Honeymoon Cost vs. Engagement Ring Cost

Postby **Panther** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 9:56 am

Currently trying to plan a honeymoon, and I know this is something completely subjective and dependent upon the individual, but I was trying to figure out what a reasonable budget is. We'd both be happy regardless of whether it's a big ordeal or humble and small.

I was hoping some people could weigh in with how their honeymoon cost compared to their engagement ring cost. Obviously this is pretty dependent on the ring as well, but I figured there would be some correlation. Currently thinking about 1:1 ratio...possibly 1.25:1 or 1.33:1 (honeymoon:ring).

What say you? How did your honeymoon cost stack up to your engagement ring cost?

Postby **TheHammer24** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 9:59 am

Totally subjective. But my engagement ring was more. Like almost .66:1 honeymoon to engagement. My engagement ring was expensive though (as will the honeymoon).

Postby **count2infinity** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:02 am

First off, I don't think there necessarily needs to be some sort of correlation between engagement ring cost and honeymoon costs. Do what works best in your budget. That said, my honeymoon cost about 3x that of the engagement ring. We went to Jamaica for our honeymoon. We hadn't been on a vacation for a couple years to that point and haven't been on a vacation since (1.5 years ago), and we knew with grad school we wouldn't really have time for any more big vacations so we took the opportunity to go right after the wedding. Also keep in mind that my wife's engagement ring doesn't have diamonds, so that may factor into costs of that as well.

Postby **TheHammer24** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:06 am

Yeah, I have never heard of connecting the two. Also, I swear to God diamond prices decreased by about 10% since May 2014.

Postby **Dickie Dunn** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:14 am

I don't remember how much the engagement ring cost and we never really went on a designated honeymoon, so 0:? I guess. Hope this helps.

Postby **blackjack68** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:17 am

1:1.5 in favor of the honeymoon, if I recall.

We did a week in Ireland and a week in Scotland.

Postby **shmenguin** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:20 am

Totally subjective. But my engagement ring was more. Like almost .66:1 honeymoon to engagement. My engagement ring was expensive though (as will the honeymoon).

i think my details work out exactly the same as this

Postby **dodint** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:27 am

We had an OBX wedding and two receptions (Southern Shores and Ligonier) so we never actually did a honeymoon. Engagement ring was the most expensive thing I had ever bought that couldn't be driven, to that point in my life.

Postby **tifosi77** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:44 am

Emotionally stable and well put together adults realize that the ring is a symbol meant more to impress others than as any sort of tangible statement between the proposor and proposee. A diamond ring is literally the core of a #2 pencil with a mountain's worth of pressure applied to it and set into a metal band. Big woop.

The honeymoon will provide you a lifetime of memories and be a permanent marker of how important your relationship is. Also, you are not ever in your lifetime going to lose your honeymoon down the kitchen sink.

For the curious, our honeymoon cost about 12x what all three of our rings cost, combined. (Engagement, two wedding bands)

Postby **mac5155** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:47 am

I spent $2k on the ring. We went nuts on our honeymoon. Like $4500.

Postby **count2infinity** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:51 am

Emotionally stable and well put together adults realize that the ring is a symbol meant more to impress others than as any sort of tangible statement between the proposor and proposee. A diamond ring is literally the core of a #2 pencil with a mountain's worth of pressure applied to it and set into a metal band. Big woop.

The honeymoon will provide you a lifetime of memories and be a permanent marker of how important your relationship is. Also, you are not ever in your lifetime going to lose your honeymoon down the kitchen sink.

For the curious, our honeymoon cost about 12x what all three of our rings cost, combined. (Engagement, two wedding bands)

Won't the ring provide you with a lifetime of memories and a permanent mark of how important your relationship is? I find it odd for someone that took such a strong stance on tattoos being for the person themselves not for others would make a statement like that first sentence.

Postby **shmenguin** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:56 am

Emotionally stable and well put together adults realize that the ring is a symbol meant more to impress others than as any sort of tangible statement between the proposor and proposee. A diamond ring is literally the core of a #2 pencil with a mountain's worth of pressure applied to it and set into a metal band. Big woop.

The honeymoon will provide you a lifetime of memories and be a permanent marker of how important your relationship is. Also, you are not ever in your lifetime going to lose your honeymoon down the kitchen sink.

For the curious, our honeymoon cost about 12x what all three of our rings cost, combined. (Engagement, two wedding bands)

"emotionally stable and well put together adults"...ha. you want to go there? because if we start to dissect the actual value of what we all spend out money on, the tif man may not come up smelling like roses.

Postby **mac5155** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:57 am

We know one thing he doesn't spend his money on... pots to cook poached eggs.

Postby **tifosi77** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:58 am

Emotionally stable and well put together adults realize that the ring is a symbol meant more to impress others than as any sort of tangible statement between the proposor and proposee. A diamond ring is literally the core of a #2 pencil with a mountain's worth of pressure applied to it and set into a metal band. Big woop.

The honeymoon will provide you a lifetime of memories and be a permanent marker of how important your relationship is. Also, you are not ever in your lifetime going to lose your honeymoon down the kitchen sink.

For the curious, our honeymoon cost about 12x what all three of our rings cost, combined. (Engagement, two wedding bands)
Won't the ring provide you with a lifetime of memories and a permanent mark of how important your relationship is? I find it odd for someone that took such a strong stance on tattoos being for the person themselves not for others would make a statement like that first sentence.

Tattoos need not even be visible to others to have significance to the wearer. Sure, there are people who view body art as a means of expression to the outside world. I do not. Tats are mile markers of my life, and not a single other person ever needs to see them.

You are also not likely to ever lose a tattoo down the sink.

Postby **tifosi77** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:58 am

"emotionally stable and well put together adults"...ha. you want to go there? because if we start to dissect the actual value of what we all spend out money on, the tif man may not come up smelling like roses.

Have at it.

Postby **blackjack68** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:03 am

Postby **count2infinity** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:05 am

I think someone peed in Tif's cereal this morning. Tif, you don't know the ins and outs of other people's relationships. What's important to you may not be important to them and to consider someone to be emotionally unstable because they place a certain amount of value toward having an engagement ring that will create memories as well as last a life time (let alone wedding rings... my $25 wedding ring that I love and wear every single day says hi, btw) over going on some trip seems a bit... well...

Postby **shmenguin** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:05 am

Tattoos need not even be visible to others to have significance to the wearer.

neither does a ring

Sure, there are people who view body art as a means of expression to the outside world. I do not.

the same could be said for people with rings

Tats are mile markers of my life, and not a single other person ever needs to see them.

the same could be said for people with rings

You are also not likely to ever lose a tattoo down the sink.

if you haven't added your valuables to your homeowner insurance policy, i suggest you look into it.

...point is, what we buy and what we wear mean different things to different people. if you spend a few grand on a ring...A) it looks nice. buying pretty jewelry isn't exactly limited to this construct. women of all statuses do it for themselves all the time. B) it can represent a sacrifice or an act of selflessness to give a gift like that. some might even call it romantic.

YouTube · Postby **mikey** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:07 am

Postby **Juice** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:10 am

"Emotionally stable and well put together adults"

Pretty much doesn't matter what else you say after this. Fart sniffer.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:11 am

These things aren't comparable, people derive value from objects and experiences differently. It isn't about the stability of the individual, it's about the intrinsic response we have to external stimuli.

Postby **meow** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:13 am

My wife wears my mother's engagement ring, so we spent $0 on it. We dropped like $6k on the honeymoon, though.

Postby **shmenguin** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:19 am

to the ultimate point, we had an amazing honeymoon. and it was amazing largely because it was expensive. we could have done something more modest and still had a great time, but there was a moment on our first day in monterosso italy where we were swimming in the mediterranean with the sun setting, with 50 feet of clear water below us...and i knew it was the happiest moment of my life. i definitely would have scaled down the ring if needed to get a trip like that.

...but then again, weather can be a mother f***er. so can getting a stomach virus at the worst time or something like that. we were really really lucky that all the elements aligned for us to have a perfect trip. it would be a tragedy to spend a ton of money and be stuck in a hotel room.

Postby **dodint** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:22 am

Source of the post Emotionally stable and well put together adults realize that the ring is a symbol meant more to impress others than as any sort of tangible statement between the proposor and proposee.

I proposed when I was 22, so you couldn't include me in the 'emotionally stable and well put together' group. You pot stirrer, you.

Source of the post We know one thing he doesn't spend his money on... pots to cook poached eggs.

Amazing.

Postby **CBear3** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:23 am

I spent about $2,500 on a carat solitaire, got a deal because one of my co-workers spouses was in the industry.. It was appraised at over $4,500 last time we had it looked it (and its got a separate insurance policy).
It is a symbol, and my wife practically threw a party when she was able to get it back on after our kids were born. It means that much to her. My wedding band was maybe $200 max for comparison.

For the honeymoon, I bought a photo safari to South Africa at a charity auction for $2k (it went for $3,500 this year). That didn't include airfare, or any of the extra day trips to other parks in the area. My wife loves wildlife, especially giraffes, so it was very exciting for her (me too, but it wasn't exactly a dream of mine). By the time it was all said and done the honeymoon probably cost close to $5k.
So basically a 2:1 honeymoon to ring ratio.