How Not to Bust Your Wedding Budget on the Ring

How to Buy an Engagement Ring on a Budget

 

It’s a beautiful milestone in your life!  You’re about to get married to the love of your life.  Now, you need to decide on the ring and nowadays many couples are shopping together.  The first thing you’ll want to do is start fresh.  Don’t start with preconceived notions about how an engagement ring is “supposed” to be.  Once you throw out the assumptions, the possibilities are endless. 

One way to cut costs is by getting a smaller carat weight.  You can save a lot of dough this way.  Look at the different carat weights side by side.  If you can’t tell the difference or the difference doesn’t make it any less beautiful, why spend the extra money?

Another way to cut costs is by changing the metal.  Perhaps you’re stuck on the idea and the look of platinum.  Take a look at white gold! It’s less expensive, but still a lifelong wearable metal with the same look and feel.

Look at smaller stores, family jewelry, and estate sales.  Just because it says Tiffany & Co. on the box doesn’t make it any less beautiful, but it really has an impact on the cost.  The bigger the brand name, the bigger the retail markup.  Don’t get sucked into the “big name” just because it’s a momentous moment.

Does your family have jewelry?  It doesn’t have to be an engagement ring.  It could be different rings, diamond earrings, or a diamond pendant.  The diamonds can be transferred by a jeweler to an engagement ring setting.  There!  You’ve just saved money on the main diamond, which may free up the funds for accent diamonds in a setting of your choice.

You’ve probably already heard about the 4 C’s: Cut, color, clarity, and carat weight.  But what you might not know is that if your diamond falls between D and H on the color scale, most people won’t be able to see major differences with an untrained naked eye.  If that is not an aspect that ranks really high on your search, you can save a lot of money by getting a lower color grade.  This same concept applies to clarity!  Basically, you go from flawless to imperfect.  Cut the corner a little bit, still as beautiful and beautiful on your wallet.

Shop!  Look at your options and different stores.  Take a look at what you like and then compare your bargains.  You want to get the best deal for the “right” ring.  Decide what’s most important to you, and find it.  Look around online, look at auctions (online and off,) look at the big names – Hey, even if you don’t want to pay the big markup, you can take advantage of their marketing budget and look at the gorgeous photos.  Know what you’re looking for and then hunt.

The bottom line is this: more money does not equal a “better” ring.  More money does not equal a happier marriage.  Be smart, and you’ll both be ecstatic.

About the Author:  Sarah Harris is the Marketing Manager at Adiamor. 

Adiamor offers a large selection of engagement ring settings, loose diamonds and other fine diamond jewelry at affordable prices.