Put a ring on it

Now, if you're like me, i.e. you are quite highly strung and know exactly what you want, when it comes to an engagement, the thought of the right ring can be daunting. I have friends who have said 'no' to marriage proposals purely on it not being the right ring alone! Men also being men and not sharing our passions in all things sparkly need a bit of a push in the right direction. Obviously, we all have our own style, tastes and wants in jewellery, be it one hell of an enormous sparkling diamond solitaire, something quirky and unconventional, or a beautiful antique vintage piece. Here is where budget comes in to play a little bit too (girls with Blake Lively's ring dreams look away now). We've all heard that your partner should be spending 3 months salary on your ring, and well sometimes, that is just not possible. I have always had a love of vintage jewellery, so I had been looking for something along those lines and potentially using an alternative centre stone to save costs and still having some wow factor ring. I found via Instagram a ring designer called Heidi Gibson and was just completely mesmerised by her beautiful designs and work. She can work with you to design a piece that is perfect for you, design rings around heirloom stones, or pick from her many stunning settings. You choose the metal, the centre and the surrounding stones too, with options of any precious gem stone, white sapphires, diamonds, you name it. With prices starting from around $2150 up to whatever your budget can take you to.

There's always Tiffany, Cartier and the other big greats, which are lovely for inspiration, but if you haven't got the budget to stretch to that, then try not to get too attached to anything from them. After a lot of research as well, you pay a LOT just for the name. For example, in a local jewellery store in Cheshire, UK, a 1 carrot diamond solitaire in a D on the colour scale and very slightly included, was around £5000, but the same ring in Cartier had a £16,000 price tag. If you can afford that, then go for it, but if you look around at the more unknown names, you can get a lot more for your money. Try also looking in the diamond districts, New York's is situated on West 47th Street in between the 5th and 6th Avenue, and for London in Hatton Garden. These jewellery shops cut out the middle men, keeping prices a lot lower. We found my engagement ring in the New York diamond district when we were there on holiday, it's not as fancy as the Heidi Gibson rings, but it still has a vintage elegance about it that is perfect for me.

A very good friend of mine, got engaged a few months after we did, and her fiancé had bought her ring from Brilliant Earth, a conflict free American website. I sometimes joke with her that her ring isn't really a diamond at all, as the rainbow colours in it are so vibrant it is simply blinding. Again, like most stores, you choose the quality and size of the diamond etc making it something truly unique. It has a build your own ring process, where you choose the setting first, followed by the diamond, or stone of your choice.

It's always a nice idea to google celebrities engagement rings, especially with newer stones such as Morganite and Moissanite around, they also offer an affordable alternative. Moissanite is laboratory created, it's look and durability is so close to the diamond, but as it is created in a lab, has a minimal effect on the environment. Morganite is from the same gemstone family as Emereald and Aquamarine, it is slightly pink in colour and set in rose gold is just a dream of a ring, it also means that if you want the size, but don't have the funds they are both exceptional options.