Turtle Love Committee is about emphasizing thoughtfulness and sweetness in our relationships. Wedding and engagement rings are important social signifiers, but the message should be about commitment, not about wealth.
The notion that an engagement ring should cost two months’ salary confuses the issue. (Check out this link from adiamondisforever.com for explicit details.) Yes, if you spend a lot of money on a gift for someone, that demonstrates commitment. But there is the risk that the financial commitment involved in the “traditional” diamond engagement ring will obscure the more important emotional commitment that an engagement ring is intended to represent.
Of course, plenty of people manage to have very happy marriages and diamond engagement rings. But spending less money on an engagement ring is an intentional choice to focus attention exclusively on the emotional commitment and not on the financial commitment.
Besides, imagine all the awesome things one could do with an extra two months’ salary!
P.S. If almost 83% of brides receive a diamond engagement ring, that means that more than 17% don’t. Here’s to the road less traveled!
Hi, I found your site on offbeatbride.com
I am in the very beginning stages of starting a wedding planning business, and my favorite part of locating vendors is picking ut what I want for my wedding. I’ve been getting so frusterated with rings and typical diamond/white gold/platinum boring rings. I told my live in boyfriend I don’t want a diamond ring because it’s too blah.
Here’s my question… you have you categories of color… where’s the orange?!? I’ve been looking for a unique orange ring (it’s my favorite color and i can be a little obsessed about it) and can’t find one anywhere.
Hi Tara,
Check out the Webster ring in Citrine – sounds like a great fit for you. The stone is bold orange, and remarkably brilliant. It’s beautiful.
(The yellow and orange rings are grouped together under “yellow” on the website.)
- Helpful Turtle
I just recently purchased a natural sapphire (non-heat treated, like over 80% of them are) so it is still in its natural color state, in this case a beautiful golden-orange. It certainly costs a bit more than citrine, but the sappire posseses this silky glow that just eminates from the golden-orange gemstone, espescialy a treat in lower-light situations. All in all this ring was no more than a weeks salary which is nice, since we are on a post-graduation finacial crunch!