Recession Hits New York Brides

I think we planned our entire wedding for around $1500, which included my dress, shoes, etc. My ring was $1000, but we didn't shop around much- I saw it, I fell in love, I wanted. It's a heart shaped 1/2 carat diamond solitaire.

It's insane what some people demand for a wedding. We knew one couple who spent close to $25,000 on their wedding here in Michigan, which is just insane. I can't see going into debt for a 3 hour party. Ain't gonna happen, and I'll darn well make sure my kids know I won't do it for theirs, either.

i would freaking backhand my hubby if he even tried to give me cubic zirconia for my engagement ring! lol! the symbolism of it being a DIAMOND is that it's supposed to last forever!

that being said, though... i can't see spending tons and tons for the ring so that it's obscene

i've been married for almost 17 years and I don't even have a ring.....
I agree people can buy and buy modestly....I wouldn't want a huge ring, simply because my hands are so small.

Mooch

My husband couldn't afford a big expensive ring when we got engaged and honestly I didn't care. Marriage isn't about "stuff" like diamonds and expensive wedding gowns etc. I think women want the expensive engagement ring more for showing it off to their friends than anything else. I can think of at least 100 other things I would do with that kind of money. I don't wear a wedding ring right now because my ring finger aches and swells. I am getting my grandmother's wedding ring and I will wear it when I can or put it on a necklace and wear it.

My hubby got me the expensive ring from Tiffany's and when I found the appraisal certificate I almost had a heart attack when I saw the cost. I would have been happy with a much cheaper ring, all I want is him. I woulnd't have minded CZ.

I really don't want any new diamonds. I forgot to mention that once I learned about what goes on in places in Africa where many of the diamonds come from. "Unfortunately, the story of how the stones get from the ground to the case is a less romantic one. Many of the diamonds on the market today come from Africa, where a large percentage of the workers toil in subhuman conditions in order to locate those elusive gems. Although diamonds are a multi-billion dollar industry for Africa, many of those workers dwell in a deep poverty from which they will never escape." a quote from an article on Helium

Heather!

Good for you for getting ideas for the kids weddings now. My parents.... well let's just say their divorce did not exactly create a united front. Anyway, to avoid family politics, I made sure to go as inexpensively as possible, while still getting what I wanted. My father paid for the meal, and we thought that was really nice of him. Mom and step-dad paid for the rest of it, and that was great too. It wasn't as expensive as my sister's wedding, and Mom tried to nag me for a bit more from the other side, but I told her it wasn't a bloody competition, and if I wanted a more expensive wedding, I could totally go Bridezilla on everyone and get one, if I really wanted it, but I wasn't going to do that. Neither did my sister....just that in 1997 when she got married, we weren't in a bloody recession. LOL My wedding came out at about 2,000 I think...maybe a bit more, not sure but close enough), and as you can see from the pictures on Gather (I uploaded an album of all my wedding pics) itt was a GREAT PARTY, right where we wanted it. Things coudln't have been better, it was great!!

My engagement ring was from bidz, and our wedding bands were Mormor and Morfar's, and they'd been married almost 63 years. We love our wedding bands.

As for my dress, I MADE SURE to get a dress made that I could WEAR AGAIN! I just could not justify paying money for some big white thing I was not going to wear again.

AMEN, Jessica. That's why we went small and inexpensive. I wanted real diamonds (or real gems of any kind, I don't like fake stuff!!!) so we decided small and inexpensive was better than big and fake.

Wow, Mooch! Then again, there are plenty of religions that don't believe in jewellery. None of my old-order Mennonite relatives have rings (of any kind) either.

Well said, Ann Marie. BTW, I wear my wedding band on my middle finger because my engagement ring is a different type of gold, and because the wedding ring is so wide.

Well said, Rikki. At first Walker felt bad because he wanted to buy me a "bigger one" I told him that I'd only accept a small and geniune one. Sounds like you and Hubby really love eachother, and were both thinking.

We never had the money to buy a ring, it just became not so important over the years....Its not a big deal, I don't not wear jewelry because of religion, I gave it up long ago because a) I never go anywhere. b) it always got ruined or broken, or taken by one of my kids.
Mooch

Mooch. It's practical for some, and not for others. Jewellery has always been big in my family. I never take off my:

Wedding ring
Engagement ring
Heart neckllace from Walker
gold ring that my mother gave me
Garnet ring I bought
Antique bracelet from my great grandmother
Timex Watch

I don't wear it for show, rather it's almost like a wearable family record, of sorts.

When my husband and I got married, we had just purchased our house, so we didn't have money for rings. My parents didn't have money either, but they had an extra set of rings, and so gave us a set of theirs for our wedding present. After we were married for 15 years, I was able to go pick out what I wanted, but it was under a $1000. I just can't see spending a huge amount of money on the ring.

Never care for a big or expensive w. ring I love mine for what it means not for what is worth. I would have feel very bad if he did buy me a cubic zirconia though.
Anna del C.
Author of "The Silent Warrior Trilogy"
http://www.annadelc.com

My ring came from a discount store, and that's because I was right with my hubby when he bought it. He had 3 kids, and I did not want alot of money spent on a ring. I was already wrapped in his love, I did not need something expensive wrapped around my finger.

I can't see spending $65k on a ring. Who has that kind of money? Interesting article, Leah.

Our wedding rings were both cheap. We knew we had more important things to spend the money on. We had a small wedding, and my parents paid for a lot of it, but they didn't really have to spend much. We had family do just as much as we possibly could. My brother married us in his church (they didn't charge us anything), my aunt did the decorations and music, my mom made my dress, etc. The only thing that I paid for was the tuxes for my husband, groomsmen, and my dad. And of course the ring for my husband.

We had a cross country move to take care of shortly after we got married, and since we were both young, neither of us had everything we needed for a house (we had both been on our own, but always had roommates), so we had all those expenses, too. The rings were the last things we wanted to drop thousands on.

Let's see, my engagement ring was.... FREE! My husband to be was broke and couldn't afford a ring. He didn't want to ask me to marry him because he couldn't afford a ring. (which was no big deal to me). He prayed about it and the next day a friend of ours walked up to him, handed him a ring and said "God told me to give this to you for Renita." and walked away! he did spend a little to have rubies taken out and replaced with diamonds, but they're small and not too expensive. And guess what? I love this ring more than any other possession I own!

I have no diamond ring, no wedding ring....and we've been married almost 31 years! I never cared about jewelry, had no desire for a diamond in the least OR for a wedding ring of any sort.........it's NOT the rings that matter, anyhow! I do not, nor will not, wear any jewelry whatsoever.....not even a watch!!!!

Wow, Renita, that is absolutely positively wonderful!!!!! I'm sure that ring is very, very precious to you!!!!! What an incredible post!

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It has hit everywhere