Engagement ring for proposing abroad

[AustinPowers]

Personally think  the whole engagement thing is  nonsense.

I mean , most couples live together now and  maybe have kids together, so it's hardly a  surprise for the woman if he asks.  .... Just set a date and get on with it

For engagements  that happen quickly or  out of the blue , some eejit is down on one  knee and a woman is  caught by surprise, making a lifetime decision in a split second.  Marriage kids  etc might never have come up yet, or what each other wants in life,  or where they'd want to live etc .

Sit down together if you're serious about each other and  thrash it out sensibly . You might find you're not right for each  other or want different things . But better knowing early before a wedding/kids/mortgage etc..... Romance is bullshit at the end of the day .  Life and marriage is not about  big romantic gestures , spending stupid amounts of  money or throwing a mental wedding

Anyway that's my  penny's worth (sorry OP).... must check to see if  I have any messages on my match.com account ..............

[armaghniac]

Proposed abroad myself. All a surprise. Had the ring in my pocket and had to empty them at the security gate! The guy spotted it and disappeared it from her eyes thankfully. So if it's a surprise think about that!

I hope you also dropped a fiver for the security man!

[PMG1]

Times have changed! I had just finished my A-Levels and ready to start Queens, decided to propose as it was best way for her to trust me going through the university years (we had been going out since we were 14). Tolld my mate first and me and him headed to the jewellers, I had £20 in my pocket but best ring I seen was £25 so my mate lent me £5. Proposed that night, she was over the moon with the ring. Still had it 15 years later before eventually a stone fell out and we bought a new one. Still with me 31 years later. Honestly if yous are right for each other the price of the ring doesn't matter, if it looks good and she wants to get engaged then that's all you need

[Turf]

Times have changed! I had just finished my A-Levels and ready to start Queens, decided to propose as it was best way for her to trust me going through the university years (we had been going out since we were 14). Tolld my mate first and me and him headed to the jewellers, I had £20 in my pocket but best ring I seen was £25 so my mate lent me £5. Proposed that night, she was over the moon with the ring. Still had it 15 years later before eventually a stone fell out and we bought a new one. Still with me 31 years later. Honestly if yous are right for each other the price of the ring doesn't matter, if it looks good and she wants to get engaged then that's all you need

This is the best story yet.
Lads spending 2 or 3 times salary's need to cop on, same with lads saying you need to buy big.
If she's right for you and wants to spend forever with you she won't care what size the ring is or how much it cost. It's a big red flag imo if she gets huffy over the size or cost of something like that.

[BrotherMore6592]

Thanks very much all, great stories

[Milltown Row2]

Took her to Dublin and let her pick a ring, whatever one she wanted and then I haggled with the guy and he took a fair bit off it as I was paying him sterling rather than punts!!

Lost one of the diamonds years later and feeling flush couple of years ago I took it to the local jewelers and had it assessed for new diamond and fixing it, the cost was 3 times what I paid to replace one of the diamonds and have it attached !

Feck that, she's not into that stuff anyways, she'd rather spend the money on the house

[Brick Tamlin]

Yet again the GAA Board lets ye down a bagful.

Its clear from reading this (and other threads) that women are nothing but high maintenance, shallow doses, and men have turned into a crowd of oul jinnies.

If a woman is wrapped up that much in image and immaterial oul shite then they're not worth the hassle to be fair. And dont give me the bullshit about eternal symbol of your love, and putting a price on how you feel etc. Nonsense.

Some of ye want to have a word with yourselves, worrying what the woman's friends will think of their rings. If my wife's friend chastised me over ring selection i wouldnt be long telling her where to go.

[Jeepers Creepers]

The night i proposed to the Mrs is the night I nearly forgot to. Started my first prop job so had a few bob, bought the ring with one months salary ( 25 yrs ago). Arranged to meet her at a restaurant in town after work on a Friday night, mate out of work said c'mon for a few pints for abit of dutch courage. Anyway bar in town launching a promotion for these pints of something called Stella artois or something. 4 pints later..blootered 'what the fk is this stuff..rocketfuel?? Checked the phone 300 missed calls 'where the fk are you. Lets say I broke the land speed record from the bar to restaurant.
The hour and half of radio silence was worth it in the end.

[Taylor]

Yet again the GAA Board lets ye down a bagful.

Its clear from reading this (and other threads) that women are nothing but high maintenance, shallow doses, and men have turned into a crowd of oul jinnies.

If a woman is wrapped up that much in image and immaterial oul shite then they're not worth the hassle to be fair. And dont give me the bullshit about eternal symbol of your love, and putting a price on how you feel etc. Nonsense.

Some of ye want to have a word with yourselves, worrying what the woman's friends will think of their rings. If my wife's friend chastised me over ring selection i wouldnt be long telling her where to go.

Brick is walking a fine line to being cancelled

[armaghniac]

Some of ye want to have a word with yourselves, worrying what the woman's friends will think of their rings. If my wife's friend chastised me over ring selection i wouldnt be long telling her where to go.

Tell them that the diamond was not the thing whose size convinced your wife, it was your heart.

[gallsman]

Some lads really defensive and overthinking things here. Probably the inferiority complexes at play.

[trailer]

And some of ye's give out about Cavan people.

[RedHand88]

And some of ye's give out about Cavan people.

In Cavan they use onion rings.

[bennydorano]

Glad I married a very practical country girl.

Think I started a thread on weddings a few years ago, I didn't have anything too positive to say IIRC. The one-upmanship in young uns getting married is still escalating.

[haranguerer]

I did quite a bit of research when I was doing it - doesn't take long to read up on 4 c's and some good advice out there on what to prioritise. I found this article v good https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2002/feb/13/shopping.familyandrelationships1#:~:text=The%20Four%20Cs,%2C%20colour%2C%20clarity%20and%20carat.

I also found that online retailers were much much better value than local jewellers. I used jamesallen.com. You select a diamond, then a fitting. I decided what I wanted in terms of a diamond and checked against local jewellers who seemed to only have worse stones, for significantly higher prices, certainly within the bracket I was looking.

V happy with whole process, and my wife loves it.