6 Inspiring Stories That Prove Priceless Engagement Rings Don’t Need to Be Pricey

When Sadie and her now-husband got engaged, they decided to look beyond the traditional options.

Their favorite ring? Blush and Bar’s Tianna Sparkle Ring in rose gold. It’s the perfect solitaire setting with a minimalist, classic style that looks great with anything.

Our best wishes to the happy couple!

For their wedding, nothing was more precious than a band made from a single penny.

User mlward writes that the penny ring had been in the family for generations. Her great-grandfather first made the ring as a gift to his daughter, mlward’s grandmother.

 “Then she passed it down to my mom, and then it was passed on to me right before my wedding,” she explained. “I love it so much.”

Family heirlooms don’t have to be pricey to be priceless!

When Alicia’s husband proposed, he offered her a simple $12 ring.

But there was a surprise behind the ring itself.

“My then-boyfriend asked for my dad’s blessing on Christmas Day 2011,” explains Alicia. “Later that day, knowing a proposal was imminent, Mum gave us ‘the rock’—a beautiful 1.55-carat diamond ring.”

It had been passed through the family from her grandparents to her mother, and now to her.

“After he proposed, I asked why he didn’t use ‘the rock,’ and I was told he wasn’t going to trust anybody with it—the [$12] ring was served on top of a chocolate souffle!”

When Elly’s then-boyfriend told her he would propose, she chose an affordable ring while deciding on the final piece.

But as the wedding date drew nearer, she says, “I still didn’t know what I wanted, so I chose some simple bands to go with it. As all my jewellery is mixed silver and gold, I absolutely love this set… and it cost $237 altogether!”

When she compared it to a more expensive ring, she knew she had made the right choice. “I tried on a similar-looking ring that was $6000,” she writes, “and actually preferred this one, which was $99,” she says.

“I sent pics of both to my mum and sister, and they had no idea which one was the price of an overseas trip and which one was the price of a night out.”

The ring she bought has a lifetime guarantee, so she’s not worried even if something happens.

“At this point,” says Elly, “I’m really glad he didn’t drop thousands on a more expensive ring.”

Joanne was nervous about meeting women, so she set a deadline for herself: save $250 a month for seven years, and find someone worth the $20,000 ring she’d buy.

Seven years later, she found the woman of her dreams. She bought the five-figure ring with the money she had saved.

But to her surprise, her girlfriend Dawn didn’t say yes. She walked out.

She later explained she never expected to get married, didn’t like the diamond industry, and didn’t want to spend so much on a ring. The unexpected proposal surprised her.

But there’s a happy ending! Joanne returned the ring, and they bought matching $50 titanium bands instead for the wedding—then took a five-week once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world.