Why I helped pick out my Engagement Ring!
Hello my loyal readers!
Four Years ago my best friend asked me if I would marry him in the most romantic and epic proposal I could have ever dreamed of. It’s been the length of high school since that magical day in the woods but I feel like it was just yesterday. Time flies when you are in love I guess!
Growing up I had so many misconceptions of what love was and looked like.
Like most girls my age Disney ruined me when it came to my expectations for my future happily ever after.
When I was young I remember talking with my mom about my Dad’s proposal, and all she said was that they talked about it and agreed to get married.
As a young teenager I thought agreeing to get married was the most unromantic thing I had ever heard of. Fast forward to when I was dating my now husband I can honestly say I was completely wrong. For me, discussing what our next steps were and being intentional in our relationship is what made it special, secure, and helped me know it was right. Getting to that point wasn’t easy, but once we did it was such a precious time in our journey.
Which is why one of my favorite days, besides our wedding day and the day we got engaged, was when we went to try on and pick out my engagement ring.
Yes…I knew exactly what my engagement ring would look like before we got engaged.
Why I decided to help pick out my engagement ring:
Growing up I always thought it was taboo to pick out an engagement ring with your future husband, and that it would make it be unromantic on the engagement day. However, as we approached that season in our relationship I wanted to pick it out along side my husband.
After all, he was going to potentially spend a few thousand dollars and we wanted to make sure he got something I would like too.
Prior to our engagement, I never wore rings so I really had no idea what I would like in terms of feel and fit. I also jammed my finger horribly a few months prior (trying to discipline our cat of all ways), so we knew my finger was still experiencing some swelling.
HOW WE PICKED IT OUT:
We knew we wanted to go to our local jeweler when it came to picking out my engagement ring, and our wedding rings, because we love shopping local. We ended up going on a cold weekend in February 2020 after celebrating our third year of life together.
I had tried on rings one other time prior to going with Daniel, so I had an idea of the ones I leaned towards, but I also wanted to see what he would like as well. At the end of the day he wanted whatever would make me happy.
I always dreamed of having a three stone setting, and leaned towards oval stones. Another thing was that I didn’t really want stones within the band itself since it felt odd and uncomfortable to me when I tired them on. The local jeweler also mentioned those bands could be hard to resize, and we figured my finger was going to go down in size as my finger healed from its injury. When I thought about my engagement ring all I wanted was something simple and timeless.
We spent around 1.5 hours trying on different settings, and discussing cost and customization with the jeweler. They ended up ordering some different settings I leaned towards, and primary center stones for us to try. After we went to the jeweler that second time we had my engagement ring picked out, and my husband knew how much it would cost so he could start saving for it.
Why it’s one my favorite days and memories:
I say this day was one of my favorite days because nobody knew we went and looked at rings together. It was like keeping one of life’s biggest and most exciting secrets with just your best friend.
Looking back I am so happy we had that special time and memory together. Being engaged and planning the wedding was great, but also a very stressful time and you got everyone’s input welcomed or not. With picking out the engagement ring it was something we just did together, and later on when we picked out our wedding rings it had the same magic to it for me.
Knowing what my engagement ring looked like allowed me to picture and envision our engagement day. It allowed me to enjoy the feeling with where we were at in our relationship while I waited for my husband to plan how he would ask. I also think knowing what the ring looked like helped me enjoy the proposal itself, and being focused on my husband and me in that moment, and less concerned with the bling (though it was still so gorgeous and more beautiful than I remembered).
Looking back I am so thankful my husband and I picked out my engagement, and later wedding rings, together. It really is something I would 100% recommend doing with your significant other when the time comes because it’s such a special experience. My only advice is do your best to not drive your partner (and best friend) crazy after shopping asking when to expect the proposal. Literally the week of my engagement I hit my all time high of asking about this, and they still give me grief about it (4 years later).
Until next time,
