A Guide To Shopping For Wedding Rings
Whether you’re surprising your bride-to-be with a wedding band that perfectly complements her engagement wedding rings, or you’re heading out together to browse and choose your rings, there are a few things you should keep in mind as you shop. After all, this is the ring you’ll be wearing until death does you part—it’s awfully important that it looks good and, even more essentially, that you’re happy with it!
Keep your style top of mind.
If you’re like most people, you have jewelry at home already. So as you choose a wedding band, consider coordinating it with your current collection. Of course, you want it to stand out from the other pieces in your jewelry box. Still, it’s essential that your band is not just something you’ll wear but something you’ll genuinely love wearing. At least sometimes, you’ll wear your existing pieces alongside your wedding band. So why wouldn’t you want it to coordinate with your necklaces or bracelets?
Don’t be afraid of the unconventional.
Conventionally, you’d have a simple silver or gold ring, an eternal band representing your everlasting love. However, you don’t have to stick to the traditional sort of style. You might opt for an open ring, a jagged zig-zag band, or even a gemstone detail like turquoise rather than a more commonly chosen diamond. Your wedding ring can be more creative than the standard band you’d anticipate—it still has all the same meaning.
Balance your budget.
When you first start to browse for wedding bands, it’s fine to shop rings at all ends of the spectrum price-wise, if only to get an idea of what styles and materials stand out to you. However, you might not be able to afford the first ring you fall in love with. Remember that it’s most vital that you’re marrying the love of your life—as important as the wedding band is, it’s not what’s truly crucial. If that means opting for the sterling silver version of that platinum ring you’ve got your eye on, it’s okay.
Remember the engagement ring.
In most cases, you’ll wear your engagement ring alongside your wedding band. So, your wedding ring must be complementary. Some engagement rings are even made as a sort of stackable ring with a wedding band made to coordinate. If your ring doesn’t have something of that style, that’s fine, too. If you’re hoping to wear the two rings together, though, you’ll want to make sure they look good stacked together.
Look to the future.
Of course, you’ll be wearing this ring for a lifetime—you want it to be something you’ll wear happily. However, it’s also essential to consider whether you might wish to add an anniversary band in 10, 20, or 50 years. In that case, you’ll want to make sure that your wedding band (or something similar) could look good on either side of your engagement ring.
Pick something that says, “I love you.”
Putting everything else aside, you can’t deny the most important quality of your wedding day: the fact that you’ll be marrying the person you love. With that in mind, the most critical aspect of your wedding band is that it represents your relationship and all the love that comes with it.
As you prepare to marry the person of your dreams, the wedding bands are just one aspect of the big day, albeit one that lasts well beyond that save the date. Still, your wedding band should represent your relationship and the connection between the two of you. So coordinate it with your engagement ring and personal style to make sure it’s something you’ll wear for a lifetime, and be ready to consider less conventional styles if that’s what catches your eye. Your relationship is one-of-a-kind, so why wouldn’t you want a one-of-a-kind ring to go with it?
