These Jewelry Designers Chose Unique Rings for Their Intimate Wedding In Kauai
For Darya Khonsary and Arielle Chiara Khonsary, the women behind the fine jewelry brand Darius, an elopement on the gorgeous Hawaiian island of Kauai felt like the perfect way to celebrate and officiate their love. “The wedding took place overlooking the ocean during the sunset and it was just so romantic and beautiful,” gushed Darya. “It definitely brought tears to my eyes.”
“Everything happened very organically,” explains Arielle. “It did catch us both off guard, I think how emotional it was.” With custom dresses made by Claire Sullivan and floor-to-ceiling florals by Pretend Plants & Flowers, the intimate ceremony was a celebration of their 10+ year love story, complete with gorgeous wedding rings, of course.
“This set of rings is the second set of rings that we have made for each other,” shares Darya. But what made these rings so special, were the stones that Darya sourced to lie in the center of the bands. “It’s really the stones that inspire the designs,” she says.
For Arielle’s ring, “we found this incredible antique old European-cut natural diamond from the Victorian era with a super high crown and it’s a light yellow,” she explains. “And Arielle immediately connected with it.”
“I wanted to work with it so badly, I couldn’t imagine that could possibly be my stone,” Arielle remembers the first time she saw the stone. Unbeknownst to Arielle, Darya secretly purchased the 3.72-carat natural diamond for her future wife. “I was convinced it was going back,” Arielle says with a laugh. “I was so sad!”
Arielle was in for the surprise of a lifetime when Darya showed Arielle a bunch of stones that she had recently purchased for them to work with. “She was like, ‘Oh my God, look how gorgeous all these stones we have to work with right now are.’ I look at her hand and the stone is there and I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’”
According to the design duo, the stone itself has a floral vibe, with a petal effect blooming from the culet at the center. “The way that the inside of the stone looks… I haven’t seen anything quite like it,” says Arielle. “It’s a one-of-a-kind stone for sure.”
And choosing a natural diamond was “not even a choice,” for Darya and Arielle. “Old cut stones [especially] have a very special magical quality to them,” says Arielle. “We love that they’re all one of a kind and they just have this undeniably romantic aura to them.”
“They’re feeling-based,” chimes in Darya. Between the raw emotions of their wedding day and the emotional pull of the natural diamonds they work with in their designs, it’s safe to say that so much love and appreciation went into the ring design and their wedding.
Darya’s ring features a one-of-a-kind stone as well, a padparadscha sapphire. “Padparadscha sapphires are the rarest color stone and it’s the stone that Arielle and I actually like dreamed of working with,” explains the designer. The 5-carat no-heat stone has an almost gradient effect, like a pastel sunset. “As soon as I saw it, I knew it had to be mine.”
As for the wedding itself, Arielle and Darya share details of a spontaneous, romantic, and intimate occasion. “We never planned to get married but the idea kind of just came to us last year, just like as a celebration of our love,” says Darya. “It kind of just ended up feeling important to have a union, like an actual ceremony to just officiate this love that we have.”
Between the exchanging of rings and traditional Hawaiian Niihau shell leis, both Arielle and Darya describe the experience as “powerful and beautiful and overwhelming.” After the ceremony, the newly married couple celebrated, just the two of them. “We opened champagne and danced, and we cooked dinner.” An intimate after-party perfect for the low-key couple.
Because the wedding came together so quickly, Darya and Arielle didn’t have time to get their rings engraved but plan on doing so soon. “My birthday is September 12th and Arielle’s birthday is September 21st,” explains Darya. “So we’re the inverse numbers and we were first together in 2012.” Obviously, there’s some numerological magic happening here, which the couple plan to immortalize with a personalized engraving on their rings.
