Hi everyone,
Here is my situation: I met my girlfriend at a Bible study at our church almost a year ago. We became great friends almost immediately (I knew she was the one the first time we spoke), and we spent literally every day together for 6 months. At first, our "excuse" for getting together everyday was to practice for our mutual friend''s (from church) wedding in July 2005. We''re both musicians, and we played during the processional at the wedding (and that''s when we started dating).
Anyway, we''ve been planning to get married in December 2006 for several months. I haven''t proposed to her yet, for two reasons: one, I want to ask her dad in person (her folks live in CO; we''re in AZ), and two, I haven''t bought a ring yet (although I''ve started saving and have been researching diamonds/rings on pricesope for a couple months. I did get to meet her parents for a week in Oct, and they could tell that she and I are sure about eachother, so they apparently don''t mind planning the wedding before I actually propose (especially since it takes so long to plan). I''d been plannning to buy a ring in April, because I''ll have enough saved by then; plus, we''d planned on visiting her parents in early June, which is when I planned to ask her dad for permission. Then, I could ask her in June/July, and our plans for Dec. would already be in motion.
Well, last night my girlfriend''s mom called, and the date/location they''d planned for Dec fell through, and so she posed the question: why not this summer? Why wait until December? I actually never wanted to wait that long, but this throws a bit of a wrench in my plans . . . her parents are going to drive down here in two weeks so I can speak with her dad (who used to work in the pentagon, ahh!), and now I need to plan on purchasing a ring ASAP so we can really start planning the wedding! This also means I''ll have to get really creative when I propose because surprising her will be very tricky!
Ok, here''s my financial situation: I''m 23, she''s 24. I work full-time as a youth worship leader at our church (which doesn''t pay much), and go to school full-time (I should be getting hired by the Phoenix Fire Dept. in the next two years - it''s extremely competitive here in AZ). She''s a kindergarten teacher and is going to night school too for her master''s. Basically, I won''t make much money until I get hired onto a fire dept., and she doesn''t make a whole lot teaching. I really want to get her a ring she will love, but I don''t want to get more than I can afford and then bring that debt into our marriage (I''m currently debt-free).
The absolute most that I can afford for the diamond, setting, and band is $2000, but I would actually like to spend closer to $1500. I know that she likes round diamonds, and would like a fairly thin ring. I have searched this site many times, and have learned a lot, but I don''t want to make a decision without posing the quesion on the forum.
So: if you had $1500-2000 to spend online on a round diamond, and a thin white-gold setting and band . . . what would you do?
Thank you to everyone for reading my long post! I look forward to hearing what you all have to say. I''m very inexperienced, and what I do know about diamonds and jewelry I''ve learned from this forum. I appreciate any opinions, and will take all your suggestions very seriously.
Here is my situation: I met my girlfriend at a Bible study at our church almost a year ago. We became great friends almost immediately (I knew she was the one the first time we spoke), and we spent literally every day together for 6 months. At first, our "excuse" for getting together everyday was to practice for our mutual friend''s (from church) wedding in July 2005. We''re both musicians, and we played during the processional at the wedding (and that''s when we started dating).
Anyway, we''ve been planning to get married in December 2006 for several months. I haven''t proposed to her yet, for two reasons: one, I want to ask her dad in person (her folks live in CO; we''re in AZ), and two, I haven''t bought a ring yet (although I''ve started saving and have been researching diamonds/rings on pricesope for a couple months. I did get to meet her parents for a week in Oct, and they could tell that she and I are sure about eachother, so they apparently don''t mind planning the wedding before I actually propose (especially since it takes so long to plan). I''d been plannning to buy a ring in April, because I''ll have enough saved by then; plus, we''d planned on visiting her parents in early June, which is when I planned to ask her dad for permission. Then, I could ask her in June/July, and our plans for Dec. would already be in motion.
Well, last night my girlfriend''s mom called, and the date/location they''d planned for Dec fell through, and so she posed the question: why not this summer? Why wait until December? I actually never wanted to wait that long, but this throws a bit of a wrench in my plans . . . her parents are going to drive down here in two weeks so I can speak with her dad (who used to work in the pentagon, ahh!), and now I need to plan on purchasing a ring ASAP so we can really start planning the wedding! This also means I''ll have to get really creative when I propose because surprising her will be very tricky!
Ok, here''s my financial situation: I''m 23, she''s 24. I work full-time as a youth worship leader at our church (which doesn''t pay much), and go to school full-time (I should be getting hired by the Phoenix Fire Dept. in the next two years - it''s extremely competitive here in AZ). She''s a kindergarten teacher and is going to night school too for her master''s. Basically, I won''t make much money until I get hired onto a fire dept., and she doesn''t make a whole lot teaching. I really want to get her a ring she will love, but I don''t want to get more than I can afford and then bring that debt into our marriage (I''m currently debt-free).
The absolute most that I can afford for the diamond, setting, and band is $2000, but I would actually like to spend closer to $1500. I know that she likes round diamonds, and would like a fairly thin ring. I have searched this site many times, and have learned a lot, but I don''t want to make a decision without posing the quesion on the forum.
So: if you had $1500-2000 to spend online on a round diamond, and a thin white-gold setting and band . . . what would you do?
Thank you to everyone for reading my long post! I look forward to hearing what you all have to say. I''m very inexperienced, and what I do know about diamonds and jewelry I''ve learned from this forum. I appreciate any opinions, and will take all your suggestions very seriously.
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