Picking out a ring-- together or a surprise?

[lucybelle]

Started this from the Engagement Rings thread. Would you rather have a surprise engagement? (was your engagement a surprise?) Or pick out the ring together? (did you pick out your ring together?) Do you think your SO would know what you wanted? (did your SO get you what you wanted?)

For my SO, I have no idea if he'd be any good at picking out jewelry. He hasn't bought me any I've dropped hints about not liking diamonds or anything big in general. And all my jewelry already is yellow gold, so I assume he'd think to get yellow. And he knows I like funky, original stuff so hopefully he wouldn't get anything "ordinary". But who knows if he's paying attention!

[JennyRW]

Well I don't know, I love surprises but that is a lot of money to not be 100% sure you gonna like it. My bf gave me jewelry for my two birthdays together and I love his choices. He knows I prefer white gold and I love diamonds hehehe, but how is he going to know which is my finger size? I don't know that! And I like the idea of the surprise but I wouldn't like to receive a ring that I canno use because is too big or too small so we have to send it to be fix :s so I don't know what I prefer hehehe
And also I know that is not going to happen any time soon so I don't have to worry about it yet

[Trethsparr]

Ours ended up kinda half and half.

My SO scoped out a few jewelry stores on his own and picked out some styles he liked, then he brought me in to get my opinion on them. Honestly, I wasn't too concerned about it because he's always demonstrated having great taste in jewelry, but, as mentioned before, it's a pretty big expense, so he preferred to get it right the first time.

[Dziubka]

I've already written in the other thread.
I want a surprise proposal, somewhere infinitely romantic with him getting down on his knees and all that. I mean obviously it won't be a total surprise, because we already know roughly when we want to get married and we want to get engaged ~1,5yrs before the wedding. So it's not like I won't be expecting it at all, but the actual proposal should still be a surprise.

My boyfriend gave me a really beautiful and very "me" ring for our first anniversary, when our friends asked if it was an engagement ring he said it was a "pre-engagement" ring but it's basically just a wonderful piece of jewelry to remind me of him. Anyway, like I said it's perfect, something I would totally have picked out myself. If that is any indicator I have nothing to be worried about with the engagement ring. He has since also given me earrings and a bracelet, all of which I love and are very much my style.

So yes. I do drop hints (no yellow gold! I love hearts and colours, especially pink and green!) every once in a while and he basically remembers almost everything I say (it's creepy sometimes, really!).I'm pretty sure that he's going to pick out something I like. He can also always ask his mum for advice. We don't really have the same style, but she has a pretty good sense of what I (don't) like, so it's all good.

[snow_girl]

I want my engagement to be a surprise. I don't understand people that have an exact engagement day or month picked out I want to be in shock when it happens. I think he has an idea of what my jewelry tastes are. I know whatever ring he picks will have had lots of thought put into and I will love it.

[mllebamako]

Because we didn't love any of the rings in Mali, we picked one out together online. I didn't really care about it being a surprise anyway. And I knew when he would propose to me. But none of that mattered anyway, because it was the words he said that really made it special.

[nicole]

For us, it started out him asking me about them. I said I'd send him a few pictures, then he could go and buy the ring when he was ready- we started talking about this long before we were both ready to be engaged. We had a huge fight after I showed him what I liked because he flipped out at my choices, so we ended up working on it together we were pretty set on one ring. Then I found one I absolutely loved but it didn't have sapphires. So he and the jeweler had to make a whole new ring from scratch as the diamond one was copyrighted. The proposal itself was a surprise though, I knew it was coming but didn't know where or when, it, and the ring, were perfect

It was a good thing we did work on it together, because we had a discussion just the other week, and if I hadn't of helped and showed him what I wanted, he was going to get me something I do not like at all! Solitaire rings are not me at all, though as it seems to me the norm, of course he would have gone for that. He would have got the white gold bit right, but that's about it!

[kiara_silver]

My SO's already bought me a ring for our anniversary, and then a necklace for my birthday, and both were so beautiful. So I trust his taste lol. He knows I like a more simple look nothing to big or flashy. And prefer the white or silver look. Plus lol when he was here we actually went into a jewellers and measured my ring finger lol So yeah I choose to be surprised. He's said he wants to marry me, but when he does ask me I want to be surprised, out of the blue, no idea that it was today proposal lol

[srigg009]

My engagement ring will be kind of both, a surprise and picked out at the same time. I went online and showed my SO what kind of rings I liked and gave him some guidelines (like for instance: preferably gold, nothing big, and nothing too expensive). He seems to know exactly what kind of rings I like now and will even show me rings from time to time that are right on point. But I do want the final ring pick to be a surprise, so I can't wait to see what he comes up with when that time does come!

[garnet]

I've been married twice, and neither man had a CLUE what I would like. They both basically had the polar opposite of what I would hope for.

My first husband proposed with a little braided friendship ring from an arcade. That I liked. It took years, finally I got to get an engagement ring. Like years into the marriage, but it didn't matter.

This time, we went on ebay, got one heck of a deal, and I got exactly what I hoped for. He wanted me to have a ring I'd love. And I do. If my pregnancy swelling EVER goes down I will wear it again. -_-

[WakeUpSusie]

My engagement was surprise, although I had told him before what style of ring I liked about a year and a half before we actually got engaged. I figured if I have to wear it for the rest of my life, I better love it!

Surprise is the way to go, seriously.

[Kerry]

I love the idea of my bf going out ring shopping with maybe my Mom because she knows my taste. I also want him to talk to my parents 1st too before proposing. we've already discussed getting married so getting engaged is the next step. I've been waiting a long time to get married so I'm ok with things being more traditional! also, I am saving up to buy a house so if my bf didn't propose with a big diamond ring that would be ok.

[rsvpnj]

My BF and I have been talking about engagement rings for a while... One time he had mentioned to me that he was thinking of designing the ring. I am very particular about the jewelry that I wear and I made it clear that I was not happy with that idea. We talked about it and he said he completely understood since he doesn't even like when people pick out his birthdays presents or clothing gifts. So he completely understood why I wouldn't want him to pick out a piece of jewelry that I would wear for the rest of my life. He asks me to send him photos of what I like. Last month for our anniversary, we went to the LA diamond district and spent the day looking at engagement rings. I picked out on that we both fell in love with but I don't know if that's the one he will buy. So I think after everything, I'm kind of back at square one.

But either way... we both decided that the proposal would be a complete surprise... the where, when, and how!!!

[hxcbreakdance]

I would rather be surprised for sure, I always dream of being surprised and not knowing when the engagement is coming kinda thing. My SO has never failed me when he has surprised me with jewelry so I think he will do a great job picking something out for me on his own. Plus we have talked about it a few times before and I've given him ideas about what I like.

[Madge]

I knew the proposal was going to happen when I was over there with him..I didn't realize it would be in front of his family on his graduation day! I have a picture of it but I don't know how to upload it..anyone know how?

Anyway, I told him about 3/4 months before the proposal what kind of ring I like but ultimately it was him that picked it out. It is literally what I wanted.