Wedding in 4 weeks, still no wedding rings

[TayceOnToast]

Yes, yes I’m the same person who was asking about cakes a couple of days ago 🙈. (We booked our wedding with only 6 weeks to go because we’re nuts ok!)

I’m in a world of confusion about rings now. I didn’t think it was something I cared that much about, I’ve never been the kind of girl to research rings or fantasise about my perfect engagement or wedding ring etc. I guess I assumed we would find something simple and inexpensive and that would be that. We’re on a pretty low overall wedding budget, about £4-5k total for absolutely everything, so I guess I thought we’d spent around £50 per ring or something. We should be coming into some money next year so thought maybe we’d get cheap sterling silver for the ceremony then buy more expensive ones on our anniversary.

But now I’m starting to feel like it’s quite important that the rings feel really special and that we don’t scrimp on them, and that I want the ring that I’m going to be wearing for the rest of my life to be the very same ring that we get married with. So I can look at it and always remember the promise we made to each other on our wedding day.
But is it even possible to get “nice” rings in our correct sizes at at such short notice? Have I left it all too late?
also what even counts as a “decent” ring? We’ve been looking at rings around the £200-£350 mark. Is this even likely to be good quality ring that will last a lifetime or do we need to go bigger?

If necessary we could take out a small loan or ask family for help, I’m sure my parents would be happy to help if it was important to us.

Any help or guidance much appreciated 😂 xx

We got a ring size online and then i bought ours from beaverbrooks or goldsmiths in the sale online

They were about 400 or 500 for the pair

Thanks for your reply and suggestions 🙏 I’ve just bought a ring sizing kit off Amazon, so that’s a start. thank you

Plain gold 18ct band of the width you like with engraving (date and initials) should certainly be able to be done in this time frame and will last forever.

My husband has got a simple and inexpensive silver wedding band-still going strong 25 years later

Btw, I'm utterly blown away at the price of gold at the moment (I'm sure our rings were about £300 total 20 years ago), so just to say that 9ct gold will also look great and last forever!

I never got a nice engagement ring because 20 years ago I was too stupid to put myself first.
My engagement ring cost 400 which I bought on my own credit card because I didn't want to hurt my partners feelings as he was a student still. He was only too happy to let me worry about all that.
I felt guilty asking for any for myself that wasn't a shared thing.
Looking back I should have said, look here I'm spending 2k on a lovely ring, you can pay me back for it as we go along.

So don't do yourself out of a nice ring! This is your one opportunity to get one.
The wedding band can be cheap plain rings. Plenty of them on the high street.

Are you saying I should get myself a nice engagement ring as well as cheap wedding bands?

I don’t have an engagement ring as there was no fancy proposal (which is what I wanted) but I have been wearing my recently deceased grandmothers gold wedding as a “placeholder” - which I feel will probably confused people, but I like wearing it becaus it reminds me of her

I have considered using grandmothers ring as a my wedding ring but I don’t want to do that - partly because (although she loved me and I loved her) she caused a LOT of shit in our family and I think it will really hurt my dad to see that ring on my finger - it’s a long story and the details aren’t relevant but I’ve decided I do want my own new ring for my wedding

Are you saying I should get myself a nice engagement ring as well as cheap wedding bands?

That depends entirely on your budget!

We found a local goldsmith who made ours in 2 weeks, also a last minute wedding!!!
Ask around or on Facebook for recommendations.
I had bought two from jewellers and returned them as I didn't LOVE them and started to feel how you describe about having the right ring on the day. No engagement ring here either, but I don't want one.

My wedding ring was £50 from Argos 17 years ago. Several DC and weight fluctuations later it was replaced as no longer fitted. Your rings(s) and vows are what is significant, not the price tag on them

Oh and the goldsmith was cheaper!!

Thank you, you sound like me

have researched local jewellers - do you mind me asking roughly how much the rings were from loca goldsmith?

I think I know what I want - a gold “eternity ring” style with flush set emeralds all the way around. Maybe a bit rustic looking if possible. No idea how much this will realistically cost though 😬

We are alike!! Mine is an eternity style with flush diamonds 😆 I only had them set halfway around. My band is wider than usual with a bevel either side of the diamonds. 18ct gold and it was £700.

We went to a local silversmith with just under a fortnight to go, fully expecting to buy something off the rack - instead he did us something bespoke that we picked up one or two days later. Very reasonable price too

Well I just googled emerald half eternity bands and a load came up. Some cheap, some less so.
All I can say is you get what you pay for. For jewellery, especially wedding jewellery you hope will
last a lifetime, I’d pay as much as you can afford to. Don’t put yourself in debt but don’t scrimp either.

If you want a ring to last a lifetime Emeralds are not very hard and can mark or even chip.

A local goldsmith might be able to use your grandmothers ring to melt down for metal too. Then you still have a link to her but not her ring.

Guide to metails:
https://www.diamonds.pro/guides/best-metals-for-wedding-rings/
Gemstones
https://www.gatsbyjewellery.co.uk/blog/best-and-worst-engagement-ring-gemstones
https://faojewelers.com/best-gemstones-for-engagement-rings/

Fleur Diamond & White Gold Eternity Ring

I'll add, it's better to avoid rushing and spend a bit more, as you'll wear it every day.
Certain materials need more maintenance, and are prone to tarnish.
Worth spending more on the ring than on your wedding dress, which you're unlikely to re-wear after the day!

You can get a gold band with a diamond for about £300, and that's what I initially planned to do. Had a similarly low budget (we'd just bought a house). But then I got excited, looked at lots and lots, I 'liked' many but nothing really stood out.
Found a beautiful one on this site, just HAD to have it, ended up costing over a grand each (we went for the most durable metal) but it's so worth it!
https://www.jacquelineandedward.com

Top tip : You can get a lot of good decorations etc on FB marketplace and Vinted, especially now! I got my bouquets for £30 (original price over £200), flower garlands, pew ends, confetti, place cards a job lot off someone else for £15.

Many others overbuy, or change their minds, then want to get rid of all the stuff sitting around so they sell it off cheap.

Interesting….ok good to know hadn’t even considered this. Thanks x

Haha 😝 great minds

To flip this, I have an engagement ring, wedding band and an eternity ring to sell. Can anyone give me guidance as to how I would go about this?

Go to a jeweller that has secondhand, money goes further and more ethical