Must you Wear an Engagement Ring to be Engaged?
While most women dream of their proposal and the style of their engagement rings their entire lives, other women are not as interested in wearing a ring. Maybe she never really planned to get married, perhaps she is very active and the thought of wearing jewelry all day – every day seems daunting, or perhaps she just wants to wear a simple wedding band because her style is more modest and refined. If this describes you or your future wife, then perhaps you decide that there will be no engagement ring…if so, does that mean that you are not engaged? Maybe you are planning a special trip and want to pop the question during this time, but don’t have the resources for the diamond of your choice. Can you propose without a ring and buy one at a later date? If she does not wear a ring, then are you really engaged?
This is a question that many brides and grooms pose, especially in turbulent economic times. Since engagements are sealed with a ring and a promise, perhaps without this ring they are not valid. Marriages are also sealed with a ring and a promise, but there is then the accompanying paperwork and legal binding contracts that follow the ceremony. Engagements do not have legally binding contracts, and courts have ruled in the past that the offer and acceptance of a diamond engagement ring does in fact legally create an agreement. So, when there is no physical token of your proposal and acceptance to marry…are you in fact engaged?
Some feel that you are not, and that in order to truly be engaged you must wear some sort of ring. If this is true, then are there stipulations to what the ring must look like? Does the engagement ring have to be made of metal? Must the engagement ring have diamonds? Or, can the engagement ring cost .25 cents from the local vending machine, as opposed to $2500 from the local jeweler? If an engagement ring is mandatory to secure a true engagement, then what are the required parameters of the engagement ring? Would a bright yellow plastic decoder ring do just as well as a platinum engagement ring or diamond solitaire? Must the ring be worn everyday, or can it just be worn occasionally?
Others feel that engagement rings are not necessary to seal the agreement to marry. A simple ask and answer is all that is needed for a couple to be engaged, and since even if a ring is exchanged either member of the couple can opt out of the wedding at any time (even after all the flowers, bridesmaids, and guest have been collected) then an engagement is not a legally binding agreement in the first place…stunning diamond ring, or not!
Either way, it appears that engagements are truly an arrangement between two people, and if an engagement ring is not important to you, then you do not need to wear one. No one will prevent you from walking down the aisle because you have not been flashing a brilliant cushion cut diamond engagement ring prior to the big day, but if you do wish to have an engagement ring, try shopping for yours at EngagementRings.org!
11:12 AM UTC February 08, 2012