# A Trouble with Money Caused by Searching for Engagement and Wedding Rings Simultaneously
I received a consultation from a friend regarding the unfortunate financial issues that arose from searching for engagement and wedding rings at the same time.
2022.10.24 published
【Real】Hearing Stories of Ring Searching Failures
Recently, I heard a certain story from a friend who recently purchased rings after deciding to get married.
The content is quite similar to my friend's failure story...
It's a very realistic tale intertwined with financial matters, and I thought it might resonate with some of you, so I am writing this article after confirming whether it would be alright to feature it on Marry.
This friend decided to get married after discussing it together about a year after moving in together. (It wasn't a surprise proposal from the man.)
They decided to purchase wedding rings for each other,
And regarding engagement rings, she thought, "Maybe I don't need one..." but he said, "If there's one you want, I'd like to give it to you, so let me know!" So she gratefully got to choose one herself and ended up having it bought for her.
From there, they started searching for engagement rings and wedding rings simultaneously.
However, this simultaneous process seems to have not worked out well in the end.
The Mindset of “Two Rings for XX Yen”
Rings are definitely not a cheap purchase.
When it comes to buying two at the same time,
"The desired engagement ring is 350,000 yen, and the desired wedding ring is 220,000 yen. Combined, that's over 570,000 yen plus 10% consumption tax, exceeding 620,000 yen...!?"
With such a large sum, my friend felt dizzy and hesitated, deeply troubled about whether it was right to make him pay that much in one go.
Additionally, he initially said, "Choose anything you want!" but as they visited different jewelry stores and gradually grasped the price range, he seemed to mutter something to himself along the lines of, "Buying two means I'll spend a lot of money this month—hope my credit card limit is okay..." (likely without any ulterior motive). This intensified my friend's worries about the prices.
In general, when there's a proposal involved, it's common to buy the engagement ring first and the wedding ring a few months later, so even though the total expenditure is the same, this way it can somewhat disperse the spending.
However, by purchasing them simultaneously, it led both of them to have a somewhat gloomy mindset of "two rings for XX yen (a significant amount!)", which my friend mentioned wasn't good...
In the End, They Chose Moderately Priced Items
In the end, that friend checked various brands thoroughly and settled on ones they liked from within a moderate price range.
She mentioned that the total for the engagement and wedding rings was kept in the late 300,000 yen range!
Specifically, for the wedding ring, she chose a half eternity ring, and since eternity styles tend to have a similar feel across different brands, she said they bought it from the most affordable domestic brand!
(Thus, it seems the engagement ring and both wedding rings ended up being from three different brands.)
My friend is the type to be very considerate, so as a friend, I thought she could have been more selfish and asked for what she really wanted regarding the rings! However, there are circumstances that only the two of them understand.
I thought it was great that she was being considerate of his finances!
Advantages and Disadvantages of Simultaneous Purchase
There are, of course, good points to searching for engagement and wedding rings at the same time.
- You can decide on both in one visit, making it smooth and efficient.
- You can try on various combinations with stacking.
- Some stores offer discounts or perks for simultaneous purchases.
And so on.
However, since one payment becomes quite large, it increases his burden, leading to situations where they cannot choose designs they want due to being too concerned about money... I learned that this can happen.
Personally, I also wish that men would refrain from making statements like, "This ring is going to cost a lot..." or "The credit card payment is going to be crazy" in front of their girlfriends.
This is especially true for girlfriends like my friend, who tend to be considerate and reserved.
And that's the story I heard from my friend about simultaneously purchasing engagement and wedding rings.