In February, The Knot fielded its third annual Engagement & Jewelry Study, canvasing 14,000 brides and 1,750 grooms on The Knot Wedding Network to assess their thoughts on the bridal jewelry buying process, from how they conducted research to choosing gifts for their wedding party.
We’ve broken down the highlights into four distinct categories focused on the research, the retailer, the engagement ring, and after the engagement.
After the Engagement
- 45% of grooms say they would “definitely” return to the retailer in the future, compared with 30% of brides
- The average cost of a groom’s band rose from $491 in 2011 to $558 in 2013
- Grooms prefer tungsten/tungsten carbide (32%), white gold (27%), and titanium (15%)
- Nearly 7 in 10 (69%) decided on wedding bands together; 15% say they each made their own selections; 11% let their partners pick; 5% of brides chose the bands for both of them
- More than half (55%) purchased their wedding bands from the same jeweler who sold them the engagement ring
- For brides, the top design element for a band is diamonds (55%); grooms, meanwhile, prefer a comfort fit (27%), followed by a satin/brush finish (22%)
- A bride’s top three metal choices for the band are white gold (70%), platinum (13%), and yellow gold (7%)
- About one-third (35%) of couples buy their bands at separate retailers
- The average cost of a bride’s band rose from $1,126 in 2011 to $1,369 in 2013
- Only 50% of the brides have heard from their retailer since the ring purchase
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