Sara Bareilles, who is best known for starring in and composing the original score for the Broadway hit Waitress, just added photographer and hand model to her list of credits as she presented to 850,000 Instagram followers a photo montage featuring her vintage diamond engagement ring.
Spoofing the not-so-subtle way future brides show off their rings on social media, the three-time Tony winner posed with her new bauble while holding random items, such as a pen, avocado, scissors and wine bottle. The singer-songwriter-actress described the carousel of pics as “hand holding things” taken by me.
Bareilles, who currently stars with her fiancé, Joe Tippett, in the film adaptation of Waitress, noted that her new ring not only replaces the simple placeholder she's been wearing for more than a year, but also represents a "leap of faith."
Tippett, 41, had proposed to the “Love Song” singer, 44, with a simple gold ring they purchased while on holiday south of the border. They settled on a basic ring because the task of choosing the perfect ring became overwhelming.
"We bought the gold leaf [ring] at an arts fair in Mexico City last December because looking for a ring started to feel like it was distorting and eclipsing the beauty of choosing each other," Bareilles wrote on Instagram.
In the Instagram post, she explained how their recent visit to an Upstate New York antique store yielded her forever ring.
As they shopped, Bareilles looked at tiny lamp shades while Tippett gravitated to a vintage ring featuring an unusual center diamond flanked by two smaller diamonds.
(A jewelry-industry insider told The Jeweler Blog that the center stone appears to be an "Old Euro," or European Cut, which is characterized by a high crown and small table. The insider added that the Old Euro predates the modern round brilliant-cut by 40 years.)
"It didn’t fit my finger so I was scared to take the leap," she wrote. "I had been thinking I should go get something custom or really hunt for the ‘right ring’ so I balked at it."
On the drive back home, Bareilles and Tippett discussed the real meaning behind an engagement ring.
"That it is something he wants to give me, not just get for me," she explained. "That the leap of faith of not quite knowing if it was ‘the one’ is just that. A leap of faith. And isn’t that life?"
Bareilles and Tippett went back for the vintage ring the next day.
"I look at this ring and think of his big blue eyes and how sometimes they are pleading with me to let go and grow into something new with him. So I did," she wrote.
Bareilles got the ring sized and wears it proudly, as her Instagram selfies can attest.
"Now I just love that I see him when I look at it. I like looking at you @joetipps,” she concluded.
Bareilles and Tippett have yet to announce any wedding plans.
The singer had previously told People magazine that she and her fiancé are torn between two wedding options. The first is going down to City Hall and "just do the thing." The second is to have a great party with friends and family.
"And so I don't know," she said. "We're still figuring it out.”
Credits: Images via Instagram / sarabareilles.