A Rhode Island couple who fashioned an engagement ring out of a pearl they found hidden in their seafood dinner in 2021 is set to marry next month — and the ceremony will feature subtle tributes to the gem.
Sandy Sikorski, 70, was eating clams at the now-shuttered Bridge Restaurant in Westerly, RI, with her 75-year-old beau, Ken Steinkamp, two days after Christmas that year when she noticed one of the shellfish tasted a bit strange, according to the USA Today.
“What the heck?” she said as she spit out a hard round object that had invaded her dinner.
Her sister-in-law thought Sikorski had just lost a tooth, the outlet said. Then they discovered that she had bitten into a sizeable pearl that had been hidden in one of the clams.
“You couldn’t have ever swallowed it,” Sikorski said. “It was too big.”
This past July, the couple decided to turn the rare gemstone into an engagement ring, which brought them national attention — and people still recognize the bauble to this day.
“I am surprised every single time somebody says, ‘I know about this ring,’ ” Sikorski told the outlet. “It’s hard to go unnoticed because it’s white, and people are looking for a diamond.”
Now, when the couple ties the knot April 14 in a small ceremony at the Avondale Chapel, a centuries-old Baptist church in Westerly, they will make the symbolism of the eye-catching piece even more a part of the festivities, too.
The bride will wear pearl earrings, while pearls will line the bottom of the couple’s wedding cake, and Sikorski’s granddaughter, Nora, will have pearls fastened to her bridesmaid shoes, the outlet said.
The chef at the Ocean House, their chosen reception hall, even built a chocolate clam with a pearl inside for their wedding cake tasting.
“I had shared the story of their ring,” said Bontempo, the catering and sales manager at Ocean House, to USA Today, referring to other employees he talked to. “I was sharing that with our pastry chef, so when they came for their cake-tasting, she wanted to make it a little bit more special for them.”
The wedding ceremony will be small — with just 27 people invited — but Sikorski and Steinkamp said it will be a big event for the whole family. Sikorski’s 93-year-old father, Louis Bald, is determined to live long enough to walk her down the aisle despite his burgeoning health problems.
“He said, ‘I’m not going to miss it,’ ” Sikorski recalled.
After their long-awaited wedding, the newlyweds will fly to Europe for a three-week-long honeymoon that will include a stop in Paris.
The couple — both of whom have been previously married and divorced — met on an online dating app in 2018.
“This is a Hallmark story if there ever was one,” Steinkamp said
