6 Wedding Ring Shopping Tips For Couples On A Budget

One of the biggest and most luxurious events in a person’s life is their wedding day. It’s a celebration of a promise of everlasting love and union between two people. And the best symbolism of this vow is the wedding ring. As much as everyone wants their wedding rings to be extravagant, like a diamond studded onto a gold band, the price can take a huge chunk on any couple’s budget. 

If you’re looking to save a little but not skimp on something as important as wedding rings, here are tips on shopping wedding rings when you’re on a budget:

1. Buy Wedding Rings Online

You can buy beautifully designed wedding rings at affordable prices when you shop online. Because online jewelers don’t pay overhead costs such as rent and employee wages, they try to provide the lowest prices possible without compromising quality.

In addition, the competition in e-commerce or online selling encourages jewelers to mark down their prices and offer discounts from time to time. You can take advantage of their seasonal, anniversary, month-end, or year-end promos to get the best deals and the best rings.

But buying anything online poses some risks: Some sellers take advantage of desperate couples by selling them poor-quality rings. Sizes may not be the most accurate. Or maybe the parcel was lost in transit. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean you can’t get some great deals online. You just have to take a second look if one deal seems too good to be true. With that said, here are some tips when shopping wedding rings online to get the best value for your money:

• Check The Store’s Legitimacy: You can verify this with reviews previous customers left about the dealer. If you’re able to, check if they’re registered from where they’re doing business.

• Check The Product Offerings: A good jewelry shop provides a wide range of designs and sizes of wedding rings, engagement rings, and other types of rings.

• Check Free Or Extra Services: You can find online jewelers that offer free services—which usually come with a fee in physical jewelry stores—such as free appraisals, free engraving, ring resizing, free shipping and insurance, and free returns and exchanges. You can save money looking for these services when choosing an online jewelry store.

• Check Warranty: You’ll never go wrong with dealing with an online jewelry store that offers some sort of warranty and repair services. In the event you run into a problem with your wedding rings or you’re in need of services not covered under warranty, you can mail your jewelry back to the shop for evaluation and necessary repair. You can actually find a jewelry store online that offers lifetime warranty for their jewelry products such as any 3 carat diamond ring.

2. Choose A Budget-Friendly Wedding Ring Style

There are various beautiful designs of wedding rings that couples can choose from online. If you’re on a tight budget, you can still wear a diamond ring without paying that much by working on the style or design. Here are some tips in choosing wedding ring styles or designs that can fit your budget:

• Oval Diamond: An oval diamond appears larger than choosing a round diamond with the same size. Of course, you’ll also simultaneously cut costs. An oval-cut diamond ring has a greater spread than a round diamond ring with identical carat weight.

• Bright Wedding Ring Setting: A shiny white metal reflects the center diamond of a wedding ring like a mirror to make it appear larger. For instance, an 18-carat white gold is good at reflection because it’s plated in rhodium, an extraordinarily shiny material.

• Bezel Setting: Remember that when selecting diamond, the stone looks a bit larger when set. Bezels such as halo settings makes the size of the ring’s center stone look bigger. They hug the shape of the diamond perfectly, boosting the stone’s size.

• Slim Bands: Your diamond will look bigger if you choose a slimmer band. On the other hand, a wider wedding ring band makes the diamond look smaller. Hence, a delicate band brings out your diamond ring’s brilliance, saving you money at the same time.

• Four Prongs Over Six: A wedding ring with fewer prongs means the stone is less obstructed, which makes it more visible and appear larger. Choosing four prongs rather than six prongs allows more natural or artificial light to enter and reflect the stone, enhancing its sparkle. Don’t overpower your diamond by choosing a streamlined four-pronged setting.

3. Look For Vouchers 

If you still have plenty of time before the wedding, it won’t hurt checking for vouchers to save some money. From time to time, jewelry shops offer discount coupons or vouchers. Just make sure to check the expiry date of the voucher so you can use them to buy discounted wedding rings.

4. Choose Between Generic Versus Customized Wedding Rings 

Can you save more choosing generic or mass-produced designs of wedding rings? While this statement is generally true, you can also save with customized wedding rings, especially if you choose a reduced band and stone size.

Many jewelry shops offer customization options to help couples come up with their personalized wedding rings that fit their budget. Tell the jeweler how much your budget is so the professional can help you come up with the perfect wedding ring design without hurting your pocket.

5. Find A Local Jeweler Or Less Popular Brand

If you’re in the countryside or outside the city, local jeweler fees are much lower than those in the city or urban areas. You can melt gold of your handed-down jewelry and redesign it into rings for your wedding, saving you much money than buying new ones. 

A local jewelry shop may also offer lower prices than those shops in central business districts or major cities in your country. In addition, a less popular brand also offers more affordable prices for their jewelry collection.

6. Know The Best Time To Buy

The best time to buy jewelry is early autumn or from September to October, as these are the slowest sales months in the industry. For this reason, it makes sense to buy during this season because many jewelry stores run promotions to clear old stock and increase their sales before the holidays.

Conclusion 

You have many options when shopping wedding rings on a budget. Buying your wedding rings online is convenient, and you can get free services to save more money than buying in a physical jewelry store. But you’ll need to take extra precautions when buying online. You need to consider the shape of the stone and the ring style too. Finally, plan your wedding early and buy your wedding rings before the end of the year, so you can get the best deals to help with your budgeting.