Hey-yo!

Hi everyone! I’m Anna Alethia Manning, owner of Anna Alethia Photography and on Valentine’s day my boyfriend of 4 years PROPOSED!

About damn time.

He didn’t get a typical, classic engagement ring either, he bought an antique engagement ring from University Coin & Jewelry! They told him it is a pre 1920’s ring, and I’ve had another person tell me it looks like her grandmother’s ring from 1914.

So why an antique ring?

Well, after I lost my grandfather last January, & after we went thru his house we found so many antiques & so many things that belonged to my grandmother, it was like losing them both – all over again. That began my journey in antiques, & I started looking at antique rings. I like things that have a story, & I LOVE the filagree from the antique rings.
Even if I don’t know the story, I still like to imagine the story behind the item.

Last Spring Mark & I went to a flea market & one of the booths had rings. I was showing them to Mark, & the guy at the booth told us to check out University Coin & Jewelry as they had antique engagement rings. We went a few weeks later & I tried on a very similar ring. I loved it. It fit like a glove. Mark obviously didn’t buy it, but he knew what style I was looking for. I cannot stop staring at it & feeling so much love when I look at it – even now, months later!

It’s sort of hard to photograph as there’s so many dimensions and detail to it! The stone in the middle doesn’t photograph well at all, but it sparkles SO well IN PERSON. If you know anything about my photography, you know I like to photograph DETAILS – especially rings!

But wait, how did he propose?

We had our first date on Valentine’s day 2015. (we met online btw!) Every year we make plans and do something to celebrate. This year, we didn’t have anything planned. Mark was sitting on the bed and started talking about how he wanted to go shopping at Shopko and Woodmans. I was like, “uh no, I’m not doing that today!” Then he moved a pillow and a ring box tumbled out. I was in shock. I wanted this moment for years and here it was, happening to me and I couldn’t believe it. I also couldn’t open the box or say anything! I was just too shocked. He opened the box and showed me the ring and then asked the famous question, “will you marry me?”. The ring fit perfectly! Although somedays I cannot get it off, so we may need to make it a bit bigger.

But really, now that I’ve been to probably 200 weddings and photographed 140 of them! It’s MY turn to plan my own wedding. Being a bride is not any easier for me than it is for any of you all. Just because I know some of the ins and outs to a wedding day and have a million connections with other photographers & vendors, it doesn’t make it much easier. Now I have to actually pick and choose favorites, YIKES!