Every young love dreams of getting married one day, walking down the aisle, exchanging vows, and shoving cake in each other's faces. But there is no need to rush things and speed up the train of life. However, we understand the appeal of wanting to give your significant other something meaningful before marriage. That's where promise rings come in!
Why get a promise ring?
At its core, a promise ring is a declaration of your commitment to something related to someone. In most cases, a promise ring is a great way of telling your boo you are devoted to safeguarding and nurturing your relationship. Additionally, some people also tend to get promise rings as a precursor to an engagement ring. Almost as a way of saying, “one day I'll drop down on one knee, I promise”. The good thing is promise rings work well in both scenarios and they tend to be budget-friendly.
Note: Just because you got someone a promise ring doesn't mean you have to get married anytime soon. Unlike an engagement ring, promise rings usually don't press any sense of urgency on getting married.
Which hand and finger should your promise ring be worn?
There isn't really a definitive answer, however, there are some traditions that distinguish where to place your promise ring. Some people simply put it on their left ring finger as a way of saying one day I will replace it with the engagement ring. However, we've seen that some people will put their promise ring on their right-hand ring finger and move it over to their left hand when they get engaged. This way you can explain to people that the left hand is reserved for the big day.
At the end of the day, it won't matter which hand you both decide to put your promise ring on. Maybe you don’t put it on a finger at all but wear it as a necklace instead, it's completely up to you! The ring still represents a beautiful promise no matter what you decide.
Should you get matching promise rings?
YES! If both partners in the relationship get matching promise rings that it could be a great way to represent your bond. Know that term “matching” doesn't mean you both need the exact same ring, it could mean that they have similar styles or engravings. The rings should complement each other much like your wedding and engagement rings will one day.
This is also a great way to get some practice on matching your future wedding and engagement rings. It's almost a way to gauge your significant other's tastes and style preferences. Plus, you could even get their ring size without it being suspicious, hint… hint.
Alternative meanings for a promise ring
Some people don't consider this but promise rings can actually work in a lot of different scenarios. They can work in the context of a best friend relationship or even as a ring to display your strong bond with your parents or siblings.
Have you ever wanted to take action and let your best friend know that they are really the #1 BFF in your world, well with a promise ring now you can! Or maybe when you were young you vowed to protect your baby sister for eternity, you can use a promise ring to symbolize that too!
Promise ring pricing
Unlike engagement and wedding rings, you won't typically see a giant center diamond on a promise ring. Though there is nothing stopping you from getting your partner and yourself a nice big gemstone, it's probably safer the allocate your budget to saving for the engagement rings. Typically, promise rings are smaller and less out of this world than your future wedding rings will be. They can still have a lot of diamonds on the band but with lower and more budget-friendly carat weights. However, this should not undermine its importance, your ring will still be meaningful no matter the size. Moreover, promise rings can range somewhere between a couple hundred to a couple of thousand dollars.
Choose your promise ring setting
There are so many different promises ring styles so it may seem daunting when you go to pick one out. The good thing is you can narrow down your style choices by looking at anniversary ring styles. (see anniversary ring guide). We find that a lot of anniversary ring settings like an eternity band or a three-stone setting, work great for promise rings as well. Before you panic and assume that you will be paying anniversary ring prices, slow your roll. You can easily spend 75% less on a promise ring than an anniversary ring and still get anniversary ring styles. The styles don’t allocate to pricing, it's the total carat weight and the precious metal that are doing most of the work on that part. Lastly, just because one style is labeled as an “anniversary ring style” it doesn't mean that it is exclusive to just being an anniversary ring. Search in other ring categories as well until you find what you want.
Get an engraving
Promise rings are exactly as the word presents, a promise. So why not write that promise in a verbal form on the inside of the ring? Words speak volumes but taking the extra action and writing those words on metal solidifies it even further. Plus, it's an added bonus that you and your significant other can read those words when you are missing each other.
Gifting the promise ring
Now the last thing to do is to gift the promise ring. But, before you do it's very important to know your general purpose in giving the ring. You want it to be clear why you are giving them the ring at this time in your relationship and for what goal. The reason why communication is so important here is that you don’t want to portray the wrong message. Let's say you aren't ready to get married anytime soon but you still want to get a promise ring to represent how you will protect your partner through life's hardships. If you don’t explain this to them, they might be up at night thinking about how you are going to propose soon. Miscommunicated promise rings can be risky business, plan ahead and communicate effectively and the meaning behind the ring will be just as exceptional as it looks.