It’s February and love is in the air! Designing engagement rings quite literally revolves around looooove so it only makes sense for us to celebrate your special love stories. For the entire month of February, we’ll be featuring one couple a week whom we had the honor of being included in their sweet tale, starting with Jenny and Christian.
Jenny is no stranger to us and is in fact, quite the opposite. She is an incredibly talented Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist that has been working with Sofia for years, being the magical hand behind the most perfect dewy skin and unlimited locks filled with delicate flowers on all of our whimsical campaign photoshoots! While Jenny has had her eye on a few diamonds for quite some time now, Christian slyly reached out to us to pull the ring trigger. We couldn’t have loved designing something so monumental for someone we adore more! Read on for this cool, kind, Pacific Northwest-residing couple’s love story.
Names: Jenny Bowker & Christian Collins
Current location: Portland, OR
Meeting date + location: October 9th, 2016, Los Angeles, CA
Wedding date + location: We’re thinking summer of 2023 on the Oregon Coast!
How did you lovebirds meet?
J: We met the new-fashioned way, Bumble! The first thing I said to Christian via their messaging was- “Fun” because he looked like it to me, and from that first word we were off to the races and never once slowed down. Turns out we lived a few blocks from each other, pretty rare in LA!
The proposal – please tell us the story!
C: I was gonna wait until Hawaii. We had booked a vacay in Kailua for both our families and (almost) everyone important to us was going to be there. After the travel plans started to get fuzzy (for obvious reasons), I decided the most romantic way I could propose to her was to just do it. I tend to turn every major action in life into a 3D chess match. Jenny knows that if I really want to do something I just do it, otherwise I add 10 layers of complexity to make things more interesting for myself in hopes that I’ll be more inspired to do it – in this case nothing could be more interesting than spending the rest of my life with her.
J: Cuddled up on Christmas Eve at my parent’s house, simple and perfect and so special.
When did you know that your significant other was the one?
J: Honestly, one morning a few weeks in Christian randomly made tomato mayo sandwiches on sourdough bread for breakfast and that is just the most me thing in the world, silly but that was when I knew I was in trouble.
C: I don’t have a specific memory to boil it down to, being with her just always feels like coming home.
What is your favorite thing about your significant other?
J: One thing!? I love his strong will and determination, his curiosity about the world and that he loves to learn. I also adore how warm and welcoming he is to every person he meets.
C: I’m kind of the emotional one in the relationship, I love her level-headedness, calm, cool and collected manner which she goes about handling even the most heated of situations. In a lot of ways I really look up to her for that.
What has COVID taught you about each other/relationships? Did you learn anything about your SO?
J: We realized we needed to be in nature so much more, and to spread out and explore. So we packed up and moved to Oregon and now we’re deep in nature all the time!
C: We’ve honestly done stellar considering we are around each other non-stop. I feel like it’s been the perfect test to put our relationship through considering we want it to extend throughout the rest of our life.
Do you have any notable stories that have stood out over the years – hilarious, sentimental, anything!
C: I struck out pretty hard in front of the parents the very first time we met. Jenny’s dad is a very notable figure in the coffee world. A close buddy of mine ran Intelligentsia, so I had the thought of taking them for a custom coffee tasting and a tour of the facility. When we pulled up to the shop in Venice, I got a text from my buddy saying he was almost to the Silverlake Location, I forgot to specify which one. What made it worse was that they love dark roast and the shop was only serving light roasts. They didn’t enjoy the coffee and weren’t afraid to be honest about that. Needless to say, we didn’t get a coffee tasting and I looked like an idiot.
What’s your go-to date night idea?
We love a classic steakhouse- shrimp cocktail, prime rib, wedge salad and every side!
Let’s talk jewels – how did you choose this ring?! Who took the reigns on designing or choosing your ring? Do you looove? Give us all the deets.
J: I am….very. Picky. Christian knows this better than anyone so when I asked him if we could design a ring I think he was somewhat relieved! I told Sofia that I wanted an east-west marquise and another diamond in a symmetrical design. I didn’t know if he actually went forward with it until he popped the question.
I am not exaggerating when I say it is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen, and I have been searching high and low, vintage and new for years and never felt that I found one that was really me. I feel so incredibly special every time I look at my finger.
Jenny on set touching up makeup for our Spring 2019 campaign.
Let’s be honest. You two are no strangers to us… Jenny – what is your favorite Sofia shoot you’ve ever done makeup/hair for?! Any fun mems?
Oh my gosh, we have had so many incredible shoots over the years, and every time we would say ‘THIS is our best shoot ever!!’ I think our first shoot after Covid began was special because we were finally able to see each other and make beautiful images again, even with masks you could see everyone smiling and laughing all day long.
How is wedding planning going? Are you having a different experience than you imagined?
J: I LOVE wedding planning and adore nothing more than considering every detail, I feel I was made for this 😀 Initially, I was so excited I wanted to have it in September of 2022, but some big life changes for some of our closest friends and family made us rethink that and now I’m so happy to have more time to plan it without stress.
What are you most excited about for your wedding?
J: Having everyone we love together sounds like the most insane, joyous magical thing after two years of isolation and loss. I can’t imagine the gratitude we will feel being surrounded by our people and will appreciate it so much more after this crazy time in history.
C: Nacho Fountain – Jenny agreed to nacho fountain.
Alright – so what does the future hold for the two of you?!
Probably some kids, definitely more dogs, and hopefully a house by the ocean.
Finally, if you could add any piece to your SKFJ collection, which one would it be?
Any of the new Dancing Diamond necklaces would be a dream…!
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Do you have an engaging story to share of how you met your love? Stop by here and share for your chance to be the next featured SK Love Story!
