QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 29, 2013 -> 12:45 PM)
Damn dude. You must be a baller. I spent a little over 8k and was not very happy about it. But I waited like 7 years to propose, so I felt I owed it to her (and did). Looking back, much like our wedding (self-paid), I wish I had gone the cheaper route. That's a lot of money that could have cut down student loans, bank rolled a decades worth of vacations, etc.
Yeah I'm in the same boat as you and Y2HH. A complete waste of money and 99.99% of people would never know the difference looking at your wife's ring if you went the cheap route. The extra thousands I spent would have been better utilized by paying off her student loans.