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Proposing to your partner is one of the most important decisions you’ll make in your entire lifetime, and choosing the perfect engagement ring is an important part of that! It can be a bit scary choosing something that you want your partner to love, especially when it will hopefully be something that they wear for the rest of their life!
It’s a very exciting time, but as it’s something that you will likely be investing a considerable amount of money in, it’s important that you do your research so that you do it right, whether it is something that you are choosing together, or shopping for on your own before proposing.
So, if you’re planning on buying an engagement ring, here are some things to consider and the research you should do beforehand.
One of the major factors that you should consider when buying an engagement ring is its cost. You need to check your finances and decide how much you want to spend on an engagement ring.
The cost of engagement rings can vary massively, but it’s important to go in with an idea of how much you’d like to spend. For instance, you might want it to be within a few hundred pounds, in which case you can look for crystal rings. For more info, you can visit https://www.
Despite what you might have heard in the past or from other people, there is no right amount to spend – people tend to say that you should spend 3 months of your salary on an engagement ring, but if you can’t afford that, then that is ridiculous and has only come from a marketing ploy many years ago and somehow stuck.
You should only spend what you’re comfortable with and what is affordable for you – yes, you want the ring to be special and for your partner to love it, but hopefully, they don’t want you going broke in the process. Plus, you can get beautiful and special rings, whatever your budget.
Your budget is also likely to dictate some of the other choices you need to make when choosing a ring, which brings us to the next thing to think about.
Traditionally, engagement rings are usually made from yellow gold, white gold, platinum or rose gold, and it’s important to consider which is right for your partner’s lifestyle as well as your budget. Some metals have a tendency to scratch more easily or be more hardwearing, so if they work with their hands, then a stronger metal would be best.
Also, look at what other jewellery they wear, if they wear any. If all of their rings, say, are silver or white gold, then they may well not want yellow gold engagement and wedding rings (I know I didn’t, as all my other jewellery is silver).
You may not know what kind of thing you like until you start shopping around, but it’s worth having a look online before you start to see if any shapes or cuts, in particular, stand out to you or that you think your partner would like. If you are looking at diamond rings, in particular, and you already know what kind of diamond your partner has always loved, then it can really help to narrow down your search.
Some cuts are more expensive than others, so it’s a good idea to keep a couple of yours and their favourites in mind. If you are wanting a larger stone, then it’s a good idea to be more flexible on the specific cut, as that is where your money will be going.
Ideally, you would want to see an engagement ring in real life and not just online before you commit, so a company like Abelini Jewellery who have both an online store as well as a showroom, is perfect. Seeing your chosen ring or having a look at a range of styles in person can be really helpful if you’re not too sure or can’t decide.
It’s not the end of the world if the ring you choose doesn’t fit them perfectly straight away, as you can get them resized; however, they will quite possibly be disappointed that they can’t wear their beautiful new ring immediately (Mine was WAY too big for me and I was gutted I couldn’t wear it!). So you should try to get it as close to the correct size as you possibly can.
There are different ways of working out their measurements without them knowing (if it’s a secret). If they wear any rings already, then you can find out the size of that and compare it to the ring finger by sizing down once if, say, they wear that ring on their middle finger. That’s easiest to do if they take their jewellery off at night, though!
Also, it’s worth getting a ring-size measurer to size their rings if they have them, which you can get pretty cheaply from Amazon. But you can also use a tape measure to find out the diameter of a ring they wear and use that to work out their size.
You could also try to measure your partner’s ring finger whilst they are asleep (if they are a reasonably deep sleeper!) by wrapping around a bit of material or string and then measuring that!
An engagement ring is something that they will hopefully wear forever, and so you want it to be a timeless piece that will always look lovely.
Something that is very trendy or popular right now may seem like a great idea, but could look dated very quickly and may not be easy to wear with everything later on.
It’s also important that you choose something that suits their style and tastes. If your partner is someone who wears quite understated jewellery or even none at all, then they are unlikely to want a massive sparkly diamond ring that you can spot from a mile away.
You don’t want to be stuck with a ring that they absolutely can’t stand and will never wear, so make sure that wherever you buy it from offer returns or exchanges, as well as offering free resizing.
Obviously, this might not suit everyone, but if you think that your partner would rather choose their own ring or have both of you choose it together, then it’s perfectly acceptable nowadays to talk to your partner about it. That way, you can be sure that they have a ring that they love and will want to wear.
It can be a special and meaningful event for you to both go out and choose something together and then propose, or you could propose first without a ring and then go shopping together.
Choosing an engagement ring for your partner should be an exciting thing to do, so try and relax and remember to be honest with yourself about what you can actually afford. Hopefully, these tips will have you on your way to finding the perfect engagement ring!
This is a collaborative post.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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