When lovers decide to become an engaged couple, it is a custom to buy a ring for the girl or both to wear on their ring finger. Others wear it on their third finger. Ideally, an engagement ring is something that you should be happy to wear for a long time and may even be passed on to future generations.

Buying an engagement ring requires you to consider the following:

1.  Stones
There are many engagement ring choices today. Some of them are:

Diamonds
The durability of this stone makes them last almost forever. This is especially true for the high-quality ones. If budget is a concern, there are other variants of diamonds to  choose from, such as the cubic zirconium, that can also take its place.

Precious or semi-precious stones
With the popularity of gem stones and their meanings, they have become popular choices as well for engaged couples. Precious stones alternative to diamonds are rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. All others are considered as semi-precious or ornamental stones.

2.  Style
Choose whether you’ll go for solitaire, cluster of stones, or band. This includes any special setting or arrangement you may have in mind.

3.  Budget
Set an amount that both of you can afford to spend.

The ideal engagement ring should be easy to keep clean and sparkling. Make sure to get advice on how to do that. You may also want to get a valuation certificate for insurance purposes.

- Buddy Gancenia Video Production, wedding video producer and videographer.

Learn a bit more about how Philippine weddings are conducted…

Pamanhikan or ask the girl’s parents for her hand

Pamanhikan is a tradition where the groom and his parents visit the bride’s family to formally ask for her hand and to discuss plans for the upcoming wedding over lunch or dinner. It is customary that the the visiting family bring a gift (often, the mother’s best home-cooked specialty) for the hosts. Pamanhikan can be a really uneasy situation if it’s the first time for both sets of parents to meet.

The wedding outfits

Brides wear a white wedding dress that has become popular in the last hundred years or so with America’s influence in the Philippines. For men, the barong tagalog is the traditional Filipino formal wear. It is a cool, almost transparent, embroidered shirt, made from silky pina or jusi. It is worn untucked, over black pants, with a white t-shirt underneath.

The ceremony in Philippine weddings

The veil sponsors place a ceremonial veil over the groom’s shoulders and the bride’s head. This symbolizes the unity of the two families into one; it is also a prayer for health and protection during their married life.

The bride cups her hands under the groom’s cupped hands, the priest dribbles thirteen silver coins into the groom’s open palms. The trickling of the arrhae or arrets or arras (from the Spanish word Arras, “earnest money”) is “… a sign of fidelity bestowed irrevocably” and completes the marriage contract.

The Candles lit by the candle sponsors, is a call for enlightenment, a reminder of God’s presence in the ceremony.

A silken cord or coins, which the cord sponsors entwines loosely around the necks of both bride and groom in the form of a figure of eight. The cord symbolizes the infinity of the bond of marriage, a union that lasts a lifetime. The cord ceremony concludes the rituals in Philippine weddings.

- Buddy Gancenia Video Production, wedding video producer and videographer.