What should a man spend on a wedding ring?

Both of us wear this:
http://www.loveandpride.com/Home/ZoomOnProduct.aspx?id=5029&cid=345
and they cost us $300…we split that cost…

It depends very much on the couple’s finances.

It’s not about the dollar value; it’s about getting a meaningful ring. The wealthiest couple I know got married with comparatively inexpensive rings because they wanted simple, elegant gold bands.

Whatever she says you should spend.

We spent a little over one month’s combined income on the engagement ring with matching wedding band for her and a wedding band for me.

Spending tons of money on a symbol and a stone with little true value is ridiculous.

The band or the engagement right?

My husband likes very plain wedding bands, so his wasn’t expensive at all. Mine has diamonds going around it, so it was a little more pricey. Bands, in my opinion, should be classy but not flashy. My wedding band was less than 1,000.

We got both of ours from Tiffany’s as she wanted it to match her engagement ring so I got mine there also, plus they are gorgeous rings. Mine was about £800 and hers was about £500.

Walshy

I think it’s more important to get a ring that compliments the engagement ring, should definitely be of the same metal, than to worry about the cost.

I just have to add…my wedding band and engagement ring don’t really “match” since I’ve had a child, I cannot wear my engagement ring…it can leave scratches on my son, and I just don’t want it to get ruined, so I don’t see what the big deal with the engagement ring and wedding band matching is.

It depends on the couple’s preferences and finances. My husband paid $10k for my engagement ring while in college…. he worked overtime and sold almost all of his possessions. Now we’re fine financially but I’ll never forget that he wanted to get me that ring so badly that he sacrificed everything he could :)

You should spend about as much on the wedding ring as you do for the wedding, and half as much as you’ll do on the divorce.

I think the whole wedding ring business has spiralled out of control in the US, people spend more on a ring that does not even have a practical purpose than they do on the house they’ll live in with their new family.

Our rings were a present from the jeweller (she’s my cousin), but they wouldn’t have cost that much. Our wedding however cost a fortune, which was really stupid, since a year later our daughter was born with a health problem and I couldn’t afford the operation.

Do not sped two months salary on a ring. If you’re tempted to do this, put the money in a honeymoon account instead.
My wife and I designed her ring with a jeweler based on a piece of costume jewelry she liked and got a great deal. Talk to a couple jewelers (I would skip the chains if I was you) and make an offer.

Don’t spend any more than you’re comfortable with. If you dont think you can afford something, you’re right.

If you are entering a relationship where appearances count so much that you have to ask for advice about how much to spend on a wedding ring, I fear for the marriage. You spend what is meaningful to you, not what you think other people think you should spend.

Oops, did I say one month’s income?

I actually only spent one month’s rent and bills, which I will not be paying as soon as we move in together. I was fine with paying as much on three rings as I will be saving in the first month of our marriage.

Our wedding and honeymoon will also cost another month’s rent and bills. So all wedding expenses will be paid off in what i would have spent for two months if I continued to live on my own.

We paid fourteen dollars for both our bands.
They served us well but on our thirty year anniversary husband bought me a beautiful diamond ring that I also cherrish.

Hubby and I were friends with a jeweler, and I designed our wedding rings, which he then donated to us. We were not engaged before marrying, but I was given his family heirloom diamond ring on our first anniversary. My deceased parent’s rings went to my son and to my niece.

@YARNLADY We also designed our rings. The jeweler was thinking of designing something along those lines, anyway (they move in three dimensions, not just a plane). However, he didn’t give us the rings for free. We were ripped off!

@daloon I hate when that happens

Three paychecks worth at least. It shows he’s patient and he knows you’re worth a lot of time and hardwork.

@abc123jjz: I thought that was the theory behind engagement rings, not wedding rings. (And also that it was two.)

I bought my wife a one carat diamond ring and a pair of half carat diamond earrings last year for less than $200. They were purchased at Stauer.com, and they are real diamonds, just not the ones dug out of the ground and controlled by the DeBeers thieves. They are diamonds made in a lab. Exactly the same as naturally mined diamonds, but even more perfect, with no faults or inclusions, and more importantly, without the blood of Third World slave miners attached to them.

My wedding ring is a stainless steel band with a 24 carat ribbon of gold down the center. It was about $200 at a local jeweler. The ring I gave her for marrying me is a White Gold ring with 7 small diamonds channel set in it, bought at the same local jeweler. The more recent ring was because I love her and she deserves as much jewelry as she wants. I also bought her a genuine pearl necklace because she thought it was pretty and it was a gift for the 20 years we’ve been married.

She bought me a hundred dollar 1933 Graves replica watch for our 20th Anniversary. It and the pearl necklace were purchased from Stauer.com. I refuse to buy jewelry anywhere else.

I don’t believe in that three paychecks worth at least BS. Good jewelry can be had for a good price if you are a smart shopper.

@evelyns_pet_zebra—I agree, synthetic diamonds are the way to go. I just received a present from my partner and it cost him, I kid you not, $3…he made a bid for it on a factory website…take a look
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=46674277&l=b91ae704ab&id=805316
—

Any partner I had who judged the engagement ring I bought primarily on the basis of how many paychecks’ worth of money I spent on it would not remain my partner for very long.

I just wanted to get a rough idea of what other normally do. I know it’ll come down to what I can actually afford, but either way I know my girl will love it because I gave it to her. Thanks for the GA’s everyone ;)