Southern Weddings

I would have to agree, shop together, you will both know once you find the right style! We went twice together to larger diamond dealer type stores. I fell in love with a setting at the first place and when I kept searching for it at the second, we knew that was it. He picked the stone and surprised me with a secret vacation quite a few months later (longer than he anticipated since the ring took so long). I would say all elements of the ring were important to us. It’s definitely not all about carat and you want something that will be worn for a very long time to be the best quality in your price range! Such a fun experience!! :)

My fiance and I shopped together like a YEAR before we actually got engaged. I am pretty type A, my fiance is so NOT. But here is what I learned, he and I liked the same styles and it gave me the ability to trust him to make the decision. Some guys really want to do the picking of the ring and my man is one of those (so don’t assume your man will want you to do all the picking). When he did propose I was so surprised! And my ring? I LOVE it! He picked out something I would have never asked for, because I would not have asked for something with as much bling and fuss. It completely blessed me to see him go above and beyond! He listened to what I liked and then went and made the decision on his own. He went with a chain store because of the warranty. I can take my ring into any of their stores nation wide and they will take care of it (hello lifetime warranty!)

Glad to see there are other readers/commenters in the same boat I’m in! We have been dating a little over 2 1/2 years, and we talk about marriage almost daily (but in a “we want this for our marriage/life” kind of way, not really wedding details per se). He definitely knows that I love emerald cut diamonds, and I always thought I wanted a solitaire on a plain (no diamond encrusting) white gold or platinum band–how’s that for specific? :)

I would really love to go try on rings, but he’s not crazy about it. We do talk about rings every now and then, and I do trust him to make a great decision, as much as I trust my own judgement about thinking an emerald solitaire is the one for me. BUT, like Lisa, I’m afraid that my ideal ring will look weird on my finger. I have tiny hands and wear a 4.75 ring size, so it could really engulf my hand and look odd. I guess time will tell. Maybe he’ll come around to ring shopping together..I probably wouldn’t try on anything by myself. But if he doesn’t, that’s okay, too! He has great taste and I trust him completely.

I’ve been engaged since February, and I honestly didn’t expect it quite yet. We never went ring shopping together, which I’m happy about, because it would’ve ruined the surprise of it all. We have very close friends who got engaged a little bit before us, and my fiance used them as a sneaky conversational opportunity. We talked about my friend’s ring in a very vague way, which he thought could get him my general opinion on solitaires. My engaged friend even came up with an elaborate story about how one of her roommates was ring shopping for his girlfriend (he wasn’t), and he was asking her advice. She asked what I thought she should tell him. I am seriously a dunce. Even with these feelers put out, I evidently didn’t give a specific enough opinion, so the fiance went with his gut, a round-cut solitaire. I’m a pretty simple jewelry-wearer, and my ring will never look dated, so he was impressively spot on. I like to think that if you know each other well enough, he can find what suits you. And, even if he doesn’t get a hint, you might actually fall in love with anything the love of your life wants you to wear! But, if you’re still not satisfied, you can always pick out a wedding band that brings out your style or if it’s a sturdy enough engagement band, you can always build that sucker up over time! :)

We’ve decided to use the diamond from my grandmother’s wedding ring, and reset it in a new setting that we pick together. For us, we love the symbolism of taking something that represents my past and my family, and merging it with something that represents our future together. …The hardest part has been deciding on a band and setting! We both have very different tastes-his is more modern; mine is more traditional and feminine. I want the decision to reflect both of us, but I want to make sure it is something I will feel comfortable wearing every day for the rest of my life. I heard a helpful quote once that said to the man: “Imagine your future wife picking out one shirt for you that you had to wear every day for the rest of your life….Now, imagine you hated that shirt.” I couldn’t have said it any better! ;)

We did not shop together and he actually threw me off course 2 weeks before he proposed by saying he had another 2 years (on Valentine’s Day no less)! Needless to say I was in shock when he did! What he did do was point out rings in windows of small independantly owned shops to ask what I liked about them or didn’t like. He knew I wanted a round stone, that I really did not want anything so small you couldn’t see it and that I wanted it to be a little different than something someone else could just go purchase. He did a wonderful job! I was scared that I wouldn’t like the ring I was proposed to with and I didn’t need to be! My ring was customized designed by a local jeweler and has the same shape essentially of the first necklace he bought me and a pair of earrings he also purchased for me. I also have very thin fingers and my center stone is 3/4 carats, but because of the quality and the setting of the stone it looks much bigger, but doesn’t overwhelm me. :) So, out of all of that I would say-look at lots of rings especially when they are on other people and get an idea of what you like about those-and what you don’t. Also, if he doesn’t ask, but is dropping wedding hints just casually ask him if he would be interested in seeing some rings that you like. That way he doesn’t have to wreck the surprise and you’re helping him out too. Just to answer another one of your questions-mine is platinum and I had no idea I just wanted it to be silver colored-he picked platinum because that is what the jeweler prefered to work with and a huge HUGE thing-EUROPEAN SHANK or weighted ring my ring does not spin at all! It stays centered on my ringer unless I get soap under it. (It just makes the underside have slightly squared corners and it is so comfy.) Good luck! :)

Hi Emily! I have been engaged for just over a month! If there was one piece of E-Ring advice I could give, it is: SHOP TOGETHER! If you do not care to pick it out and you want it to be a complete surprise then go with that! But I was not that girl! I started planning a couple months after we started dating because we both knew we would someday be husband and wife!

The most important issue about the E-Ring is that you get what you really want because you will be wearing it forever! I felt a lot of pressure from my parents and friends and even some wedding sites and magazines to choose a diamond. A diamond just isn’t me and I thought they were kind of boring. I ended up being a gemstone girl! If we had not shopped together or talked extensively about it I probably would have ended up with a diamond like all of my friends! I gave my fiance a few photos of what I REALLY liked and he decided on the blue sapphire with double diamond and sapphire halos on a double diamond band. It is absolutely perfect. I get so many complements! People always say that it is so “me” and that was what I wanted. Congrats on the ring-looking and happy hunting! :)

I have had an idea of the setting I wanted forever, which actually sounds similar to the one Amanda described. My boyfriend and I started talking about rings at the beginning of this year, and we went to three different jewelry stores. I think doing some pre-shopping on the internet was a good idea because I was not as overwhelmed when we went to an actual store. But, I would definitely recommend that everyone still go to an actual store to try on rings, because you may end up changing your mind once you see how different styles look on your finger. Originally, the idea was for me to show him some options and then for him to pick the one he liked so that it would be more of a surprise. But things didn’t quite work out that way. The first ring I tried on at the third store was perfect, and I knew it as soon as I tried it on (and the fact that I started tearing up probably was a dead giveaway!) That was the ring he ended up getting, and he actually proposed less than two weeks ago! Although it wasn’t a complete surprise (my dad spilled the beans after my boyfriend asked for my hand) it was still really special, and I am so happy to have my perfect ring!

I got engaged last March and married in November, and our engagement came as a complete surprise to me! Coincidentally, a couple of months before my husband started ring shopping, his sister and I got on the topic of engagement rings. I sent her a couple of ideas that I liked, and she happened to send them over to him a couple of months later. But…he hated all of them! He didn’t like any of the rings that I had picked out, so he decided to design his own. The ring I ended up with is completely different from what I had ever envisioned, but it’s so much better than anything I could’ve asked for. Plus, it means so much more to know that he put in the time and effort to design a ring just for me! :)

I have been engaged for just over 48 hours–wooohoooo!! Tony and I knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together, and I sort of knew that he’d been ring shopping, but the proposal and the ring were complete surprises! We never discussed what type of ring I would like, we never shopped together, and I never dropped any hints……but he picked the absolute perfect ring for me. I can be a bit of a detail freak, but I’m so happy that he did this on his own and that it is exactly right. I think that shows just how well he knows me! Tony said that the instant he saw this ring, he knew it was “the one.” I love that!!

A funny sidenote: like I said, this was all a surprise to me. Little did I know, however, that every single time my fiance’ went to the jewelers, I called him while he was in there! Including Wednesday afternoon when he went to pick it up. Ha!!

I was fortunate enough to be able to work with a small town jeweler and have TONS of advice! My fiance and I decided to look for rings together (I was still completely surprised when he popped the question!). I have a sensitivity to nickle and we discovered that white gold is plated in nickle to make it “white.” Since we were restricted in that department I did some research and discovered palladium. It’s mined with platinum and is of the same strength and beauty, but of the ore that’s mined, ~80% is palladium and ~20% is platinum so it’s loads cheaper. I always knew I wanted a princess cut diamond and we learned that it’s very important to have the right setting for the diamond shape. Most round diamonds come with a six point setting so if one of your prongs breaks you don’t loose your beautiful diamond! Since there are only four prongs to hold a princess cut it’s important that each prong cradles the diamond and the only prong style that accomplishes this is the chevron setting. It holds the diamond nicely in place – think of your grandmother’s photo album and the triangle-shaped corners that hold the photo in place – kind of like those. Finally, we decided to go with a company that makes bands where individual heads can be fitted into the band. We were able to choose a band I loved and also a head setting with chevron prongs to securely hold my diamond!

We were also very fortunate to work with a jeweler who makes a yearly pilgrimage to Antwerp, Belgium to a diamond sale in the Fall. My fiance discussed the type of diamond he wanted to buy and our jeweler was able to buy directly and save us a lot of money. If it weren’t for that I would have a very different ring!

We had a wonderful experience and hope this helps some of you!

Jewellery can say a lot about a person and knowing what your jewellery says about you is vital in any setting especially in a professional one. It may seem shallow that an interviewer would base his or her decision on what earrings or watch a potential candidate is wearing but the truth is much of the hiring process is done subconsciously and so conveying the right impression can go a long way towards securing the job. In an interview or position of employment you are being evaluated as a whole not just by what is coming out of your mouth.