Top 6 Things To Know Before You Pick Out An Engagement Ring

Picking out that perfect ring has got to be hard! It's not like guys can actually call their girlfriends and say, "Hey babe, round or square, gold or white, what size do you wear?"

You have to be sneaky about it! Every girl that I know tells her best friend what kind of engagement ring she wants. So I will start my list with:

• Look for others for help but most certainly trust your own instincts.

They're are a lot of places you can go for help like: her best friends, her family, your family etc. You want to make sure it is the perfect ring for HER. Not her family or friends, so take their advice but make sure you go with your own instincts as well.

• Listen to her clues/hints

We all drop hints whether it be a picture she re-pinned on her Pinterest, or her saying, "wow, that is a amazing ring, look babe."  She will leave hints, I went out of my way to leave hints to my fiance on his computer I would be looking up something random and "accidentally" leave it up on the browser. I also said, "I really like the princess cut diamonds, what do you think?" She will tell you exactly what she wants, you just have to listen to her and decode.

• Know her personality

Your going to marry her so you already know her likes and dislikes. However, with so many different styles of rings, the task of finding the perfect one can be overwhelming. Would she want vintage, big and flashy, does she wear jewelry on a regular basis? If she does what kind of jewelry does she wear? Yellow gold, White gold, is she more traditional? Ask yourself these questions, not her.

• Consider her lifestyle

Make sure you pick a ring that she can wear everyday. If she works in retail she isn't going to want anything that sits really high off her finger, because it will snag on EVERYTHING (speaking from experience). Also if her hands get dirty on a daily basis, you wouldn't want to get her a ring that has a vast amount of detail. It would stay dirty most of the time and it's beauty would stay hidden.

• What is her ring size?

This is a very very tricky one! My fiance didn't even bother with getting it sized because he had no clue where to start, this way is always a plan. But, she will want to wear it right then and there. Trust me, I forced a size 6 onto my size 7 finger.

You could go with this approach – find a ring she isn’t wearing at the moment but you have seen her wear it before put it on your finger and remember exactly where it fits on your finger and you can have an estimate of her size, not always accurate but it’s a start. If you know she won’t miss it, take it to the jewelers with you.

You could ask her family, mom or dad, usually they are the first person to buy a girl jewelry.

• Budget

They say you have to spend 2 months worth of salary on an engagement ring. But, you don’t have too. You can pick a budget and get a very beautiful ring if you go to the right place at the right time. Most big jewelry stores like Kay’s and Rogers will charge an outrageous retail price. Some “mom and pop” stores are a little bit cheaper. Make sure you look around at different places so you are getting the right prices for the right diamonds.  Do your homework on what diamonds are the best and which are just, well, not.

More to come on GBF’s website, for wedding and engagement stuff. I want you to follow along in my wedding journey to being Mrs. Sagez!