For those of you who are looking for ways to save money on your wedding, this might be a good first step. Engagement rings are expensive. Add in the cost of your wedding rings, and you’ve got a budget-killing number. But there are ways to save money on your wedding rings.

Check out my four tips for how to save money on your wedding rings. And don’t forget to share with all of your engaged friends or pin on Pinterest for future reference.

This post was inspired by Hannah over at Eat, Drink, and Save Money. She recently posted 4 ways to save on an engagement ring, and I realized I had some tips to add to the conversation. Be sure to check out her tips.

Saving Money on your Wedding Rings | Budget Wedding | DIY Wedding

 

1. Use family heirlooms as your wedding rings.

Ask the women on both sides of the family if there are any family rings that they would consider passing down as a wedding gift. Only ask women that you are very close to as it would be rude to go up to a family member you barely talk to and ask for them to give you an expensive piece of jewelry. Make sure the person you are asking knows that they do not have to say yes – you are just seeing what options there are. We only asked our mothers and our grandmothers, all of whom we were very close to and knew wouldn’t be offended. My husband’s grandmother ended up having multiple rings to choose from. We chose a beautiful 18 kt white gold 1/3 carat Jabel solitaire that is absolutely beautiful. Don’t forget that an old earring or pendant can be turned into a ring by the right jeweler. Settings can be changed, stones can be changed. The options are limitless. If you find something you like, take it to a jeweler and see what they can do. And don’t forget to make sure that the woman who gave you the piece is okay with it being altered if you would like to do so. Alternatively, you may find the perfect ring at a pawn shop or jeweler that has a used jewelry section.

2. Find scrap jewelry to trade in towards your rings.

If you’re lucky, some of the women you ask may have scrap jewelry they will offer instead. For instance, my grandma had a thin white gold chain that was beyond repair. She gave it to me and said I could trade it in to use towards my ring. Similarly, my mother had a ring (that I always loved as a child) that was yellow gold and a little too nineties to actually wear. We ended up trading the gold in towards our rings and saving the diamonds. There are nine of them, and our goal is to have them set into our rings on a special anniversary (6 in mine, 3 in his). I also ended up having a couple of thick silver chains from previous boyfriends that went in the scrap pile.

3. Shop around for the right jeweler.

We spent an entire Saturday driving all over the St. Louis area and visiting jewelers. We went to family owned jewelers, outlet jewelers, big box jewelers, all of them (that had positive reviews online). At each location, we asked how much they would give us in trade-in value for our scrap jewelry. Then, we looked around at the rings. Each store had the same boring selection, so then I would ask if they had any more unique rings available for purchase. Each store brought me the same thick catalog that they order from. Seriously… every single store had the same exact catalog. So, at each store, I explained what I wanted and looked at the pages the clerk suggested. I wrote down a few style numbers on the same sheet of paper as the trade-in value along with the corresponding costs from that jeweler. Then, we did the same thing at all of the other jewelers. At the end of the day, we knew who would give us the highest trade-in value and the lowest price. We also realized that I had written down one style at every single jeweler. And so… we chose my ring.

4. Make sacrifices to save money.

My husband wasn’t particularly opinionated about the metal his ring used, so I ended up finding a great deal online for a plain wedding band (what he wanted) in a non-precious metal. It looks the same and is more durable. A lot of women are fine with using CZ in the beginning and upgrading to diamonds later or having a starter ring and then upgrading when money is more abundant. There aren’t very many places that I was willing to spend a lot of money, but my wedding ring was one of them. Ultimately, I am a sentimental sap, and I wanted the ring I wore on our wedding day to be the same exact ring I died wearing. So, we had to spend a little more money upfront. But if you are willing to make some sacrifices now, by all means, do it! You can save a lot of money by switching to smaller stones, subbing CZ for diamonds, or using a less precious metal.

 

Did you read Hannah’s 4 ways to save on an engagement ring? If not, head over there now for more great ideas.

What tips do you have for how to save money on wedding rings? Share in the comments below.

 

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