Weddingbee boards

Hey everyone,

Hope you're all good. I'm a 29 year old man who is looking to get engaged later this year.....my gf and I are going to Dubai in October to buy the ring. She wants a princess cut diamond on a platinum ring. I'm not sure how much to spend.....was thinking around 5k (pounds sterling). What would I get for that cash and any suggestions on romantic ways to propose!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you x

@Mrs. Fireworks: Hey Mel,

I'm buying in Dubai because I've had friends go over there before to buy their engagement rings and they have told me when they came back to the UK that the rings were valued at twice what they actually paid! So I thought/think it's a no brainer.

Hmmm.....1 carat......I'm clueless as I thought for that price I would be looking at 1.5 carats. I may invest more cash into this....I just want it to be perfect and I know my gf likes her diamonds big!! haha!!

I appreciate your reply x

@PurpleUnicorn: Hey,

Thanks for your input :)

Yeah I agree that looking for something that she's interested in and likes is well worth using to my advantage in the proposal.

I just really want it to knock her off her feet. As we are buying the ring together she knows it is coming but I still want an element of surprise to eb put in there.

One of my ideas was to wait til we got back to the UK and propose where we first met ( at my brothers wedding). I have already contacted the estate and they said I can get access to the ballroom but how do I get her there?! I dunno......I still have time to think this over I suppose........

Thanks again x

@CorgiTales: Hey there!

Thank you for the reply!

Yes I have studied the 4 C's a wee bit and have seen that CUT is very important so you can get the ideal light reflection.

I have been recommended Cara Jewellers in Dubai so I'm very certain i'll be going there. My biggest concern is how much I need to spend. I have savings already and I have 4 pay days from now til then so have time to get it right.......

I also have to ask her father's permission before we go!! That should be fun!!

x

@misssweet: Hey Sweet!

Appreciate your reply!

Yeah it's 5K GBP I have so far which equates to prob around 8k in american dollars! Rough estimate. See how I get on......I'll be sure to let you guys know after the holiday!

She will be present as we have been talking about this for over a year now! It's not my ideal situation as I really want the surprise element to be involved with the engagement but she does really want to pick the ring.

I did considr flying to Dubai behind her back and getting the ring then proposing before the holiday and using the holiday as a romantic engaged getaway sorta thing!

I've not totally ruled this out as I work on the oil rigs so could easy say I'm away offshore then nip away to Dubai for a few days! The only pit fall to that idea is i will be depleting my savings and if she weren't to liek the ring A. Would she say and B. If she did say would i be able to exchange it?

Fingers crossed :) x

@MissHobbit:

Hey, Thanks :)

The engagement part or the trying to get some advice from you ladies part?

I can't ask her friends or family as I want this to be private til it happens....I stumbled acroos this site whilst trying to research rings etc!

I'm on nightshift on the oil platform so it's 4am here (offshore Norway) so am glad all you guys are here to help x

@CorgiTales:

Hey,

I know I probably come across as obsessed with the carat weight!!

You know what they say about men compensating for something else ;) haha...joking!

Yeah we can discuss which Cs are the most important to her and I also plan on going into jewellers where we come from prior to the trip to actually see what we can get for our money in the UK and actually physically see the rings and she can try them on etc as I've found looking at the diamond websites I can't quite grasp what the finalised ring would look like.

Thanks again for your reply x

@misssweet:

Thank you :) x

@ceamoste:

Hey,

Thanks for ur reply :)

Yeah I've considered the car thing.....thought about pretending I had to go offshore then having a car pick her up and yake her to the place.

It's an hours drive from where we live though and I'm pretty sure she'll know straight away what's happening!

I'm still strongly considering that option. Only other issue we may have is getting the ring back from Dubai without her wearing it as we may incur taxes or something!

Thanks x

@Whitanella:

Hey,

Thanks for your reply :)

Yeah I really like your idea of having friends and family around but the only problem is her parents are based in Doha, Qatar as her dad works there but are actually currently on an 18 month contract in Japan!! Complicated haha!

If I waited then I could wait til evryone's in the UK but it may take some time and if I'm honest I want this to happen so bad I don't have the patience!

I will be sure to reveal how it all happens with a pic of the ring attached also....wish me luck!! x

@pinkandsparkly:

Hey,

Thanks for replying :)

Good idea contacting the jeweller.....I have actually emailed them twicw with no reply but will try to call them to get an idea on what price range for the ring I'm after etc.

Yes....I want it very personal and have been writing down ideas.....I just don't want it to come across cheesy or cliche!!

I even had a bash at writing a poem but totally failed! I'm useless!

I have 3 months to think about this so plenty time to throw ideas about!!

Thanks again x

Hi Aberdeen,

I am replying to your post because my FI was in a similar situation about a year ago, and the help he got from random kind strangers on the internet really helped.  He really likes surprising me with random things--cupcakes (that's how I gained 20+ lbs in less than a year), cookies, charms, etc.  So FI really wanted the proposal to be a surprise, and he managed to pull it off even though we went ring shopping together.

First, let me tell you I am very particular, and the reason why we went ring shopping together is because FI reasoned that the eRing is the one piece of jewelry that I will wear for the rest of my life, and he didn't want to get something that I didn't like.  I read that you might want to go behind your GF's back to get the RING, but with there being so many styles, I think you should go for the sure bet, and get the ring together so that both of you will love it.

FI managed to surprise me with the proposal even though I am a super sleuth.  We were in Vegas, and he kept on telling me that he was going to propose at the Hoover Dam in a helicopter--not ideal since I am afraid of heights and small air crafts.  After tormenting me for a day, we drove to Lake Las Vegas (very resort like area about 45 minutes outside of Las Vegas) and had dinner.  Very romantic setting--I would have been happy with a proposal at dinner ;-) 

Meanwhile, I kept on hounding him to get the show on the road.  Unbeknownst to me, FI had booked a gondola ride, and the company had a proposal special where the gondola takes you to a pre-picked spot with a floating bottle with the custom message of "____, Will you Marry Me?"  I did not know this at the time, and I thought it very odd that there was a glowing thing in the lake, and the gondolier was playing along and was asking me, "Could that be a toxic fish?"  I was so focused on trying to get the ring from him, that I was thinking, "Lady, why are you trying to steer us to a toxic fish?"

The gondolier fished the bottle out of the lake, and asked me to read the paper on the inside, and that's when FI bent down on one knee and asked me to marry him.  I knew the proposal was coming, but in the end, I was surprised by how it happened.

Prior to the actual proposal, FI also played a trick on me in the hotel room.  As a shoe aficionado, I told FI that in a perfect world, he would propose to me Cinderella style.  So in the hotel room, FI fake proposed with shoes, but no ring.  I am not complaining--got my wedding shoes out of it!!!

Just want to share my story to let you know that you can still surprise your GF with a proposal even if you pick out the RING together, and also to echo other posters in saying that you know your GF best, and the proposal should be tailored to both of your personal tastes and styles.  My FI and I are playful and romantic, and I could not think of a better proposal than what he meticulously planned.

Hope this helps, and GOOD LUCK!!!

My first tip would be PROPOSE FIRST!!!

If she helps you choose a ring that she then can't wear or tell people about, it will make her crazy! My FI (and lots of others I know) proposed first with a "proposal ring"- this can either be costume jewellry or something inexpensive - mine is a very pretty ring with pave diamonds and 9ct white gold. This means that the proposal can be a surprise, but that she still gets to choose the ring of her dreams.

£5k, especially in Dubai, should get you a really great ring - although don't delay too much - the price of diamonds and precious metal is rocketing, and likely to increase in the light of recent announcements about US debt - people want commodities, not dollars now. Although remember that the valuations your friends received weren't sale prices - the insurance valuation for my ring, given by the same shop I bought it from, was 50% higher than the actual purchase price of the ring, as it's what it would cost to replace it, which is a little different.

How much you spend is kind of linked to what you earn - my FI paid a little over 1 month's gross salary on my ring, which was less than the budget we'd set, which was 2 month's net. If it takes you 2 months to earn £5k, then that's a decent amount for the ring, if it takes you 1 week, then you should probably be spending rather more, imho. 

Also, different things are important to different women - your FI might have her heart set on a specific brand, in which case she'd rather have a smaller Tiffany or Cartier ring, or she might have her heart set on a flawless diamond, or a coloured diamond. Or, she might fall in love with a ring that's way below budget - you're wearing jewellry, not a price tag. 

But I would def have been unimpressed if my FI had suggested we shop for a ring and then put it away until he decided to propose!!! As it was, the proposal was a surprise, and then the ring shopping was romantic and exciting.