Buying a Wedding Ring

What's the longest lasting purchase you make for your wedding day? Your Wedding Rings of course. Here's one woman's advice on how to buy YOUR perfect wedding band

It's a minefield but if you break it down into bite sized chunks it will be easier to work with. We're going to talk about choosing wedding rings in this article.

Choosing a wedding ring is a very important part of the marriage process. So we talked to Eve, who was getting married for the second time, to find out about her experiences.

Eve told us about how she decided on her ring. "When I was getting married for the second time around my priorities changed somewhat I can tell you. My first wedding was in 1975 and like many young brides today, my thoughts centred around the day, hair, the dress, shoes, flowers etc. I had a lot of help from my Mum but in those days Wedding Planners were unheard of."

"But what about your wedding ring?" we asked. Eve replied, "By the time the big day came I was exhausted with it all and then 7 days before the wedding realised we still hadn't got our rings - nothing important then eh?"

"I realised that my wedding ring was the most permanent symbol of our marriage. All of the other wedding purchases would be just a memory in the years to come - my ring would be with me for life."

"However, by this time in the proceedings money was also getting very tight so we dashed off to a high street jeweller and bought two cheap, 18 carat gold wedding bands.

I really regretted not taking more time to choose but money was tight and time was short."

"So, how did t go second time around?"

"My second wedding was last year and we decided it was going to be quite low key" said Eve. "Older and wiser, we decided that this time it was about us spending the rest of our lives together and not about making sure the flowers exactly match the bridesmaid dress colour!"

" More out of curiosity than anything, we took ourselves off to a wedding fayre and I was absolutely knocked out by the services on offer - chair covers and chocolate fountains were not an option back in 1975."

"It would have been so easy to get carried away, but having looked around the only thing that really caught my eye was the stand selling wedding rings - this time round I was going to have something really special. There was so much choice but I knew that there would be no cheap, hastily bought ring for me this time."

Eve went on "I opted for a company offering home appointments - they brought over 300 rings to our house. It was great, I had time try on loads of different styles was being able to choose in the comfort of our own home."

"It was so relaxed and we were able to customise the rings to make them really unique was amazing - I wish I'd been able to get the outfit that way. The sales person took us through all the options of metals available and introduced us to Palladium - a comparatively new metal used for rings, its naturally white so doesn't discolour like White Gold."

"In the end we decided on Platinum Rings for both of us. Mine had 7 princess cut diamonds in it and my husband-to-be also chose a platinum ring that had the wedding date engraved in roman numerals. The rings were guaranteed for life so I don't have to worry about losing a diamond while doing housework!"

"Was there anything else you though was more important this time?" we asked.

"That's simple" said Eve, "The photography had to be right and we were lucky to find someone who really worked with us, made us laugh and was not intrusive. We now have a beautiful album to look back at".

Finally we asked Eve what advice she had for Brides-to-be.

"My daughter is getting married next year and my advice to her has been - pay out the money on the things that are going to last and stay with you forever."

"The day is over very quickly, the dress goes in the spare wardrobe, the flowers fade but your photographs always bring back the memories and your ring is a constant symbol of your wedding day and you love for each other".