“My husband doesn’t have much; neither do we. We scraped and scraped to pay bills and feed ourselves, but after nearly two years of dating, we realized we couldn’t wait any longer, so we didn’t. I wasn’t even thinking about rings; all I wanted was to marry my best friend, but he wouldn’t allow it. He saved just enough money to purchase me two identical Pandora rings. Sterling silver and CZ, to be specific. That is what I wear on my ring finger, and I adore them.

While we were purchasing my rings, another employee came over to assist the person selling them to us. She said, ‘Y’all, can you believe some men get these as engagement rings? “How pathetic.” When she said that, I saw my now-husband’s face fall. He already felt guilty since he couldn’t afford the pear-shaped set that had clearly captured my heart and covered my Pinterest page.

He immediately felt like a failure, asking me again, ‘Are you sure you’ll be satisfied with these? Are you certain this is okay? He was furious at the prospect of not making me happy enough and me refusing to marry him because my rings were not expensive or showy enough. Old Ariel would have ripped that woman a new one. ‘It isn’t the ring that matters, it is the passion that goes into buying one,’ mature Ariel stated. We purchased the rings and left.

I would have married him if it had been a 25¢ gum ball machine ring. When did our country go so far that it believes the only way a man can truly love a woman is to purchase her $3,000+ jewelry and make a public declaration of his adoration with that showy ring? Sure, they’re nice, the sentiment is wonderful, and I’m not trying to diminish any of your experiences, but when did it get to that? Why can material items correspond to love?

My spouse was terrified of me rejecting him because he could not buy a piece of jewelry. He was scared that my love for him would fade because he couldn’t afford the wedding set I desired. The world has made it this way, which is quite unfortunate. We couldn’t wait any longer, so we eloped. I have never been happier in my life, and I can’t fathom spending it with anybody else. Here I am, Court-House wedded, $130 ring set, with the love of my life by my side, and happier than I could have imagined.”

Later…Pandora has apologized to a bride and groom who were embarrassed by one of its store employees when they mocked a set of $130 wedding rings while the couple was shopping. Company had contacted her to apologize after her Facebook post criticizing its employees’ treatment of her went viral. ‘Pandora reached out to me and offered me their heartfelt apologies, which I accepted,’ the 22-year-old student stated.