Wedding Ring : Engagement Ring cost ratio

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  • Callisto
    Callisto Posts: 928 Forumite
    personally, I think cost shouldn't even come into this decision. You are asking the woman you love to marry you, do you need to pay £600 for a ring for her to say yes? True love costs nothing. Its not the ring that counts, its what it symbolises surely?

    when my hubby proposed to me, it swept me off my feet and I didn't care what the ring looked like at all. he chose it and i feel very proud to wear it :o

    Our wedding rings are white gold and from Argos, they are lovely, good quality and only cost £60 each. When the wedding comes around, you will need £600 to spend on other things, believe me!

    What I am trying to say is it shouldnt matter how much these things cost. If you love each other and want to be married then money should never be a factor anyway. You have each other and that is more valuable :love:

    Completely agree with you moosetastic, it should be about the love and not the expense. My proposal was a complete surprise and my boyfriend went out and picked the ring himself several days before. It fitted exactly as he measured one of my other rings beforehand (in secret). My engagement ring cost 125 pounds and is my most prized possession. I am proud to show off my ring and pleased that my boyfriend took the time to choose it for me. We are now saving for our wedding and I wouldn't expect that we'd spend any more than that amount on our wedding rings either.
  • BillScarab
    BillScarab Posts: 6,027 Forumite
    I proposed with a cheap ring while on holiday. When we got back we shopped together for the engagement ring, my wife chose a gold ring with three diamonds. When we got home we realised it was very similar to my mother's, my gran's and her mother's so that seems pretty traditional to me. The engagment ring cost a lot more than the wedding ring.

    BTW I don't wear a wedding ring, none of the men in my family ever have and personally I don't like jewellery. I would have won one if my wife had insisted but would never have worn an egagement ring.

    If you live anywhere near Birmingham visit the Jewellery quarter, there are lots of bargains to be had so long as you visit the manufacturing jewellers rather than the shops that just trade on the area's reputation.
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  • IMHO £600 is a lot for an engagement ring.

    I was engaged for 14 years (never made it up the aisle, split over 3 years ago) and I chose the ring after he proposed. It was £199 in the sale and he paid for it over 6 instalments. TBH that was more than plenty to spend.

    It might be worth having a look at the style of jewellery she wears. I would hate a really blingy ring with lots and lots of stones, but at the same time I don't like the 'risen' solitaire.

    Might be worth getting a cheap ring to use for the proposal that she can keep as a momento and then go shopping together.

    I was always convinced I would want an emerald but when I tried them on they looked like rings out of a cracker. I have a colleague who has been married for years and hates her engagement ring but as it is the one her husband chose she has always worn it. She wishes she had been given the choice.
  • Mummy_Jo
    Mummy_Jo Posts: 496
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
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    My engagement ring cost £500. My husband chose it for me and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. He knew me so well - he knew what to buy. If you are unsure you could always keep the receipt. I will offer some advice though. I only have small hands and big rings or rather bigger rocks just look plain awful on me. So I have a dainty solitaire. I don't wear much in the way of jewellery so we had diamonds put in my wedding ring (joint decision).
    Also one last piece of advice - think carefully on your choice of metal. I have white gold and would not buy it again. It looks lovely when new but the Rhodium plating wears off really quickly and you have to pay to have it re-plated. Its about £20 per ring. I have mine done every year. They usually have to send them away so that means that you are without your rings for a period of time. I have mine done separately so that my fingers don't feel funny. It takes a week each time and even over that short space of time they look old and worn. I've been married 6yrs this year and tried different jewellers. They don't stay nice and shiny like yellow gold and platinum.

    Anyway good luck and let us know what she says
  • I'm kinda in a similar situation as the OP, plan to propose in the next 6 months (although I'm already well up on the ring etiquette). However, she already knows how much she wants me to spend...

    Am I the only person to think spending 5K on an engagement ring is crazy-talk?

    Note: we're mid/late 20s, just bought a house together, i've got no debts (other than mortgage)
  • Hang on. Let me get this straight, she has told you that she wants you to spend 5k on the ring?? :eek:
  • r.mac_2
    r.mac_2 Posts: 4,746 Forumite
    Hello and good luck with your imminent proposal ;)

    My OH proposed just before Christmas and couldn't have done it more brilliantly. He put lots of thought into where to propose and let the ring play a smaller part. He bought a small ring to propose with which i could wear (although it was too big so put it on a chain around my neck). We then went ring shopping together - in the end we agreed totally on the ring for 'us'. I therefore know what it cost (although i didn't when i first tried it on and only tired it on as I was 'allowed to'!!!) having read this thread I am thoroughly embarassed at having let OH spend so much money :D:D:D:D :eek: First thing we did was insure it ;)

    As for wedding rings - OH doesn't want one. I am having a plain circular platinum band which matches my engagement ring. Its about £200.

    But at the end of the day - i would still be marrying my Oh even if he couldn't have afforded to buy my these rings. It's him I love - not his wallet. And it will be you that your girlfriend loves and it really is the one thing where love counts and nothing else. After 7 years together you should know each other well enough for the cost of a ring not to be too a big issue. Go with what you are comfortable with.

    Go for it and let us know how you get on.
    aless02 wrote: »
    r.mac, you are so wise and wonderful, that post was lovely and so insightful!
    I can't promise that all my replies will illicit this response :p
  • Yup. That would be about 2 months pre-tax wages for me. Thankfully, i've been quite dilligent towards saving in the last few years so I could afford that from my savings.

    I've told her that if i'm spending that on a ring then i'm not contributing much to the wedding (i'd expect her family to pay the majority) and that engagement/wedding present money would be saved towards a honeymoon.

    Can't say I'm happy with spending that much, but I do love her and I know it would mean the world to her
  • r.mac_2
    r.mac_2 Posts: 4,746 Forumite
    Yup. That would be about 2 months pre-tax wages for me. Thankfully, i've been quite dilligent towards saving in the last few years so I could afford that from my savings.

    I've told her that if i'm spending that on a ring then i'm not contributing much to the wedding (i'd expect her family to pay the majority) and that engagement/wedding present money would be saved towards a honeymoon.

    Can't say I'm happy with spending that much, but I do love her and I know it would mean the world to her

    ringo - if you aren't happy spending that much then don't. An engagement is about the begining of a partnership - not the size of a ring.
    aless02 wrote: »
    r.mac, you are so wise and wonderful, that post was lovely and so insightful!
    I can't promise that all my replies will illicit this response :p
  • I spent circa £500 on the engagement ring for my wife a few years back ('04), and subsequent wedding rings cost about £350 for both (her's and mine).

    I think that's a reasonable amount to pay, of course it depends on your circumstances, and what you can afford!
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