedding Ring Workshop,
where couples come to make their own wedding bands. 

When did you start your business and why do you do what you do?

I started my jewelry line 10 years ago, but in 2011 I held my first Wedding Ring Workshop.  I love making, and using my hands, I love gritty, industrial, ancient processes and jewelry making fits that bill.  Five years ago, I started teaching and it opened up a whole new joy of jewelry making for me: to take couples through the process of creating their own "forever" ring is the best.

What is your very favorite part of your job?

Listening to the couple's stories.  I always ask how they met, how they got engaged, all about the wedding...  I love watching them smile as they tell the story, interrupting each other to add little forgotten details.  Everybody loves telling their love story, and I can't get enough of hearing them!

What do you want couples to know about working with you?

I want them to trust me, and the process.  Many couples come into the sessions not really believing that they will be making their rings from start to finish.  But they do, 100%!  I walk them through each step: we make a practice rings first, and somewhere along they way they gain the skills and confidence.  Sure enough, they will emerge from the session with two gorgeous, custom made, perfectly fitting wedding bands that are more special than anything they could purchase at a store.

What makes you different from other vendors in your field?

There are only a few places that offer a workshop like this.  I run my Wedding Ring Workshops alone; I am an independent artist, working out of my private studio. Some of the other places that offer this service are corporations based in big cities, that contract local jewelers to run the sessions for them.  I am just me, a local artist, inviting couples into my studio for a day of learning, making, eating, chatting, and celebrating love!

After the wedding, what would make you feel great knowing you had helped accomplish?

Couples often send me photos of their hands/rings from the wedding or honeymoon, with sweet words about how much they love their rings, and how wonderful the experience of making them was.  This makes me ridiculously happy.  Knowing they are now wearing the rings they created under my guidance is super humbling, special, and satisfying.  Together, they hand crafted a symbol of love, and their first heirloom, that they will wear for the rest of their lives.

What is something every couple needs to know about planning a wedding or the big day itself?

Be you. Be intentional. Don't get too caught up in the "industry" must-haves. Instead, curate a wedding that reflects you and your kind of love.

Share two things you are proud of…professionally and personally.

Professionally, I am always proud of the engagement rings I make.

And personally, I have really been loving the slack line recently. Sounds silly, I know, but slack lining has been fulfilling the side of me that wants to have adventures but doesn't have time.  I can be physically and mentally challenged in my own back yard.  And you cannot successfully walk on a slack line without getting all zen n' stuff, which is a huge reason I love it.