Conseils Fiançailles -

Diamonds can be found in a range of prices—and you're certain to find the perfect one that suits your taste and what you plan to spend. If you are about to buy a Diamond Engagement Ring, you may want to consider spending the commonly accepted guideline of two months’ salary.

This guideline is meant only as a directional tool to help you establish a budget. The next step in buying a ring is to educate yourself on each of the 4Cs—Cut, Clarity, Carat and Color—and how each of these can affect price.

Make Her Your Leading Lady
Arrange for a local movie theater to play a video tape of you before the feature, telling her how much she means to you and asking if she’ll marry you. In front of hundreds of adoring fans, present her with the diamond.

The Fortune of a Lifetime
Steam a fortune cookie until it’s malleable. Open the cookie, place the ring inside with a note telling her how she’ll be loved by you forever.

Time Capsule of Love
Make a box of “sort-of-real” mementos of all your best dates. For example, a swizzle stick, a movie stub, etc. At the bottom of the box place the engagement ring.

Summer Lovin’
Take her for a long walk on the beach. With the help of a good friend, have a special area set up with flowers, champagne, a few pieces from a small orchestra and a proposal written in the sand. You can tuck the ring into your swim trunks to keep it a surprise (just don’t go for a dip before you pop the question).

A Real Page Turner
Scan the cover of a romance novel into your computer and superimpose your pictures. Cut out a hole in the book and put the diamond ring in it.

Cosmic Commute
Buy some ad space on signs on her route to work and on each one ask her if she’ll marry you. Be waiting for her in her parking space where she works with flowers, a ring and a good excuse for her to call in sick that day.

Masterpiece of Romance
Ask a local museum if they would put the ring on display with a display card reading that this was the very ring used by you on that particular day to ask her to be your bride.

A Buried Treasure
Take her snorkeling and discover the ring while the two of you are looking at the coral.

It’s All in the Cards
Bring her to get her tarot cards read. And ask the reader to include seeing a diamond ring in the cards. That would be your cue to present her with the ring.

The following steps will help prepare you to make a wise choice when purchasing the most enduring gift of love:
	Pay attention when she admires someone else’s ring

	Notice which advertisements or photographs of rings she admires

	Ask her friends and family what she likes

	Take time to notice the other jewelry she wears—whether she prefers a simple design or a more intricate piece

	Note metal choice as well—white gold, yellow gold or platinum

	Browse with her at a dependable jeweler

	Learn about the 4Cs so that you can make an educated purchase

	Surprise her with the engagement ring that goes beyond all her expectations

Being surprised with a Diamond Engagement Ring is a magical moment that will never be forgotten. And with a little planning, the event can happen brilliantly.

Below, you’ll find some very easy solutions to getting her ring size while keeping your gift a surprise. Keep in mind that a woman’s ring size will vary for each finger, so the below suggestions are meant only as a directional tool for you.

Make an Impression
If she’s in the habit of leaving any of her rings lying about, make an impression of one. A bar of soap, a piece of clay or even a piece of bread can be used to take a reliable measurement.

Put it in Writing
You could even trace the inside of the ring on a piece of paper which the jeweler can then use to determine an accurate measurement.

Try it on for Size
Simpler still, just put one of her rings on your own fingers. Push it down as far as it will go and then mark the spot with a pen. Then just show the marking to your jeweler who can measure it for you.

What are Friends For
A friend of the soon-to-be bride’s can be of great assistance in this particular endeavor. It’s not uncommon for one friend to ask another for their ring size as a matter of curiosity. Just be sure you choose a friend who can keep a secret.

The Real Thing
If you can bring one of her rings to the jeweler without arousing any suspicion, this will probably be the safest course of action. Offer to take her jewelry to be cleaned and have the jeweler measure her ring at the same time.

Getting engaged is one of the happiest and most exciting times in a couple’s life. Many men go to painstaking efforts to ensure the moment is memorable. If you have an engagement story you think is interesting, funny or incredibly romantic, we’d like to hear about it. We’ll update this section regularly, so come back to read new stories.