The Ring's the Thing

Over the weekend we managed to get someone to watch Addy for us.  Side note: isn't it great when you find someone who actually really WANTS to watch your kid?  It's a win-win because they want to spend time with her and we don't feel guilty for taking up someone else's time.  And not paying them for it.  But I digress.  We got a babysitter and headed out to ring shop!

I tried to ring shop a week ago but C was in a bad mood and Addy wouldn't hold still and that's when I decided that we needed to leave her at home and do this on our own.  Find some time where we could concentrate on the task and be able to ask eachother's opinions.

When we went before, we went to a mall store.  I had zero intention of actually buying there but I needed to get an idea of costs.  I had absolutely no idea what a wedding ring should cost.  I knew we already had the diamond, so it couldn't be that bad, could it?  Like, not more than $700?

Ha!

It turns out that if you're only buying a setting, they will charge you a fee to reset your stone in the ring.  In our case, there was a $2.50 charge per point (points = carats.  My ring is 0.47 carats, so it's 47 points.) AND a flat $60 in labor.  I will admit though, $177.50 is a hell of a lot cheaper than buying an actual diamond.

I knew that with my budget my options were to either buy a wedding set (e-ring & band) or to just upgrade the e-ring with some side stones and have one ring and buy an anniversary band down the road.  

I picked 2 rings after going through the NINE cases of settings.  One was a set with pave diamonds on the sides and a cathedral setting and a mil grain finish which just made it a little more delicate.  The other was a halo setting with 2 V's of diamonds coming up to the main setting like: <0> but square instead.  Both were the same price and I took my time putting both of them on to decide which way to go.

 (I hope these pictures show)

I decided in the end that I would rather have a ring AND band.  I want us to look married.  I don't want to walk around with basically a fancy engagement ring for years.

C also picked his ring.  He picked a white gold, European comfort fit band with absolutely zero embellishment.  I did have the inside engraved for him.

I love crossing things off our list!  Later on I'll tell you the other things we got done, including outfitting me for the bach. party and deciding on transportation for the big day!