How much should (and did) you spend on the engagement ring?

Whether you’re buying the engagement ring or being engaged to, there’s a lot of questions about how much to spend on the engagement ring.

For one, it’s with you for life. It’s sentimental and symbolic. Conversely, marriage is also the start of your lives together, this could mean buying a home, a new car or a significant holiday. What you spend on the engagement ring could impact other financial decisions. We’ve gone straight to the source; we’ve asked you how much you expect to spend or be spent on over on Easy Weddings’ Instagram account. From budgets to salaries to lab-grown versus real diamonds, we’ve asked it all. Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.

When did you get engaged?

For our surveyed couples, most of them have been engaged (or married) for over a year. And nine percent are still patiently waiting for their finger to find the ring! 

How much did you spend on the engagement ring?

Here’s the real juicy stuff. How high are our expectations when it comes to engagement rings? Are you expecting the traditional ‘three months’ salary’, or are you more of a big world trip sort of person rather than the ring? About 10 percent of our audience doesn’t need the diamond to be too big, with less than $1,500 as the expectation.

From here, the budgets get a little (or in some cases a lot) bigger. Half our audience (forty-nine percent) are looking at between $1,500 – $5,000 for their engagement ring. Twenty-one percent are the next step up from here, with their engagement ring coming in between $5,000 and $10,000. For those with budgets over five figures, there’s just under 20 percent of the Easy Wedding audience. 

But engagement rings are not one size fits all. Not physically and especially not financially. These numbers are dedicated by many situations. Second marriages, kids, house deposits. This is aside from the importance that some brides put on the engagement ring. For some, it’s the money piece. Something they’ve been dreaming about for their whole lives, trying on their mum’s ring and picturing it as their own. For others, the ring is merely symbolic. 

Before you compare yourself to these numbers, consider which bride you are, what your financial situation is, and how much is reasonable to expect.

Should three months’ salary be what you spend on the engagement ring?

Oh, this is a doozy. The age-old dilemma of “is an engagement ring worth three months’ salary?” which is a quarter of your annual salary. And when we say “age-old” we mean less than 100 years old. This concept materialised from a marketing campaign by De Beers in the 1930s. Following the Great Depression, the diamond industry was struggling to sell products and make money. This is where the three months salary rule came into play, and its stuck around ever since. 

But if you’re making $5,000 a month, then you’re looking at $15,000 for an engagement ring, something our audience is not interested in. This means kicking the bucket on this old-fashioned tradition and spending more meaningfully rather than being dictated by outdated social etiquette.

It turns out that our audience agrees. Five percent of respondents think this is the minimum to spend, but 76 percent see this as too much budget on the ring.

If not three months’ salary, what is the rule?

There is no rule! What you spend on the engagement ring is as personal as the ring’s style!  For our audience, over 80 percent think that a month’s salary (or less) is appropriate for the engagement ring. Only two percent see 8-10 weeks salary as the ideal spend on the engagement ring.

We love a ruleless world! Fewer rules for you to walk your own path. 

The ideal journey is to start by finding what ring styles you like, finding options for these styles, and then working backwards from there. Less focus on budget, more on aesthetic—this is with you for life!

Diamonds were a girl’s best friend

To real diamond, or not to real diamond – that’s the next big question. Lab-grown diamonds are starting to dominate. With a lower price point and being almost indistinguishable from natural diamonds, lab-grown are becoming a more popular option. 

Sixty-two percent of our respondents would be happy to have a lab-grown diamond on their finger. Thirteen percent think all moissanite rings look the same – meaning that this debate means nothing to them! Nine percent of our audience is into gemstones, doing away with the traditional diamonds.

Would you tell your fiance if you don’t like your engagement ring?

It’s every girl’s dream. The love of their life drops to one knee and presents them with the ring to symbolise their everlasting love. But what if the ring just isn’t your thing? Should you tell them? Well, nearly 60 percent of our audience believes that if the ring has been selected by their love, than that means they love it. Style aside, it’s the symbolism that matters. Twenty-seven percent see it a little differently. They’ll let their fiance know they don’t like it. They’re wearing it for life, after all! 

So, what did our audience spend on the engagement ring

This is all just a lot to say that the average price our audience spent on their engagement ring is… 

Drum roll….

$6,492!

But the most important thing is that you and your fiance are aligned with the finances. There should be no great shock to find out what was spent or how much is planning to spent. It’s a piece of jewellery for life – to symbolise your commitment for life. And isn’t that the most romantic part?