Dad Handmade His Daughter’s Engagement Ring (Exclusive)

• Bryce Sherring always dreamed of her dad, a goldsmith, designing her engagement ring
• When the time came for her longtime boyfriend, Dawson Leedahl, to prepare for his proposal, he teamed up with her dad for help
• Together, they brainstormed ideas, eventually landing on a design crafted from 18-karat white and yellow gold, with the setting in white gold and a Canadian diamond
• In February, while on a family vacation in Arizona, Leedahl proposed with the ring
• Not long after the proposal, the bride-to-be decided to share some video clips of her dad making the ring on TikTok

Ever since she can remember, Bryce Sherring has dreamed of her dad designing her engagement ring. Her dad, also named Bryce, 66, is a goldsmith who has been in the industry for more than 40 years, and currently he and his wife, Lorna, run a family-owned goldsmith shop in Canada.

When the time came for the younger Bryce’s longtime boyfriend, Dawson Leedahl, to prepare for his proposal, he teamed up with her dad for help. Together, they brainstormed ideas, eventually landing on a design crafted from 18-karat white and yellow gold, with the setting in white gold and a Canadian diamond.

“18 is a significant number between Bryce and I, well, for the two of us. And so I wanted that incorporated, and I know how important that number is to her,” the dad tells PEOPLE exclusively.

“It was very hard,” he continues, adding that the most difficult part of making the ring was keeping it a secret from the whole family, even his wife. “It was important to me that my daughter’s mother and I shared this moment, to be happy together. I had to divide business from personal life, and we’re so delighted to be a part of that whole process.”

On Feb. 10, the day after finishing the ring — which took a month to handcraft — he and his wife drove down to Arizona for a family vacation. When they arrived, they picked up their daughter and Leedahl from the airport.

A couple of days later, Leedahl proposed with the ring.

“Dawson has been pretending to propose to me for the past couple of months. So, when it actually happened, I was in shock,” the bride-to-be says. “We just went horseback riding. It’s a beautiful location, and it was sunset and everything. So, when he was doing it, I thought, ‘Okay, you’re really going to pull this now? That’s so annoying.’ I thought he was just pretending. And then he had tears in his eyes, pulled out the ring, and I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ ”

“I went through a whirlwind of emotions, and I haven’t even been able to stop looking at the ring since,” she adds. “It’s so beautiful, unique and perfect for me. I love it so much.”

Not long after the proposal, the bride-to-be decided to share some video clips of her dad making the ring on TikTok.

“She was all on me: ‘Dad, why didn’t you document this, take some photographs, do this, do that?’ And fortunately, I have a staff member who is amazing with her cell phone, videotaping,” the dad says. “When given a moment, she was watching me, running the store, keeping an eye on Lorna and videotaping the chaos.”

Her hope in posting the video was to document the special moment, one she loves to look back on and relive. But then the video went viral, amassing more than 2.7 million views.

She admits that after the video went viral, she was taken aback by how many people loved the ring. “I know there wasn’t a doubt in my mind, but sometimes people have their opinions like, ‘Oh, I don’t really like it,’ and that’s fine,” she says. “I actually didn’t see many comments like that.”

“It was really special to me that people just wanted to share so much joy with me and compliment the ring, talking about my dad and how special that is for me,” she adds. “It was a memory from two men who are really important in my life, so it was really heartwarming.”

“I think the craziest part to me is just people think it’s so cool that my dad does that and for me it’s just like, that’s just what he does. He has always done that,” she continues.

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While she just got engaged and is taking in her new, sentimental piece of jewelry, the bride-to-be says she already has her wedding bands — also made by her dad.

“A few years ago, Dawson and I were visiting my parents in Yorkton for Christmas. It was just me and Dawson there, and Dawson asked my dad how he makes rings. Growing up in the industry, that was never something I really thought about. It was just my dad doing his thing. So Dawson asked my dad, and it was snowing that day. My dad said, ‘Well, let me show you.’ The store was closed, but he brought me and Dawson to the shop, and we actually made these matching bands.”

“We put them on our middle fingers in hopes to one day resize them and use them as our wedding bands,” she adds.