How Much Should a Man Spend on a Wedding Ring?
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Traditional Cost
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Traditionally, a wedding ring consist of two parts: an engagement ring and a wedding band. While no convention determines what a wedding band will cost, the engagement ring traditionally costs two months' salary. Diamond manufacturer DeBeers set this tradition by, setting the cost of diamonds at approximately two months' salary. The wedding ring is often either a part of the engagement set or a simple gold band.
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Realistic Cost
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Realistically, inflation has made the two months' salary tradition somewhat exorbitant and only applies to the engagement half of the wedding ring. According to Groom Groove, if you make $30,000 a year, you'll be spending $5,000 on a wedding ring. Also remember that the two months' salary tradition was born from DeBeers and their "a diamond is forever" marketing campaign in an effort to sell more diamonds.
Bottom Line
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While tradition--which only dates to the diamond industry itself wanting to sell more diamonds--says that a groom should pay 17 percent of his annual income to please his bride-to-be, tradition is not inflexible. A couple should decide what works best for their financial situation when purchasing a wedding ring. However, a groom looking for clarity, cut and carat weight should expect to pay between $1,000 and $2,500.
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- Photo Credit ring image by musk from Fotolia.com
