Austinasian Bride on a Budget: Episode 1

by Sha-Lene

Hi Your Shopping Kaki readers! Greetings from Austin, Texas!

I hope you had a good and safe Hari Raya celebration -- I've missed you guys and the blogshop-sphere community so much. Those of you who know me personally will remember me as the founder of YourShoppingKaki and that I've relocated to the U.S. for my studies. And now, I've got some news that brings me back to blogging on a limited scale...

I'm engaged! :D

And I'm here to share my experience with you through a series of blog posts and videos -- which, trust me, involves a lot of shopping and budgeting strategies! And we all know that's our favorite topic to share. ;)

The series is called Austinasian Bride on a Budget -- because my fiance is from Austin, Texas while I'm originally from Malaysia. I'll be sharing DIY tips as well as shopping for service providers and wedding rings.

To start with, the video above is about our engagement rings and our DIY wedding invitations. Darren got me a rose quartz engagement ring, and then I got him a tungsten ring from TungstenRings.com.

Who are they?

TungstenRings.com is a small father-and-son family business based in Utah. They've been in business for 7 years, selling mens' rings. And now, they're expanding to reach the Southeast Asian market, because Malaysian, Singaporean and Australian customers are expressing more interest in tungsten rings in recent years. You can call them at +1-(801)-755-1661 (that's a U.S. number so bear in mind international call rates, or use Skype credit) or email them at ringsales@live.com.

What are tungsten rings? What ever happened to good ol' gold?

Tungsten carbide is chosen over gold, platinum etc because of the durability of the metal. Mr. Johnson, who manages the company's email correspondence, has personally had his ring for 3 years and it still looks brand new. My fiance's ring has also endured a lot of clanging against pots, pans and other metals and looks way better than if he had been wearing a gold engagement ring.

What are the prices like?

Trust me when I say that they are very affordable for mens' rings. To top it off, they have promotions on their rings every month. Sometimes they offer a 35% discount, sometimes a buy one get one free. Currently, they are having a $100 off discount from their rings. They also offer affordable shipping rates to Malaysia, where they regularly mail rings to customers. The prices of the rings range from $150 - $800 for a high end tungsten or titanium band with diamonds. They also accept international payments via Paypal (which in my opinion is one of the safest ways to shop online internationally!).

How do you know your ring size?

The best way is to go to a jewelry store and get your ring sized by the store. That's what we did. There are "home methods" you can do by yourself such as using a tape measurer. But to save yourself the trouble of returning the ring to get it resized, I would just recommend going to a store and getting your man's ring size!

Why should you buy from them instead of a local store?

Because it's something different. I've reached the point in time where everyday someone is getting engaged or married - or having a baby! - on my Facebook news feed, and the last thing I want are rings that look the same as everyone else's! Also, while I'm not very familiar with local jewelers in Malaysia, I'm pretty sure tungsten is not a commonly available material. Most people go with gold -- but there's a surging popularity for tungsten! :)

What do you think? Would you try giving a tungsten ring to your man? TungstenRings.com sells engagement rings, wedding bands as well as general just-want-to-give-your-guy-a-gift rings!

Happy Shopping!

Your Shopping Kaki :)