Here comes the exciting part! Before you say ‘what ring?’, let us characterize the different types of rings for you.

Type of ring for your marriage:

1. Engagement Ring
2. Wedding Ring
3. Bridal Ring

The Engagement Ring aka the Bling Bling ring

The Engagement ring is the ring which every girl dreams of, the ring that guys use to propose to their girlfriend and the ring with the big elaborate diamond (bling bling) of about 1 – 2 carat. Broadly speaking, there are two types of engagement rings, the Solitaire ring which just has a single diamond on the band and the engagement rings with side stones which have a larger diamond sitting in the middle and smaller ones on the side. Once the lady agrees to the proposal, the ring is worn throughout the engagement period (defined as the time between proposal and marriage) to show that she is no longer available for courtship. There are engagement rings for guys but it is less common.

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The Wedding Ring aka to-be-worn-at-all-times ring

Wedding ring / wedding band is comparatively simpler in design. For the lady or bride’s wedding ring, it may have diamonds on the band, but the design does not usually contain a large diamond like the engagement ring.  Unlike the engagement ring, the lady only gets to wear it when the marriage has taken place. The wedding ring and engagement can be purchased as a bridal set in which the wedding ring and the engagement ring come in matching designs. The wedding ring is first placed on the left ring finger (fourth finger on the left hand) when the person is married. There are many reasons why it is worn on the left ring finger, one of which is that the finger is said to contain the vena amoris or “vein of love”. However, in this present period, the practically accepted reason is that since most people are right-handed, it is logical to wear it on the left hand to prevent the likelihood of damaging or misplacing it.

On the contrary, the man or groom’s ring does not usually have any diamond on the band and has a matching design with the bride’s wedding ring. Hence, the two wedding rings should be purchased in a pair (but nobody’s stopping you from being different!).

Some people would buy just the wedding ring for practical reasons (again) since the engagement ring is rarely worn. But didn’t I just mention that ‘the lady only gets to wear the wedding ring when the marriage has taken place’? Then what are you going to use for your proposal? It’s no wonder some people just fail in their first proposals. Then again, ultimately, you are the one who makes the final decision – to be traditional or practical.

P/S: If you both already have the nice couple ring while in relationship, you may consider to take it as your engagement ring as well!

The Bridal Set

As mentioned before, if you are planning to buy both the engagement ring and the wedding band together, you may consider getting a bridal set. A bridal or wedding set is actually a 2-in-1 package comprising of the engagement ring and wedding ring with matching designs for the bride and most of time, both are specially constructed so that they can be worn together on the same ring. Some bridal sets may also include the groom’s ring. Naturally, these bridal sets are also more expensive. Buying a bridal set is extremely appealing as through this one-step purchase you not only get an engagement ring and one or both wedding bands with matching designs but also significant savings in terms of cost and time.

Although buying a bridal set may seem like the perfect choice, it might not seem ideal. So what happens if you want to give her that big surprise during your proposal (without her knowing that you have already bought the ring) and also want to search for a matching pair of wedding rings together later on? This is usually the typical case and reason why you would eventually decide to get the engagement and wedding ring separately. Hence you might come to a stage whereby you may have a hard time finding a matching wedding ring for engagement ring after your successful proposal. My little advice is to get some inputs on her preferences on ring designs without ruining your surprise and then weight between the possibility of saving money/time and getting the right rings for you and your partner.