Ask The Experts: 5 Tips for Making Ring Shopping Less Stressful

You’ve met your incredible life partner, and you’re in love. You’re ready to commit, and you both want to put a ring on it. Congratulations! Now, it’s time to go shopping for the perfect ring. Will it’s stone be round, cushion-cut, princess, emerald, marquise, or heart-shaped?

You’re dreaming of a stunning sparkler that will star as the most significant piece of jewelry you will probably ever wear. You want the ultimate ring, but you don’t want to make a budget blunder or let a jeweler talk you into a ring you may not like later on. So relax, know you have options, and don’t allow the ring shopping process to overwhelm you as a couple. Gorgeous, affordable engagement rings for modern couples can exceed your expectations.

5 Tips for Making Ring Shopping Less Stressful

photo by Kwangmoozaa

1. Work Within Your Budget

There’s always a lot of silly chatter out there telling couples how much they should spend on their rings. These days, the marketing ploys claim that you should shell out at least three months’ salary when purchasing this “piece of forever jewelry.” However, that’s ridiculous, and some brides and grooms prefer smaller sparklers or affordable engagement rings and wedding bands that offer high-quality, hand-crafted gemstone alternatives, designed from ethically sourced metals.

Know your budget, and start from there. Ignore the rules about how much to spend and the ring trends that you should be purchasing that are stylish in the moment. The price tag of your ring does not define its sentimental value.

photo by DuxX

2. Do Lots of Research

Ring shopping can become very stressful because a couple or the partner making the decision can feel they have little control. The jewelry store owner may try to influence the ring purchase and steer you in another direction, only to have you regret buying it later.

Ring shopping experts recommend doing some research beforehand rather than guessing blindly what your partner would treasure as their forever jewelry. Begin by browsing online for beautiful and affordable engagement rings or stackable wedding bands, for instance. Learn about the various aspects of gemstones, ring settings and metal styles.

Some couples love the element of surprise during their engagement, but you could also drop hints, asking your partner their favorite styles of rings, stone shape, and more. You can still plan that “unexpected moment” when the proposal actually happens.

Some couples enjoy ring shopping together as a romantic bonding experience. They value open communication in making major life decisions as a team. Online wedding experts seem to agree. TheKnot.com has looked at the data and discovered that 77% of people had some involvement in the selection of their ring. Ring shopping together has become “the new normal.”

photo by Jean-philippe WALLET

3. Don’t Believe Myths

There’s a lot of crazy advice online but that doesn’t mean it’s always factual. When it comes to ring shopping, whether you’re looking for affordable engagement rings and wedding bands or an extremely pricey sparkler, the ultimate fit is always key.

Now, it’s time to dispel the myth that your ring size is the same as your shoe size. The comparative size of your hands and feet doesn’t matter when ring shopping. There is zero scientific basis for this belief. Looking at the hands alone, every individual has different finger shapes and widths that will significantly affect their ring size. For example, someone with slender fingers might wear a smaller ring size than another person with the same shoe size but wider fingers.

To choose a perfectly fitting ring that feels comfortable to wear, avoid using the ring size vs. shoe size method to make your purchase. Ring shopping shouldn’t involve guesswork.

photo by g-stockstudio

4. Get an Accurate Measurement of Your Finger

Planning a wedding is stressful enough, and the ring shopping shouldn’t add to the pressure during the engagement. You have a couple of good options for accurately determining the ring size. You can refer to a ring size chart, or you can ask a respectable jeweler to make the measurement.

To find your ring finger measurement at home, or any finger you’d like to size, all you need is a string, a felt-tip pen and a ruler. Follow these steps:

Take the piece of string (or dental floss or yarn), and wrap it around the base of your finger.
Use the felt-tip pen to mark the point where an overlap begins. This will determine the length of one loop around your finger.
Use a ruler or measuring tape to determine the length of the string for the circumference value. The length is from the start to the mark you made with the felt-tip pen.
Compare your measurement to an authentic ring size chart to determine your ring size. If your measurement ends up falling between two sizes, your ring size is the half size between the two.

photo by jacoblund

5 Know The Jeweler’s Exchange Policy

Here’s another tip you may not even think about, but it can lessen the stress when ring shopping: Not every jewelry store accepts ring returns, so before making your purchase, you need to know if the establishment has an exchange policy, and if so, whether it includes resized rings. Some online jewelers back their entire ring collection with a 100% satisfaction guarantee and pair that commitment with a 30-day exchange policy. That can make a welcome difference.