Wedding Ideas

My husband and I were married last winter, after a year of planning and decisions and details. Because we were saving for a home and investing in our small business, we were committed to planning a wedding on a budget. At the same time, we wanted our wedding to be one of the most beautiful days of our lives, and one that was as free of stress as possible. I'm happy to say that we accomplished our goal to stay sane throughout the planning and the wedding day, and we learned these five things in the process.

1. Remind yourself frequently, "Our wedding is a stress-free zone."

You wouldn't believe how many times I said this to myself, silently and out loud. Remember that your wedding is about celebrating your love and commitment to your partner, so it would be a shame to let worries about money and logistics steal your joy. If you feel yourself getting anxious or upset about something, take a deep breath and put it out of your mind for a while. Before you come back to it, recommit to making your wedding a stress-free zone. 

2. Decide where to save and where to splurge.

My husband and I decided to invest in the items most important to us -- photography, food, and music -- and seek out inexpensive options for most everything else. We bought affordable wedding rings, reasonably priced wine, and a beautiful wedding dress on closeout. To finance our honeymoon, we encouraged guests to donate to our Honeyfund account instead of sending us a gift. It wasn't important to us to provide wedding favors, so we simply skipped them. Make a list of items you want for your wedding and rank them in order of priority. Splurge on the items at the top of the list, and save on the ones at the bottom.

3. Limit your guest list to close friends and family.

Given the astronomical costs of the average wedding -- currently more than $25,000 -- people will understand not being invited when they hear that you're keeping your wedding small. Let's put it this way: Are you willing to pay around $100 for your second cousin once removed to eat a sit-down dinner? Although I couldn't afford to invite my extended group of local friends to my wedding, I wanted to include them in the celebration. I sent an email early in the planning process to let them know that I was keeping my wedding small, but I'd love for them to join me at the after-party. Guess what? They completely understood. Plus, those who were planning a wedding on a budget themselves didn't feel obligated to invite me.

4. Find vendors through your network.

I live in a small community, and my husband and I made good use of our local connections to find vendors for our wedding. A few traded labor with my husband; for example, he designed a website for someone in exchange for professional lighting at our reception. Other vendors knew that we were planning a wedding on a budget and liked us enough to give us a good rate on their services; in turn, we recommended them to others as often as possible. We asked two dear friends to play music during the ceremony as their gift to us, and they were honored to be part of our big day. Think about your own connections, and the skills that you could trade with wedding vendors, or loved ones who have similar talents.

5.  Make decisions by asking yourselves, "What do we want for our wedding?"

You'll get tons of unsolicited advice from friends and strangers (Exhibit A: this very blog post!), and you'll probably feel pressure of some kind from your families. Take other opinions into consideration if you like, but keep coming back to what will make you and your partner happy on your wedding day. If you're lucky, it'll be the only one you ever have, so tune out the noise and make your own decisions. 

Stay within your budget by finding affordable wedding rings at My Trio Rings.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user sinksanctity.

Not so long ago, buying something like diamonds on the Internet may have seemed unusual to many people. But these days, if you are looking for affordable wedding rings, it is much easier to engage in comparison shopping and find the most beautiful rings for the best price online. Reputable online jewelers such as My Trio Rings offer helpful customer service agents, fast and reliable shipping, and free warranties and returns. If you are planning a wedding on a budget and are still searching for those perfect affordable wedding rings, then look no further.

Is it safe to purchase affordable wedding rings online?

One recent customer reports:

“My fiance and I were very skeptical about making and important purchase, like our rings, online. However, we followed our hearts and ordered our wedding rings with My Trio Rings, and we cannot begin to tell you how satisfied we are. We love the bling, and we got it at a reasonable price. Your representatives did all in their power to assist us all the way in the sweet island of St. Lucia, located in the Caribbean. Everybody instantly falls in love with our rings...but we love them more than they do! WOW...I recommend this company 100%...look forward to doing business with you in the future (renewal of vows).” – March 2012

Another customer, this one from Alabama, adds:

“I wouldn’t have thought that an online company could be so courteous and true to their word. The ring I got for my fiance is beautiful and fits perfectly. He loves it! The customer service is so friendly and helpful. No complaints at all! I recommend this site to everyone! Thanks My Trio Rings!” – February 2012

In Pennsylvania, one woman writes:

“My husband and I were VERY skeptical to make such an important purchase online, however, My Trio Rings has exceeded our expectations!!! We found beautiful rings that were within our budget, and along with superb customer service, who could ask for more? Both of us find ourselves just staring at our rings and watching them sparkle. We couldn't be more pleased. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” – March 2012

From the Caribbean to the Erie Canal, our customers agree that when it comes to purchasing affordable wedding rings online, or even getting tips for planning a wedding on a budget, My Trio Rings is an excellent one-stop shopping destination. Get started today!

Photo credit: Shutterstock

Recently, there has been some clamor in the news about whether or not we can trust the Kimberley certification scheme, the entity which is intended to reassure consumers that the diamonds they give in love are not mined or sold in hate. A recent Bloomberg article clarifies the issue which caused a key watchdog group to drop out of the Kimberley Process in December 2011:

“The worst manifestation of the weakness of the [Kimberley] scheme is in Zimbabwe. In 2008, the government deployed soldiers to seize the massive, newly discovered Marange diamond fields, killing more than 200 miners and forcing others, including children, to dig for gems. Zimbabwean authorities claim that the establishment since of four enterprises -- mining companies in joint ventures with the government -- has regularized operations in Marange. But security guards still attack local miners to drive them off, preserving the area’s riches for the government’s chosen few.”

The basic problem that the Bloomberg article sees is that the Kimberley Process was established in order to prevent the sale of diamonds that were funding wars. The specific guidelines for the conflict-free diamonds certification process, although intended to protect all innocent players in the diamond industry from harm, only specifically applies to armed conflicts. Indeed, “the Kimberley rules did not cover human-rights abuses like those in Marange.”

My Trio Rings is able to purchase conflict-free diamonds directly from the De Beers mines, so customers can be confident that their affordable wedding rings are ethically mined and sold. For more overall consumer confidence across the entire diamond industry, the Bloomberg article recommends a few key reforms to the Kimberley certification scheme:

“For Kimberley certification to live up to its original intent, it needs to prohibit not just diamonds that fund rebellions but also those that owe their provenance to abuse of human rights.”

Such reforms in the trade of conflict-free diamonds are more possible than ever this year, as the U.S. is the Kimberley chairman in 2012, headed up by diplomat Gillian Milovanovic. Big Kimberley reforms are especially relevant to the U.S., as “the U.S. alone makes up 38 percent of the polished-diamond market,” and demand for affordable wedding rings made from real diamonds is on the rise. Reformers have high hopes for Milovanovic’s leadership in pushing changes forward in order, “to ensure diamonds, a token of love exchanged between two people, aren’t procured at the expense of others.”

Browse My Trio Rings' selection of wedding band sets.

Photo credit: FancyDiamonds.net

You are ready to propose marriage to your girlfriend, so now is the time to shop for and buy an inexpensive diamond engagement ring. But even affordable wedding rings seem may seem out of your league without a plan. What is the solution? Follow these easy budget tips to get you saving up for that conflict-free diamond ring – fast.

1. Month 1 – Instead of taking your girlfriend out to dinner at the new seafood bistro downtown on Friday night, look up a couple of easy recipes online to create an inexpensive, romantic meal at home. Put aside the money you would have spent on appetizers, entrees, drinks, and dessert in an envelope – that’s $50 toward affordable wedding rings!

2. Month 2 – Your boss asks you to pick up extra hours one Saturday to help him out. Encourage your girlfriend to have a chick-flick marathon with her friends and work those extra hours. Add that $100 to your envelope to save for a conflict-free diamond ring.

3. Month 3 – Ask your girlfriend to join you for dinner and a movie – at home. Pick up a pizza and a movie, and slop the saved movie theater ticket – drink – and popcorn money into your envelope (or savings account). You are $25 closer to purchasing affordable wedding rings.

4. Month 4 – Think about small ways to economize your budget. Downgrade your cell phone plan, wash and iron your own clothes this month instead of taking them to the dry cleaners, put your gym membership on hold for a month and jog around the neighborhood instead. Just a few economical measures could save you $75 or more.

5. Month 5 – You get your tax refund check in the mail - $250 in the bank! Combine that refund check with the $250 you already have saved, and you are ready to purchase not only a conflict-free diamond ring, but an entire trio wedding ring set – with just five months of saving! You will even have a little extra money to spend on taking her out to dinner to celebrate.

What are your tips for saving money?

Photo credit: 401K

This just in: just a few short weeks after the most anticipated film wedding of the year debuted in theaters, you can now get your own wedding dress in the style of the Twilight series’ Bella Swan. A modest, long sleeve, fitted gown with an ornate, revealing back, Bella’s designer wedding gown is rumored by some sources to be worth in excess of $35,000. That is not exactly a budget wedding dress, since it costs more than the average cost for an entire wedding in the United States.   However, bridal designer Alfred Angelo now offers a slightly more budget wedding friendly copy of Bella’s wedding gown for $799. Engaged women around the country are flocking to try on Bella’s dress in the course of their wedding planning, even if it does not fit their own personal wedding style. Some frustrated retailers report that many non-engaged women are also filling their stores, pretending to be engaged, in order to try on Bella’s dress.   Bella’s extravagant outdoor wedding, planned by her vampire sister-in-law Alice Cullen, is perhaps out of reach for most couples, but besides a more budget wedding friendly copy of her dress, couples can also choose to purchase a copy of Bella’s diamond cluster engagement ring. A version with fake diamonds runs about $40, while a full-blown diamond cluster engagement ring made from real diamonds that matches the description in Stephanie Meyer’s book actually costs more than $2000, which is probably out of the budget of many couples.   But if you wish to take ideas from this year’s much-anticipated wedding of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, you don’t have to copy Bella’s dress or the engagement ring that belonged to Edward’s long-dead human mother in the novel Breaking Dawn. Instead, you could choose your own modest wedding gown and old-fashioned engagement ring and mimic the atmosphere of Bella and Edward’s outdoor wedding. In the Cullen family, money is no object, but a bower of white flowers in a backyard wedding with a flowering vine-covered arbor could be easy to achieve quite inexpensively if you have a green thumb. Photo Credit: Flickr (magesomido)

The biggest wedding news of the year is the upcoming royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, which will occur at 11 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Friday, April 29 in Westminster Abbey. After dating for some seven years and privately discussing marriage for about a year, William reportedly proposed to Kate on a holiday to Africa with friends in October 2010. According to interviews, William carried his mother’s diamond cluster ring in his pocket for a few weeks before the proposal, waiting for the right moment, but Kate was not expecting William’s romantic proposal since they were visiting Kenya with friends. Their engagement was announced by the royal family on November 16, 2010.

The ring that William used to propose to Kate is his mother’s engagement ring, an 18 carat sapphire ring surrounded by small diamonds. This diamond cluster ring has sentimental value for William, and he told Britain’s Sky News that his use of the ring is his way to include his mother in the excitement of his upcoming marriage, even though she is not alive to celebrate William and Kate’s union.

William and Kate met at St. Andrew’s University in Scotland. They began dating in 2003 after living together as flatmates with a group of friends. In the early days of their courtship, William tried to impress Kate with his cooking, but Kate frequently had to rescue his meals from burning on the stove. Kate was initially nervous about meeting William’s family, but she says that both Prince Charles and the Queen were very welcoming to her when they first met.

Kate Middleton’s use of Princess Diana’s diamond cluster ring to symbolize her engagement to Prince William is certain to inspire wedding ring designers to create affordable wedding rings that imitate the style of that engagement ring as well as Kate and William’s wedding bands. As a result, couples who are looking for affordable wedding rings will be able to commemorate their love in royal style. It is likely that as soon as Kate’s top-secret wedding dress is revealed, designers will create more affordable copies of her style so that even couples who are planning a wedding on a budget can have a fairytale royal wedding at an affordable price.

Are you planning to watch the royal wedding this Friday? Are you hoping to find ideas for your own nuptials?

As bloody political tensions flare in Africa’s Côte d'Ivoire between rival presidential candidates, international Kimberley Process watchdogs are tightening their control of the diamond industry to be certain than conflict diamonds are not smuggled into the hands of unsuspecting consumers.

Almost a decade ago, the Kimberley Process was started by the United Nations to prevent the sale of diamonds that fund war and conflict in Africa and around the world. These diamonds are commonly known as blood diamonds or conflict diamonds. Since the establishment of the Kimberley Process, the sale of conflict diamonds has decreased from about fifteen percent of all diamond sales worldwide to less than one percent of all diamond sales worldwide. Currently, the only two countries under close scrutiny by the international Kimberley Process members for trying to sell conflict diamonds are Côte d'Ivoire and Zimbabwe.

New strategies to avoid the sale of conflict diamonds are making the news. Techniques to provide consumers with conflict-free diamonds they can be confident in include a method of tracing the geographical origin of diamonds through the identification of chemical “fingerprints.” This mapping process makes it more difficult for countries like Cote d’Ivoire to obtain fake certification to put conflict diamonds into affordable wedding rings.

Smart consumers should seek real, conflict-free diamonds as they search for affordable wedding rings. One of the best ways to do this is to choose a reliable jeweler. My Trio Rings purchases all of their certified conflict-free diamonds directly from the DeBeers mines, so you can be confident your rings are good for your wallet as well as good for society.

Photo Credit: Stevedepolo

The Desirability of Diamonds

Most couples today choose to purchase real diamonds when they shop for affordable engagement ring sets. Diamonds are beautiful and durable stones that last a lifetime, which is one of the reasons why they are a popular choice for wedding rings. Diamonds can be expensive, but smart couples have several easy methods to invest in responsibly-mined diamonds at an affordable price. One of the main things that couples need to look for as they shop is conflict-free diamonds.

The Dark Side of Diamonds

More than half of the world’s diamonds are mined in Africa. In the 1990’s, the problem of conflict diamonds, or blood diamonds, became widely publicized. Rebel groups in nations such as Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire took over the diamond industry in their countries and used the profits to purchase weapons and fund civil wars against their governments. Some of these conflict diamonds were indirectly smuggled into the hands of unsuspecting jewelry buyers.

The Global Response

In response to the problematic growth of conflict diamonds, several organizations and companies banded together to create a strict global diamond certification process known as the Kimberley Process in order to help ensure that diamond customers worldwide were not purchasing conflict diamonds. As a result, diamond buyers today can be confident that they are buying conflict-free diamonds as they shop at just about any reputable jewelry store.

What You Can Do

As you search for affordable engagement ring sets, be certain to consider the source of the diamonds before you buy. Although most jewelry stores in the United States sell certified conflict-free diamonds from legitimate sources, it is better to be safe than sorry. DeBeers, the jewelry company that many U.S. jewelers use as their source for diamonds, was instrumental in starting conflict-free diamond certification through the Kimberley Process. They believe that 99.8 percent of diamonds on the world market today are conflict-free as a result. If savvy consumers continue to demand responsibly-mined diamonds for their wedding jewelry, perhaps we can eliminate the sale of conflict diamonds altogether.

My Trio Rings proudly sources all its diamonds from the DeBeers mines so you can be certain that your wedding rings have conflict-free diamonds.

Photo Credit: Swamibu

For most couples, the sky is not the limit for their wedding budget. One of the necessities of planning a wedding on a budget is prioritizing in order to stay within the bounds of a reasonable budget. Where will you save money, and where do you want to spend a little extra? Smart couples who choose to purchase high quality, affordable engagement ring sets often find that they have a little extra cash to make other parts of their wedding even more special.

1. Honeymoon

Planning a wedding on a budget can be a challenge, especially when it comes to planning a memorable trip to start your life together as a married couple. A little extra money in the honeymoon budget can fund more luxurious hotel accommodations, travel to a more exotic destination, more gourmet meals, more expensive champagne, or even extras like a couple’s massage or a hot air balloon ride.

2. Photography

For many brides and grooms, their wedding day is a whirlwind. They may not even remember to eat, and they may have trouble remembering specific moments from their special day in the years to come. Having an excellent professional photographer and / or videographer is important to preserving wedding memories for a lifetime. Whether you prefer formal portraits or the style of photojournalism, having wiggle room in the budget allows you to choose the photographer that best fits your style. Some creative couples even choose to rent a photo booth for fun candid shots of their guests.

3. Music

Some couples are happy to play a mix CD at their reception or even to have their iPod on shuffle. For others, it is important to have the funds to hire the best local band to play live music or to have their favorite DJ taking song requests from their wedding guests at the reception. Still others wish to hire a string quartet for their stroll down the aisle rather than relying on the church organist. If you decide that music is important to you as you are planning a wedding on a budget, then choosing to spend less money on an affordable engagement ring set could give you the room in your budget to cater to your musical tastes.

4. Food

Weddings that take place around meal times make it necessary to serve your guests more than just cake. Some brides and grooms are happy with a small buffet with a few different food choices. Other couples wish to host a sit-down dinner with expensive entrees and fine wine. The amount of money you spend on wedding food can vary widely depending on your taste, the style of your wedding, and the head count. If you decide that you want to serve a steak dinner, then find other places to be frugal in your wedding budget in order to save money to pay the caterer.

5. Style and Appearance (Especially For the Bride)

It’s up to you, as a bride, how glamorous you want to get for your big day. You could splurge on a wedding gown that makes you feel like royalty, or invest in a professional hair and makeup artist. To save on the hassle of transporting your bridesmaids to the salon, and to take care of their hair and makeup as well, you might hire a stylist or two to come to the hotel the morning of the wedding. Instead of buying your bridesmaids gifts, you could treat them to manicures and pedicures the day before the wedding. Cutting corners in other areas of your budget allows you to invest in those that mean a lot to you.

What would you do with the extra money left over from your wedding ring budget?

Photo Credit: Mindaugas Danys

Thanks for checking out our new MyTrioRings.com blog! In the last few weeks, we have reached out to many of you to get feedback on what you wish to see at MyTrioRings.  A special thank you goes out to everyone who let us know what you liked and what you didnt like.  We have listened to your feedback and have started to make the changes that youve asked for.

We found out that many of you would love to see a blog on MyTrioRings.  Check back every few days and you will see:

- Wedding tips and suggestions

- Wedding ring news and information

-  and lots more...

If theres something more you would like to see, just let us know!