How to Choose Wedding Rings

Choose wedding rings carefully — you'll be wearing them for the rest of your life. Wedding rings symbolize three things: your personality, your commitment, and your fashion style. Choose a wedding ring that will express an enduring, unequivocal love and exert a unique personality for both the groom and the bride.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Stones for both
• Trusted jeweler
• Wedding band for her
• Wedding band for him

1. Shop together. The engagement ring was the big surprise, but you should decide on wedding rings together. Many women already know what they want on their wedding ring, so sitting down and talking can help get both spouses on the same page.
2. Decide on matching or separate bands. It is possible to buy wedding rings together so they coordinate, but it is not absolutely necessary. For example, if a man is concerned with a ring appearing too effeminate he can get a different style from the woman.
3. Match it to the engagement ring. Many people will wear their engagement ring and wedding band together. Having something to match it to will help you make your decision. You may want to visit the same jeweler you got the engagement ring from, or look into it when you are shopping for engagement rings.
4. Consider your lifestyle. Rings should adorn and accentuate your hands, not hinder them. If you use your hands a lot for manual labor and you do not want to scuff up your stone or damage your ring, consider a low setting or a hard stone. Conversely, if you live a life of leisure and you want to flaunt your luxurious diamond, get it set high and flashy and let it bling.
5. Choose a stone. You already know all about the 4 C's from buying the engagement ring (if not, check the resources box below), so you should be comfortable with buying a diamond. However, feel free to consider other stones. Look into the meanings of certain stones and the hardness.
   
6. Choose a band metal. The three most popular are yellow gold, white gold and platinum. White gold is popular because it coordinates with both silver and gold and is less expensive than platinum (which does the same, but is much stronger). Yellow gold is traditional, but be sure to look into the karats. Nine karat does not look as nice and will not hold up as well as 18 karat, but more karats means bigger price tag.
7. Look through catalogs. Once you have a general idea of what you want, leaf through a couple catalogs from different jewelers. This will help you figure out the price ranges as well as familiarize you with some good brand names.
8. Visit your trusted jeweler. Get some references and recommendations for a good jeweler and go down to the store to look at rings. Find a knowledgeable employee that can help address your questions and concerns.

Tips & Warnings

• Men's rings come in many different styles that are bold and masculine.
• Consider your cultural heritage — there are styles of rings and stone settings that have traditional meaning.
• Ask your parents about family heirloom rings. A family stone is a great way of passing on tradition and welcoming in-laws to the family.
• Before buying anything, make sure that the jeweler has proper certification and the stone has it's own “cert” from an industry recognized association.
• High set rings have a tendency to snag on clothing.

Who Can Help:

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