We Spent More on My Engagement Ring Than We Did on Our Wedding. Here’s Why

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While a wedding is a one-day event, I hope to hand my ring down to my children or grandchildren one day. Find out more about our decision-making process. 

The average cost of a wedding was around $30,000 in 2022, according to The Knot. Although my husband and I got married over a decade ago, the average cost wasn’t much lower at the time, coming in at around $28,400. My husband and I spent nowhere near that amount, though, instead keeping our total costs to about $5,000 out of our bank accounts.

While we did not give our credit cards a workout and splurge on the big day at all, we did spend quite a bit of money on one purchase related to our marriage: my engagement ring. In fact, we actually spent more on the ring than we did on the wedding. Here’s why we made that choice.

An engagement ring was really important to me

It may sound silly to some people, but an engagement ring is something that’s always been important to me. I don’t wear a lot of other jewelry but I fell in love with a specific engagement ring I saw in a magazine ad when I was around 12 years old. I always said that when I got married, that was the ring I wanted my future husband to buy me.

I got married in my late 20s. I still remembered that ring, and the jeweler still sold it, so I told the story to my now-husband who wanted to make it happen for me. It just so happened the ring was expensive, but it was well worth it for something I had loved for more than a decade.

Unlike a wedding, which is a one-time event, I knew every time I looked down at that ring, it would make me smile. And, more than a decade later, it still does.

I wanted something I could hand down to my kids

Unlike a wedding, an engagement ring is something that is tangible — and something I can hand down to my own kids or grandkids someday. This was important to me too, since I had my mother and grandmother’s engagement rings made into a special piece of jewelry I wear on my right hand.

Since both my mom and grandma have passed away, looking at their rings every day helps me remember them and think fondly of them. I wanted a beautiful ring my own son or daughter or grandkids could have in the future that they would want to wear and think of me.

We were able to put together a great wedding on a budget

Finally, the last big reason why we spent more on my ring than on the wedding is because we were able to put together a really fun event with all our friends and family on a limited budget. We didn’t have to sacrifice the things that matter most about a wedding — time with loved ones and the ability to share our commitment in front of others — just because we didn’t spend a fortune.

Our decision to spend more on the ring than the wedding isn’t one that’s going to be made by everyone. But ultimately, the thing to remember is you have to decide what’s most important to you personally. Just because social media may suggest that a big, lavish wedding is what matters, your money should go to what will make you the happiest. That’s true when you get married — and for other areas of your life.

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