————————————————–

When Pearson and I finally started seriously talking about getting married, I sent him lots of pictures of engagement rings I liked. I told him what I had in mind and I really enjoyed looking at all different styles and figuring out what fit my personality. The Summer that we got engaged, we went ‘ring shopping’ together a couple times before he actually bought one. I wanted to try some rings on and Pearson wanted to get a better idea of what I wanted, but we both wanted him to pick out the ring on his own later without me knowing.

One of the places we went to look was Jared’s. And let me tell you, it was NOT a good experience. We walked in and started looking at rings under the glass. Then a worker came up and started talking to us. He offered us each a bottle of water. We told him we were just looking at this point but he made us sit down and get comfortable to talk to us. Strike one. Then he asked me what I wanted and of course pulled out the most expensive rings they had that even came close to my description. Strike two.

Then, when Pearson told him our budget, the guy was the most disrespectful person I’ve ever interacted with in a professional setting. I mean he was a jerk. He basically found the most plain ring with the smallest diamond in the store to show us what we could buy with our budget. Then he told Pearson that if he really loved me he would spend more on the ring I wanted. I kid you not, he actually said that. Strike THREE. Pearson stood up, said “Ok thanks” and walked out of the store. I followed a couple seconds later after I processed everything. I still could not believe how we were treated. In the car on the way home we decided we would never step foot into Jared’s again.

Pearson ended up getting my ring from Guven’s a few weeks later. Guven is the last name of two brothers who opened two fine jewelry stores in the Atlanta area. My mom had been going to the one by the Mall of Georgia for so long that Guven knew her by name. So needless to say, he treated Pearson like he should have been treated and made the experience a wonderful one. The ring was gorgeous and so much better than I ever expected! And guess what, he didn’t go a penny over budget! Take that Jared’s!

Pearson completely surprised me with his proposal. He bought the ring on a Wednesday and proposed on the next Saturday. While I was at work that week, he came to my house and asked for my dad’s blessing and showed my parents the ring. After he proposed, I was so surprised at the number of people who knew it was going to happen that week. I got a ton of congratulatory texts within an hour of saying yes. And I was on cloud nine! To read the whole proposal story, click here.

My Advice: Don’t be intimidated by a jeweler and don’t feel pressured to pay more than you planned to. Be ready to barter. And find a jeweler that you or someone you know trusts and recommends.

Did you go “ring shopping” with your man or did he do everything by himself? Did you have an experience like mine, or were you treated well and respectfully?
Thanks for reading!