For many couples, few things are more memorable in life than their wedding day. And really, why shouldn’t it be? They’re surrounded by friends and family, marrying the person they love and starting a new life together.
When the wedding day comes, couples want everything to be perfect from the food to the ceremony to the band to the guest lists. Another thing they want to be perfect are the wedding rings. It’s estimated that nearly half of Americans are married and 88% of all Americans marry for love, so that’s a lot of wedding rings being put on fingers.
Happy couples love to have nice weddings rings, but ultimately those rings should serve as a symbol of eternal love. But in the midst of finding the perfect wedding rings, here are some tips that will help you pull it off:
- Narrow choices down: These days there are basically infinite options for picking out wedding rings between all the medals and colors and styles available. You can window shop for hours, but the best thing to do is find what you like and narrow down your choices. Ask yourself some basic questions to narrow things down; questions like what style of rings do you want? and what kind of metal do you want?
- Give yourself time: Window shopping is exciting, but make sure to give yourself enough time to actually buy wedding rings—think about two or three months before a wedding. This leaves you time to find something you like and then make modifications if you need to for things like engraving.
- Maybe buy together As a happy couple shops for the perfect wedding rings, a nice step to help things along is to possibly buy an engagement ring and wedding band together. It might seem like a huge step at first, but there are several advantages to doing this. For one, you can find a ring and band that pair well together or are part of a set—which some companies offer. For another thing, this will save you from shopping for two separate pieces.
- Budget: As couples shop for everything they need for the big day, keep in mind that 3% (give or take) of your budget will be spent on rings. It might not seem like much when you’re window shopping, but those costs can add up quickly when you consider style, metal, carats, engravings, etc.
- Think about lifestyle: If a couple is absolutely set on it, they can have the most lavish and most expensive wedding their minds can create. But if a couple is feeling more sensible about things, its best to get weddings rings or bands that fit more with your lifestyle. For couples with active lifestyles, rounded bands
might work best so they don’t snag or come off easily. You may also want to consider metals that don’t scratch easily such as platinum, especially if couples have jobs that require a lot of hands-on work. - Mix it up: If couples have different tastes in wedding rings as far as metals, styles, carats, etc., that’s perfectly okay. Bands don’t have to match by any means and ultimately couples are going to want to get something that’s meaningful to both of them. How couples find those meaningful rings is up to them.
- Don’t be afraid to be different: One of the best things couples can do when shopping for wedding rings and wedding bands is to keep an open mind. It’s easy to have your mind set on a certain type of ring, but that can close your mind off to other, maybe even better possibilities. One thing couples may want to consider is chatting with a jeweler about different wedding rings as they work
toward a final decision.
There’s no doubt that shopping for wedding bands and wedding rings can be very exciting. To keep things exciting and not stressful, do some research, talk to jewelers and narrow choices to ultimately find the perfect wedding bands.