There are love stories we have the privilege of witnessing through our work. And then there are the ones we get to live alongside. Barrie & Taylor’s is one of those.
If you know Betsy & Iya, chances are you know a little of Barrie, too. For more than a decade, she has been an essential part of this place. She’s our Design Manager + Associate Designer, and Betsy’s right hand in the deeply personal work of creating custom jewelry that carries people’s stories.
But long before (actually, not too long before) Barrie was sitting beside Betsy designing jewelry, there was Taylor. They met sophomore year of high school in the common area after school, where Barrie regularly hung out with friends and did homework. Taylor just happened to be staying late that day for an orthodontist appointment when he walked up to her and asked, “You're Barrie, right? How do you spell your name?” Barrie, knowing that pretty much no one gets it right on the first try, told him to take a guess. He nailed it. As luck would have it, Barrie also had a giant bag of candy in her backpack (why? who knows), so she let Taylor choose a piece as his prize. A friendship grew from there, with Barrie spending the next year and a half pining after him before Taylor finally asked her to be his girlfriend during their junior year. “19 years later, here we are.”
“19 years later, here we are.”
After nearly two decades together, these two still managed to become awkward teenagers all over again when Taylor decided to propose. In 2023, Barrie and Taylor headed to Vancouver, BC to see the one and only Beyoncé. The night before the concert, they had dinner plans, and Taylor was acting just enough out of the ordinary for Barrie to notice. When she asked if she should wear something nice, he told her, “No, not really.” But Barrie knew better and put on a cute fit anyway. Good call.
After dinner, Taylor suggested what the two of them call a “digestive stroll.” What Barrie may have expected to be a pleasant little post-dinner walk became a rather committed journey, and eventually she was ready to head back to the hotel. Taylor, however, suggested they go just a little farther and pointed toward a dark, woodsy area near the water. Romantic in theory. Considerably less so when they got closer and discovered that it was very dark and there was a suspicious figure nearby. Barrie suggested they relocate to a nearby dock, and Taylor agreed: “Yeah, let's do that. That'll be our spot”.
“Our spot?” Barrie thought, “What does that mean??” Barrie had an inkling that a certain question might be coming, but she didn't want to rush him. So there they were, after all those years together, feeling like awkward teenagers again while Barrie filled the silence with conversation and waited to see what Taylor was working up to. Sure enough, the question was popped with a family heirloom ring sitting on top of their takeout box, leftover french fries still inside. “I squealed and jumped and cried. It was perfect.” Honestly, no notes.
The heirloom ring was an intentional part of the plan. Barrie and Taylor wanted to be involved in creating the rings they would ultimately wear, and they wanted to take their time doing it. After nineteen years together, what's the rush, right? As for who would design them…“Well, when you work at Betsy & Iya for over ten years...it's sort of a given, dontcha think? Taylor and I have developed a true friendship with Betsy so it meant everything to us to have her encapsulate our love into our rings.”
For years, Barrie has helped others navigate this exact experience. As our Design Manager, she works with custom clients to turn ideas, memories, preferences, and stories into pieces that feel unmistakably theirs. She knows the questions to ask, the decisions that need to be made, and just how personal the process can become. This time, the story on the table was her own. And the designer across from her wasn't simply a colleague. Over more than a decade of working side by side, Barrie and Betsy's relationship had grown far beyond the studio, and Taylor had become part of that friendship, too. Betsy knew these two, not just their taste in jewelry, but their history, their personalities, and the life they had built together. So naturally, Barrie was going to be an absolute breeze of a custom client. Just kidding.
“Being on the other side of the process was such a trip. I always joked with Betsy that I'd be her most difficult client. But since I'm the Design Manger and I work with all of our custom clients, turns out I ended up being my own worst client. *laughing/crying emoji* Jokes aside, the whole process felt so special to have these perfect, beautiful pieces made especially for us.”
“Being on the other side of the process was such a trip. I always joked with Betsy that I'd be her most difficult client. But since I'm the Design Manger and I work with all of our custom clients, turns out I ended up being my own worst client. *laughing/crying emoji* Jokes aside, the whole process felt so special to have these perfect, beautiful pieces made especially for us.”
There was something wonderfully full-circle about watching Barrie experience a process she knows so intimately from an entirely different perspective. She's spent years helping other people put words to what they want their jewelry to mean, guiding them through all the tiny choices that eventually become something they'll wear for a lifetime. Now she and Taylor were making those choices for themselves, alongside someone who knew exactly how much history those rings hold.
And then the story became even more Barrie: She got to make them herself. “Not only did Betsy design our rings, but I got to make them myself!! After our amazing production team cast the pieces, I sat at my bench and dusted off my tools. That felt incredibly special.” It's hard to imagine a more personal way for these rings to come into the world. These weren't just rings made for Barrie and Taylor. They were designed by a dear friend, brought to life by a team Barrie has worked alongside for years, and finished with Barrie's own hands. Nineteen years of history made tangible. And Betsy's part in their story wasn't quite finished yet.
“And on top of all of that, Betsy officiated our wedding. I couldn't think of anyone more perfect. She loves love more than anyone I know. I knew she would turn our ceremony into one that was unique, heartfelt, meaningful, and precious. I'll never be able to thank her enough for all she's done.”
Designing the rings apparently wasn't enough responsibility for one wedding. “And on top of all of that, Betsy officiated our wedding. I couldn't think of anyone more perfect. She loves love more than anyone I know. I knew she would turn our ceremony into one that was unique, heartfelt, meaningful, and precious. I'll never be able to thank her enough for all she's done.” Yep. That's Betsy. There is something incredibly special about the person who had worked beside Barrie for more than a decade, become a close friend to both her and Taylor, and designed the rings on their hands also being the person standing in front of them as they said “I do.” We've been lucky enough to be invited into so many people's stories through the jewelry we make. We meet couples at the beginning of engagements, hear about first dates and proposals, learn about families and traditions, and get trusted with memories that eventually become something small enough to wear on a finger. But with Barrie and Taylor, we didn't simply get to hear the story. We got to live alongside it.
Barrie and Taylor recently celebrated their first wedding anniversary. After spending so much of their lives together already, Barrie didn't necessarily expect saying “I do” to change the way their relationship felt. Turns out, nineteen years in, there were still some surprises left. “We just celebrated our one year anniversary and I can't believe how quickly time has passed. Our wedding felt like yesterday. I always felt like nothing would change after saying "I do," but we immediately felt a greater sense of joy, pride, and closeness. I'm relishing those moments.”
After meeting as teenagers, growing into adulthood together, and sharing nearly two decades of life, marriage still managed to open up a new part of their relationship. We love that. Barrie and Taylor's custom rings carry a pretty extraordinary piece of their story. They're connected to the work Barrie has poured herself into, to the people who became part of her life along the way, and to a relationship that has grown and changed right alongside her. For us, getting to make jewelry that marks people's lives is always an honor. But once in a blue moon, the person whose story we're helping tell is someone who has spent years helping us tell everyone else's. Barrie and Taylor, it has been a privilege to live alongside yours.
