She made it clear that she didn’t want a diamond, and would rather shop with me for an engagement ring, so I proposed without one. We went down to the nearest mall and ended up with a $160 ring with a tanzanite stone. We also bought her the runner-up ring, an $80 ring with a sapphire.
Her wedding band is a gold filigree design that cost $99, and that’s all she wears these days. Mine cost waaay more, since we had it custom made to match the pattern on hers.
She definitely *did* want the engagement ring, but she definitely didn’t want me to make us poor buying it.
