Choosing your Wedding Rings

The wonderful team at James Porter & Sons Jewellers have put together a fantastic guide to help you choose and buy your wedding rings. 

Although they are small, wedding rings are a very important decision as they will be on your hand for the rest of your life. When the big day has passed, your rings and photographs will be the material items you will have to treasure for the rest of your life together so consider your options and choose your wedding jewellery wisely. This blog should help to identify the main points you will need to consider before making your purchase.

Luckily, there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to buying your wedding rings, but before taking the plunge here are some points to consider - 

• Decide your budget
• Choose your style
• Which metal will best suit your needs?
• Do you need a shaped band?
• How far in advance should we order our rings?
• Decide your budget - We know weddings can be expensive affairs, and when looking online your ring options can seem endless and expensive – but it does not have to be! There are options everywhere to give the same looks for smaller budgets. For example, a classic platinum wedding ring can range anywhere from £250 - £700. A lot of this is down to the profile of the ring as they can be made in a D-shape -  where it is flat inside and lightly curved outside, meaning it looks the part but is lighter, and therefore cheaper. 

Choose your style - Choosing your style from the comfort of your home has never been easier. Pinterest and Instagram are huge when it comes to idea for weddings, creating mood boards and generally grouping all your ideas in one place.  Do not be afraid to show your jeweller anything you have seen online that you like the idea of. Often, they will be able to show you similar ideas that you can try on. Whether you are into loads of sparkle, or something dainty or vintage inspired, there are so many options out there now that your wedding ring does not have to be a traditional band. 

Which metal do I choose? - The first thing we always ask when we have couples in store is which metal they are looking for. This is important going forward, especially when matching to an engagement ring. Some metals are softer than others, so if the engagement ring is platinum, we would advise platinum for the wedding ring. When we match the metals, it means that they will wear nicely together over the years to come. 

Each metal has its own pro’s and cons, but at the end of the day it is your decision on what you want to wear. 

Yellow gold – 
Pro- it is naturally yellow all through and so requires little to no maintenance. 
Con – seen as more traditional so is not to everyones taste. 

Rose gold –
Pro – looks great on most skin tones and requires little to no maintenance. 
Con – has a high copper content so may cause reactions. 

White gold – 
Pro- very bright lustre when the plating is fresh
Con – does require replating from time to time and can look yellow when worn.

Platinum – 
Pro – the purest of all the precious metals, highly durable and hypoallergenic.
Con – is more expensive than the gold options. 

Do you need a shaped wedding ring?

Your rings will sit side by side for a lifetime, so it is important to consider the profile of your engagement ring. Does the setting stick out from the base of the band? If it does you will probably need to get a shaped wedding ring. There are loads of options out there now and a lot of the twist or fancy shape rings will possibly even come with a wedding ring option now.

How far in advance should we order our rings?

When ordering in wedding rings it can take anything from 3 weeks or 12 weeks for the rings to arrive in store. The ordering time will differ from style to style and it is usually diamond or bespoke rings that will take the longest, with traditional bands being the quickest to come in so make sure you leave plenty of time before the big day to get your orders placed!

We hope that this short guide has helped you decide on your wedding rings. The team at James Porter & Sons are so helpful and can offer online appointments where you can discuss your requirements and look at their ring selection.