3 Tips For Nailing A Showstopping Wedding Band That Doesn't Break The Bank

Are you planning a wedding on a limited budget? Are you stressing yourself out trying to find a wedding band that's both unique and elegant, but also inexpensive? If so, take a deep breath, relax, and read on for 3 great tips on how to get a unique, classy, and affordable wedding ring.

Remember, Not All Treasures Are Silver And Gold

The first way you can save money when shopping for wedding bands is to open your mind to less traditional material choices. Silver and gold are beautiful, but today's jewelers offer options that are stronger, tarnish-resistant, and less expensive. If you're on the tightest of budgets, consider a stainless steel band. Stainless steel bands look similar to silver bands, but they're far less expensive. They're also lightweight, durable, and scratch-resistant.

If you can afford to spend a little more, though, consider a titanium or tungsten wedding band. Both of these materials are still significantly cheaper than gold, but they're super strong, so they make the perfect base for the tension settings you'll read about in the next section.

Turn Up The Tension For An Showstopping Setting

Want to make the stone in your ring look larger without actually buying a larger stone? There's a ring setting that can help you with that -- the tension setting. While the concept was created in the 1960s, it wasn't until the 1990s that jewelers were able to develop the idea enough to create the sturdy pieces of jewelry available today. A tension setting relies solely on the tension between the band and the gem to keep the gem in place. There are no bezels, prongs, or channels; there are only 2 components -- the band, and the gemstone. The result is a stone that appears to be hovering in air between the 2 ends of an open band.

This crisp, elegant design makes the stone look big because there's no metal obscuring any portion of it. A tension setting can hold a gem up to 8 carats big, but because of the amount of pressure that the stone is under (up to 12,000 pounds per square inch), only the strongest of gems will work in this setting. You need a gem that's above 9.0 oh Mohs Hardness Scale. Gems that make the cut include diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. 

Sound expensive? Here's how to keep it affordable.

Explore The Man-Made Wonders Of The World

Synthetic gems have the same chemical structures and physical characteristics as naturally-occurring gemstones. While they're produced in laboratories, they're identical in nearly every way to their naturally-occurring counterparts. 

Synthetic diamonds, rubies, and sapphires are all plenty durable enough to handle the stress of a tension setting. Since they're created in a comfortable, controlled lab setting rather than being mined from the earth, they're also much more affordable. In fact, according to popsugar.com, synthetic diamonds are 20% - 30% less expensive than naturally-occurring diamonds. That's a lot of extra sparkly stone you could be wearing on that finger!

You don't have to limit yourself to traditional colors, either. Synthetic gemstone manufacturers use various oxides to produce man-made gems in every color that naturally-occurring gems are found in.

Best of all, because the naturally-occurring formation of gemstones often creates impurities within mined gems, synthetic stones are often stronger and more visually appealing than naturally-occurring ones. 

Are you planning a wedding on a tight budget, but don't want to sacrifice a fabulous ring. You can have your wedding cake and eat it, too, by heading to your local jewelry store armed with the above 3 tips for nailing a showstopping wedding band that doesn't break the bank.