I'm a nurse and I won't wear my engagement ring to work - I have a band that I wear with some small diamonds and I'm looking to replace it with a plain band for infection control reasons. I'm a little horrified at how many things must get into the nooks and crannies of that thing.

I think part of the appeal of diamonds is their durability - I've had two friends who have gotten gemstones (can't remember which) as engagement rings and they cracked or chipped before the wedding. One friend's ring had a huge hunk of the gemstone missing at her wedding and I know she was bummed because she wanted…

I think it is. I don't even have a carat and I remember getting a lot of sort of "it's so small and cute" comments on my $3K ring. Almost everyone I know has a giant ring. Can't lie, they are pretty and nice to look at.

I'm over both of those marks (ring was $3K and it's not a even a cars - gasp!, wedding was $20K and that was considered a "small DIY" wedding) but I live in NYC - where it's pretty much impossible to feed a reasonably smallish wedding for $10K, never mind find a venue or any other vendor. No one has a backyard - and…