Engagement Ring Shopping With Your Fiancee

A proposal is a tradition practiced by couples not only here in Singapore, but by couples all over the world. These days, guys take it the elaborate way to propose to their girlfriends—choosing a romantic location and a tear-jerking will-you-marry-me speech complete with flowers, balloons, a lovely dinner and an engagement ring they chose themselves.

However, there are also many couples in Singapore who get engaged informally and go shopping together for a ring. If you know that your soon-to-be fiance has specific set of taste and preferences when it comes to jewellery or you just want to make sure that she will love the ring you’ll give her, then shopping together is your best option.

You may want to take not of these tips to get the most of your shopping experience—and make more romantic and wonderful memories in the process.

Do Some Research

Even if you’re going ring shopping with her, you still have to do some research to have an idea of what styles she fancy and be familiar with the terms used and the diamond cuts.

Social media is a great tool to learn more about her preferred wedding ring styles. First stop: Her Pinterest account, where she’s likely to have a pinboard about weddings and engagement rings. While looking at the rings she has pinned is a great start, don’t stop there. Look through her other pinboards, like fashion and clothing, to determine whether she likes simple, modern or complex nice wedding ring styles from Singapore. Explore her Pinterest boards—it’s one of the best ways to know her tastes and preferences.

You can find more clues on Facebook, too. Has she ‘liked’ a jeweller’s page? Have she ‘shared’ or posted photos of jewelleries or anything she finds stunning? How about her friends? What styles do they like? This information can educate you of the style(s) your girlfriend fancies. Keep an open mind when researching about her style. She will appreciate it, and it will go a long way in finding the perfect proposal ring.

Surprise Shopping

One way to still surprise your sweetheart is to casually drop by at a jewellery store to, say, look for men’s jewelleries. Slowly and strategically take her to the wedding ring section and casually ask which ones she finds attractive. This appears more casual—and therefore more surprising—when done after dinner or movie while strolling at the mall.

Even if you have openly discussed getting married, taking her with you when shopping for a ring will still strike as romantic—and practical all at once. The fact that you have planned for this day and initiated the ring shopping will delight her, and the idea that you want to ensure that she’ll love the ring will please her as well.

Talk to a salesperson while you’re there, and know more together about the ring she has chosen. The salesperson is your best resource to help your fiance make the right decision in terms of the ring style and setting in relation to the style she likes and the lifestyle she has.

A Dummy Ring

If you have been keeping it a secret and you know your fiance is expecting a spectacular surprise, shopping together for a ring may not be in the picture. You want to give her a romantic and memorable surprise proposal, but you also want to make sure that you have chosen the perfect ring for her.

Well, you can plan for a surprise proposal exactly how you want it: in a romantic location with a string quartet, an elaborate dinner and a ring—but not the real ring. For this occasion, you can choose a cheaper ring, perhaps a cubic zirconia instead of a diamond, to present to her.

As soon as she said yes, let her know that the proposal ring is just a dummy, and you want to let her choose the ring that she will truly love. This way, you get the best of both worlds. You can guarantee that she will love to wear the ring every single day of her life.

Discuss, Then Shop

When you have frankly discussed to each other about getting engaged and have mutual understanding about it, the next questions to answer is when and where the wedding will be.

If this is your scenario, practicality is easier to achieve. Get a couple of bridal magazines and discuss about what ring she loves over a cup of tea. Pay attention to the discussion—it’s more than just letting her pick her own engagement ring. Notice the rings she points out—the metal, the design, the type and cut of the stone, etc. Then, when you’re armed with the right knowledge, you’ll be able to provide relevant suggestions when it’s time to go and shop. You can be confident that she will love the ring and that you’re not wasting your money on something that would be seldom used.

In general, the choice of going ring shopping together is a matter of personal preferences. For some women, it is the thought that counts and the process that their men has to go through to pick out the right ring. For others, the engagement ring is a major investment and should be dealt with together as a couple. The truth is, there’s no right or wrong for this—it is simply what feels right for the both of you. What’s important is that you agree on the same thing and are happy with whatever choice you have made.