Boy, I wish this site had been around when I got engaged! Hub, kind and loving that he is, honestly isn’t the most clued-in when it comes to my personal taste or jewelry that I am drawn to. As a result, I’m not really a fan of my own engagement…or wedding rings, sad to say.:-( Though they are representative of our bond and our commitment to each other, they’re really not representative of either of us!
But shopping for an engagement ring is one of the most difficult things to do for a guy – ever! You (as the lady on the receiving end) probably don’t want to whip out a list and say “This is what I want…something like this….but not THIS…” and hand it over to your guy before he even gets around to popping the question (talk about putting the cart before the horse!) You can drop hints all you like prior to being asked but sometimes they go right over your guy’s head – or worse, he hears all of your hints and decides instead to choose something that he likes because it symbolizes his love for you. (Yet you’re the one who has to wear it. Ladies – please chime in here: is this ever okay?) Oftentimes guys have no clue where to start and just ask their other guy friends, or other women in their lives for their advice…often even defaulting to their mothers to make this difficult choice!(*ahem*) And sometimes there’s no hinting at all – and you are caught completely by surprise by the proposal – and didn’t even have a chance to mention what you’d really like to wear to show off as a symbol of your bond.
Enter ThisRING.com, designed to take the guesswork out of buying an engagement ring for someone else. From their description:
It’s straightforward, no matter if you are in a relationship or not you just create an account, including diamond color and shape, ring size and metal type, and ring styles that you might have seen and wish to replicate. It’s a very simple process, and can take as little as five minutes to complete. Once done, for a very small fee the man can secretly access your details so the proposal is still a surprise, but present you with the ring of your dreams!
The style guides are specific enough so that the bride-to-be can lay out the details of what she likes…and vague enough so that the groom-to-be can still make his own decisions for the final piece.
What do all of you think? Is this a service you can see yourself using? Are you happy with your engagement/wedding ring yourself? How did you get the hint across to your beau?
(Take it from somebody who’s been on the receiving end of something…less than perfect…it ends up as a permanent “wish it couldabeen….” years down the road. Perhaps at our 10th wedding anniversary we’ll renew our wedding/engagement rings so they’re more…our style…but gosh, it would have been soooo nice to get them right the first time around!!)
I had some different content planned for all of you this evening…but I have the flu, and have spent most of this week cocooned in blankets and tissues. Hopefully I’ll be able to string together a couple sentences in coherent thought when the Dayquil kicks in tomorrow, and post something more meaty then. Til tomorrow, lovelies!
xoxox
Carly
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I can’t really see this working to be honest. Unless you mention that you’ve made an account specifiying your dream ring, which I could see scaring a guy off if mentioned at the wrong time. How many men are actually going to start trawling this site just in case their partner made an account? Without some pretty heavy advertising most men would be unlikely to be aware of the site.
Catherine recently posted…Paris
A second thought. I think the best thing for a man to do when he isn’t certain on what type of ring his potential fiancee wants is to buy a cheap ring to pop the actual question with and then the couple can choose the real ring together.
Catherine recently posted…Paris
I agree, Catherine! A site like that definitely needs a lot of advertising to get it out there. Unfortunately most guys want to have *something* to present to their girlfriend at that crucial moment, and many may not ask themselves if it’s really the ring of their girlfriend’s dreams, just hoping what they select is “good enough.” I’d really hope guys wanting to pop the question do as you suggest – and don’t rush into ring selection without being absolutely sure first! (I mean, how many guys know their girlfriend’s ring size…let along preferences regarding that ring??)
I love candy. Love love love candy and I love Ring Pops. I think they’re fun and I’ve always joke-proposed to my boyfriend with them. I’ve also suggested that I think it’s a brilliant way to propose and present a “ring”, but then be able to choose the perfect ring later. If dude doesn’t take the hint/suggestion, I’m going to be mad!
I LOVE IT! I agree that the site would need a lot of advertising for it to work so i’m defiantly passing it on. It would have saved me A LOT of embarrassment when my boyfriend proposed!
Another great read Carly, THANKS!
I think it’s a pretty cool idea- on one hand it seems a bit scary- a bride to be having so much control, but when I think about it, If my boyfriend proposed with a horrible ring- I don’t think I’d have the heart to tell him I didn’t like it. I guess the people who made the site hope that it will become common knowledge? Like Facebook or something, and that guys will just assume their girlfriend has put her ring on the site. It could work. Either way- I had a play, I got really into it.
Ok this has clearly been overlooked… pretty sure this is how it works:
Basically women create a style guide for their dream engagement rings where all this information is stored on the database for free. Then a male at any time can search for their partner’s details and SECRETLY retrieve their ring preferences. He can use this information when shopping for an engagement ring, so that he can keep his proposal a SURPRISE, without having to ask his partner what she wants, and purchase the ring that she has always wanted.
Advertising is a key thing and clearly the next step in this company… which is exactly why BLOG POSTS and getting the information out there is happening now.
All companies start with small advertising and word of mouth. Obviously as the company grows the advertising will grow, but its with the help of blogs and other mediums getting the word out there which grows the business. Ripple effect.
And hell yes ring pops are the BEST!
BOOM!
This is clearly an EPIC idea im stoked signing up now- and btw if u r inlove and going to get engaged its usually pretty mutual and not gona scare the guy off if u (OR UR FRIENDS- thats how all girls work by telling their friends to “secretly slip and tell the bf” something). its not hard or complicated to make this work at all. duh.