Bling Basics
You can’t have a wedding without jewelry.
An engagement ring sets the wedding in motion, and wedding bands show the world you’re married.
A deeper look into the engagement and wedding jewelry shows just how much decision making goes into those purchases. TheKnot.com’s 2011 Engagement & Jewelry Study surveyed more than 10,000 brides and 1,000 grooms engaged or married in the past year. Here’s a look at the state of the bling:
- The average engagement ring costs $5,200.
- The average carat size is 1 carat for the center stone, 1.4 carats total stones.
- The most popular engagement ring shapes are Round (53 percent) and Princess (30 percent).
- The most popular engagement ring metal is white gold, at 73 percent.
- It takes grooms an average of three months to find the engagement ring.
- The average wedding band cost is $1,126 for brides, $491 for grooms.
- White gold also is the most popular wedding band metal for brides at 70 percent, though just 34 percent of grooms go for the white gold.
- Most couples try to keep costs in check, with only 12 percent spending more than $8,000 on an engagement ring.
- The average luxury wedding ring costs $13,500; the average wedding ring costs is $1,560 for brides, $731 for grooms.
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