I have lots of older women friends, and not many my own age. No complaints in that department. It's probably because I am the oldest in my family and always wanted an older sister of my own! One of these wise, older friends gave me a piece of wisdom that I think bears repeating if you are looking to get engaged or are engaged to be married: You don't need a (engagement) ring but you do need a date.
Setting a wedding date really solidifies that you are both making plans for the future. It gives you your deadline, your end-date, and it tells the world that you plan to go in the direction of this goal. And while there is a percentage of people who have a date and end up calling the wedding off, you tend to hear more about people with a ring and no date, whom never end up sealing the deal than vice-versa, right?
When we got engaged in June, my fiance couldn't afford an engagement ring, or at least, the ring I hoped to have. So, we waited until the end of the year when we knew he'd get his holiday bonus from work and could make that happen. Delayed gratification. In the meantime, we each wore inexpensive but simple silver bands, engraved on the inside with our aliases for each other until that time. And that worked out very well for us. It meant we both had an "engagement" ring of sorts to wear for a period of time (my fiance continued to wear his silver band up until our wedding day) which completely summed up the team partnership we had regarding our relationship from the start.
Waiting until the end of the year when he got his bonus check meant another important thing for us: my ring was then completely paid for (including my wedding band which we tucked away for the future ceremony) once we placed the order for it. And how nice was it for me to know that I was wearing a beautiful engagement ring that was already paid for?
Yep, priceless.
Setting a wedding date really solidifies that you are both making plans for the future. It gives you your deadline, your end-date, and it tells the world that you plan to go in the direction of this goal. And while there is a percentage of people who have a date and end up calling the wedding off, you tend to hear more about people with a ring and no date, whom never end up sealing the deal than vice-versa, right?
When we got engaged in June, my fiance couldn't afford an engagement ring, or at least, the ring I hoped to have. So, we waited until the end of the year when we knew he'd get his holiday bonus from work and could make that happen. Delayed gratification. In the meantime, we each wore inexpensive but simple silver bands, engraved on the inside with our aliases for each other until that time. And that worked out very well for us. It meant we both had an "engagement" ring of sorts to wear for a period of time (my fiance continued to wear his silver band up until our wedding day) which completely summed up the team partnership we had regarding our relationship from the start.
Waiting until the end of the year when he got his bonus check meant another important thing for us: my ring was then completely paid for (including my wedding band which we tucked away for the future ceremony) once we placed the order for it. And how nice was it for me to know that I was wearing a beautiful engagement ring that was already paid for?
Yep, priceless.
