Engagement Ring on a Budget

When Mr. Blue Moon and I were searching for the perfect engagement ring for me, I had two rules: I wanted it to be unique, and I wanted it to be affordable. During the time that we were engagement ring shopping, I was working two part-time jobs, and Mr. Blue Moon was working intermittently during his summers off. We did not have a lot of money to throw around (and on my teacher's salary, we still don't) so I knew it was going to be very difficult to find something we could both agree on.

I looked at a couple of different websites to find ideas. I know I frequented overstock.com to see if we could find a good deal there.

I loved this beautiful ring with vintage detail. It's so luscious! But at $1,035, it was out of our tiny budget.

Via Overstock.com

After quickly realizing that many of the diamond styles were either out of our budget, or much smaller/lower quality than what I was envisioning, we began to consider other stones. For awhile, I went on a black diamond kick. Sadly, Mr. Blue Moon hates the idea of black diamonds, and looking back, they are probably too modern looking to match my personal style, anyway. But aren't they drool-worthy?

I tend to gravitate towards rings with interesting detail on the band. This beauty is only $383.34. 

Via Overstock.com

I also considered white topaz for the center stone. Blue topaz is my December birthstone, so it made sense in my head. For this, I turned to Amazon. Yes, I'm lazy and like to browse for even the most important things online.

Although it's very affordable, it was hard to find white topaz to suite my style. All of the settings seemed either too chunky, or too plain for me. But it would still be so beautiful for a blingy bride on a budget!

$129.99 via Star K Amazon.com

Despite all my pestering and constant attempts to show Mr. Blue Moon new rings on my phone that I had saved, he was very adamant about saving up for a diamond. Mr. Blue Moon, as you will learn, is very traditional and I am more relaxed and free-spirited. But I knew how important it was for him to get me a ring that we will both cherish forever, so I turned to cheap options to figure out if we could afford a diamond I would love. Yes. We looked at engagement rings at Walmart. Good for all the Ramen noodles and beer we could consume, our college selves figured why not for an engagement ring, too?

Let me tell you that we did find a set that I really loved. I thought for a long time that this would be the one. I don't know what drew me to it. I have never found another bypass style that I liked. Something about this Walmart ring just called my name. 

Go figure. I don't know why I was so obsessed with this set. It's beautiful for sure, but again, not exactly aligned with my normal tastes. $249 via Walmart

Mr. Blue Moon HATED this bridal set. I secretly think that he just could not get down with buying me a ring from Walmart. More power to him. 

Around this time, one of my friends got engaged with a morganite ring. That led me to Etsy, where I drooled over beautiful morganites for a good three weeks. 

How pretty is this? The rose gold, the delicate band. I love everything about it.

$439 via Lovebird Jewelers at Etsy.com

True to form, Mr. Blue Moon loathed the idea of an engagement stone that was anything other than clear. Luckily, somewhere in my many Etsy searches, I discovered white sapphires. These seemed like a good fit. They are more durable than morganite and topaz, but less expensive than a diamond. It is also quite affordable to find a naturally-mined sapphire, which seemed important to him. For whatever man-reason (read: anything that Mr. Blue Moon can justify that I don't and will never understand), a stone out of the cold, hard earth was important to him. He did not want something created in a lab. 

Cue these gorgeous white sapphire engagement rings: 

Sapphire engagement ring in your choice of metal, starting at $279.

via WanLoveDesigns at Etsy

I love the bezel set and the leaf motifs, but Don hated this beyond belief. Traditional, remember?

$785 via Kryzia Kreations at Etsy

All of these gorgeous rings were really making my head spin. I'm lucky that I have a fiance who knows me better than I know myself. Mr. Blue Moon found this beauty during a late night online ring search. 

$455 via Stone Fever on Etsy

I knew right off the bat that this was the one. It's simple design and low setting is easy-going and unpretentious, just like me, but the gorgeous detail work on the band is really something special. And just like how Mr. Blue Moon wanted, the white sapphire is mined ethically in Sri Lanka. The artisan, California-based Stone Fever Jewelry, makes all of these rings by hand, so none of the bands are exactly the same. I am so proud to have a one-of-a-kind ring! 

All photos via Stone Fever on Etsy.com

Although I read a lot online about the durability and sparkle of white sapphires, my ring has held up for the last two years beautifully. I have not had to have it replated yet with the white gold, but it probably needs it soon. The stone is free from chips and scratches after heavy wear and lots of travel with my clumsy self. I am always bumping it into things! 

Blurry picture, but I need to show off my favorite neutral nail polish color. // Personal Photo

I'm so happy with our choice to go with a beautiful white sapphire. And even though I know other women have bigger, blingier, diamond rings, I am really glad that my ring serves as a perfect reminder of the time in our life when we got engaged. We were broke, but in love, and no matter how much we own, our greatest treasure will always be each other. 

How did you and your fiance choose your engagement ring?