Someone has mentioned it, but why not just take her to the store and you guys can pick the ring out together. She is going to wear this for the rest of her life, so it would be a good idea to let her pick it out. You can decide ahead of time that you can only afford a X ct. ring and that is the only ground rule. She picks out the style she likes then you do the rest. You pick the stone and decide when you are going to give it to her. It is still a surprise, because she isn't going to know when you are going to give it to her.

 

Someone also mentioned about getting a quality stone and that is the best advice. A large rock is nice, but if it looks like s*** it is just that...s***. A smaller stone that is a high quality will be much more impressive looking because of the way that they cut the stones.

 

Looking back at when I did it, it was the best thing I could have done. She picked out a ring that she absolutely loves and I'm not sure I would have picked that one. Like anything, there are sooooo many options out there.

If you think weddings are expensive, price out a divorce 

You got that right!!

Prayerfully, I will never find out about the costs of divorces on my own (but I have heard from FILs).

As for the spending money on a the actual wedding part. We planned our actual wedding on a budget and spent almost as much on the Honeymoon. The wedding day is such a whirlwind that you aren't going to remember much of it. It all just happens so fast. You only go on a honeymoon once, so make it a great one. We did 10 days in Hawaii and that was the best vacation of my life.

Brian wants tropical, but I wanted Ireland. I guess tropical won't be bad and we will go to Ireland one day (I've already been he hasn't and wants to go). He said something about the Carribean...who knows though - too far in advance for me to think about too much.