Congratulations! If your betrothed didn’t have a ring ready to slip on your finger, it’s time for you two to go and look for rings at jewellery emporiums. If you want to publicly announce your engagement you may wish to place advertisements in the "engagements" column of local newspapers. Our local newspaper provides free, a copy of their wonderful "wedding guide" a glossy book that normally costs $10.00, to whomever places the engagement advertisement, a very nice bonus.

Rings

If you have an idea what you would like and the mall-type jewellery stores having nothing like it, attack the yellow pages© and look for jewellery workshops. They will have catalogues you can look at to pick ideas from, or even in-shop jewellery designers who can do a sketch from your ideas and quote you a price.

Remember, you don’t have to have a diamond or yellow gold – it’s YOUR ring, go for whatever you like – sapphires, rubies… You don’t have to follow "tradition" no matter how horrified your mother-in-law-to-be may be! A girlfriend of mine chose a huge amethyst – a beautiful sparkling purple rock set in white gold. Wedding Bands can be plain, studded with stones, or engraved with patterns. It is likely to work out cheaper to have your choice of engagement ring and wedding bands made together than to buy both ready made. Also, less footwork, phone-work, time and effort involved. If you’ve no idea when the wedding will be, you can always get your wedding band made closer to the day – ask the jeweller how long it should take to create your choice of band.

Engagement Party

It’s up to you, do you really want one?

If you have both been living out on your own, or defacto, you will likely already have several irons, toasters and kettles, and enough manchester and napery to open your own department store. You may feel that if you have an engagement party you will get lots of unnecessary items.

You can have a party and specify NO GIFTS, or even have no party but beloved relatives will still sneak you gifts.

I’ve been to engagement parties on a chicken farm, and a horse stud, both of which were really well organised events. The invitations said "no gifts, but ladies please bring two dishes (salad, pasta, dessert) and men please bring firewood / contribute to the beer keg fund". At the chicken farm, the family provided fresh chicken cooked in many different ways, at the horse stud, the family had a lamb, goat and pig on a spit (hence the request for firewood!). In each case, 40-60 people ate themselves silly and had rousing great celebrations. Seating at the horse stud party was hay bales and planks on bricks. Drunken guests bought sleeping bags and slept in the back of their vehicles. These ideas would still work well in the city, in a backyard, providing the yard is large enough and there is enough room for parking!

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shwtrbride@geocities.com

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