Bling, Blam, Broke

With the wedding rapidly approaching and the nightmares setting in- you know the ones, the I forgot to get my hair and makeup done before the wedding kinda sweet dreams, I figure this is as good a time as any to cross the major necessities off the list. One of those would be the wedding bands. Purchasing those suckers is right up there on the importance scale with making sure Mr. Porcupine has pants!

Mr. Porcupine and I have barely done a drop of research on wedding rings. Neither of us are big jewelry people. I’m all about the costume jewels. There is something about wearing expensive jewelry that gives me agita. I would lose my head if it weren't attached to my body, and it's far too easy for me to fling off rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, etc. without even noticing. It took me months to get used to wearing my engagement ring. I only "lost" it about 80 times (aka it flipped around my finger or was on my bedside table) before I realized I am a lunatic and need to chillax.

One very bored day Mr. Porcupine and I wandered into Zales on our way home from running errands. I looked through the glass cases blankly. They all looked fine to me. I actually contemplated just picking a ring and buying it right then and there. Mr. Porcupine is pretty simple too with what he wants in a ring. He wants a black/white gold band. Affordable and easy to find at most jewelers.

Image via American Ring Store

And, then el major problemo. My ring is platinum- close enough to white gold (yanno...the cheaper option that will allow us to keep buying food), right? Apparently, WRONG. I tried on a few white gold bands and noticed that the gold looked BLINDINGLY bright next to the platinum. I tried diamond bands and plain bands. A whole array of bands! Everything looked a bit off to me.

Diamond band via MDCdiamonds

A simple band via Betteridge

Maybe it's just me, but to my eye, platinum has a darker hint to it then gold does. I was always told this isn't true since platinum is described as being a pure, white metal. It wasn't until I learned that white gold isn't actually white (I really thought it was... sue me), but actually a combination of gold and white metals dipped in rhodium to make it look shiny and white, that I realized why platinum looks different. White gold looks extra shiny since it's dipped in shiny, happy, jolly rhodium. Platinum, usually, is just chillin' in its natural state.

I didn’t ask for or expect a platinum engagement ring. Mr. Porcupine just went for it. Something about prong strength convinced him (all I know about rings still remains at lalala shiny and bright). Although an awesome pick, the engagement ring was something Mr. Porcupine had been saving a long time for. Saving for our wedding bands isn’t something I really planned on doing. Stupid, I know – this is my WEDDING ring after all. I figured we’d get something affordable and upgrade one day in the future. They make anniversary bands for a reason, after all.

When I got home from our Zales excursion I googled platinum diamond bands, and wanted to barf when I saw that some of the lowest prices were in the $1,000-$1,200 range. Blashphemorous! I continued to google through the interwebs, and it turns out I’m not really supposed to notice the difference when pairing a white gold ring with a platinum one. Lame, I swear I saw it!

A platinum band and white gold band combo via Gilletts Jewelers

We definitely needed to take a second look at a different jeweler to get a better idea. I'm sure whatever I end up with will be fine, but I realize it might not be as cut and dry as I assumed. On the bright side, I am not super picky about my jewelry, and I'm willing to go with the more affordable option if I can't find a platinum ring at the right price.

Were you able to find your "perfect" wedding band? Did you have to go with a second choice option for the sake of saving some bucks?