I’ve decided that I’m taking the leap in the next few months, so I need a ring. I’m looking for practical advice for dealing with the decision making. How do you go about it? So far, I know some of the technical specs (shape, color, shade) that she likes. My next step is to decide the budget so I can decide on the carat and what upgrades I can or cannot afford. This is where it gets complicated. I don’t want to be cheap, or too expensive. The “two months salary” rule seems like way too much money to spend on a ring. I am considering a lab-grown diamond which is better value for money and more ethical, but it’s not very common in my community and if I tell people it’s lab-grown, I might get strange looks. I constantly find myself comparing myself to my future brother in law to try make sure I don’t look cheap with her parents. On the other hand, I want to give her family the heads up. I want to ask her parents for their blessing and also her sister for an opinion about the ring. These are kind of awkward conversations, because it feels like I need so much validation from them. My main anxiety is about the ring. How did you go about it? submitted by /u/exact-approximate
Originally posted by u/exact-approximate on r/AskMen