Our Future Ink

I knew from the moment we got engaged and started planning that Cliff wasn't going to be wearing a ring. I'm perfectly fine with that. The only ring I wear is the one he gave me, so I don't really need another/different ring from that. But we wanted to do something special to show our commitment to one another. One of our traditions is to get tattoos when we go on vacation. It started with our first trip together to Amsterdam. Since then, we've gotten three different tattoos from three different locations. So, we agreed to continue that trend for our wedding. We have already gotten tattoos in Asheville previously, but this will be with a different shop for a much different reason.

Once we decided that we would get tattoos as our marriage symbol, we had to figure out what we wanted. Neither of us wanted to be so cliche as to have a ring tattooed around our left ring finger. If you type in "wedding tattoos" on Google, that is the one thing you will see...left ring finger tattoos. We finally decided on what to get when we started thinking about Cliff's affinity for Marvel comics tattoos and our rock theme. We found this really cool rip-out tattoo that encompasses both those characteristics perfectly.

This is quite a big statement for my taste, and we decided that in keeping with tradition, we would get it on our left forearms. So, Cliff, being the Photoshop master he is, whipped up a mock-up to give the tattoo artist, using pictures of our left forearms. Here is what the finished tattoo might look like based on Cliff's initial idea.

Cliff on left, mine on right

Looks pretty cool, but Cliff manipulated the artwork in such away so that the pieces are like puzzles and when put together, it creates this.

I really like this. It's not so obviously a heart when you look at the pieces separately, but when together, the heart is complete (like mine when I'm with Cliff...very sappy, I know).

So, I asked Cliff to take on this project, and he got us an appointment with Hot Stuff Tattoo in Asheville, which was a recommendation from our previous Asheville artist. We are set for getting our tattoos on Monday, April 8. I'm just hoping I don't wince and whimper like a little girl this time around.