Remember that there is no right or wrong option in choosing your rings. Whatever works for you and your fiance will by far be the best option for you both at the end of the day. They’re your rings after all. No one else’s.

Choosing your wedding rings will most probably be one of the most important decisions you’re ever going to make in terms of your wedding. In fact, it will probably be the most important jewelry you will ever purchase, as it is the embodiment of the love and commitment between you and your spouse.

Like choosing your wedding dress, with the wide array of options available on the market, choosing your wedding rings can similarly be an overwhelming experience. Ideally, you should choose a ring with a timeless, classic design; one that will suit you and your fiance’s personalities, and yet grow in value over time.

With the sheer number of opportunities available out there, there’s a good chance that you will have some difficulties in making the choice. While matching bands lend an extra degree of romanticism and or symbolism, it’s not quite de rigueur that you do.

To make it easier for you, we have a rough guide of sorts to make ring shopping less of an overwhelming experience for you.

Material
This is the first thing you need to decide on. There are many options to choose from, including silver, gold, platinum, titanium, tungsten, and so on. Gold by far remains to be the most popular material for wedding rings and can be found in different versions – white, yellow, rose, and green – in karat increments of 14, 18 and 24. For practical reasons, it’s highly recommended that you opt for 14k because it’s the most durable of the three. The higher the karat is, the softer the metal, and the higher the risk is for scuffing, scratching, or jarring stones from their setting.

Shape
Once you’ve settled on a material that will be used for your rings, the next step would be to figure out the general style you’re going for. You can choose from the more conventional dome, flat, and milgrained styles, but can also go for the more avant-garde styles of concave, knife, and square.

Embellishments
Depending on both your preferences, you and your fiance can either opt to get matching rings, or choose to have different but similar looking designs. Many grooms prefer to keep their bands plain, with their brides having the more embellished design (usually diamonds, although it’s up to your personal preference if you would like to use other precious stones). You also have the option to have your chosen stones mounted on the inner part of your ring as opposed to the outside.

Finish
You can basically choose from polished, matte, textured or embossed finishes. The most commonly used wedding ring finish is the shiny or the mirror finish, where the rings are polished until the metal becomes highly reflective. Or, you may also choose to combine finishes – for example opting for a sandstone finish, in order to give your rings a wonderful sense of sparkle without it necessarily having a highly polished mirror finish.

Engraving
Inscribing your rings with a favorite bible verse, a quote, or your wedding date is a pretty good way of personalizing your wedding bands. If you would like to have your rings engraved, it’s best that you discuss this with your jeweler early on. If engravings are not within your jeweler’s expertise, then you can ask him/her to refer you to an engraver.