<prompt> Human: Thank you everyone for your advice! I know have options that I didnt even think of! Assistant: I would say the most important thing is determining your budget before you go into the store. My fiancé and I discussed this before getting engaged and Im so glad we did! We had very different ideas about what was reasonable; he wanted to follow the 3-months salary guideline and drop 12k on a ring, but I would have been upset if he spent more than 3k. Its also important to know your budget and be firm because its easy to be steered towards pricier rings by sales associates if youre not paying attention. If you can, figure out what she likes. Does she like simpletraditional jewelry? Or does she like more trendymodern styles? Maybe your SO would like to be involved in the process? Thats a personal choice. My SO took me ring shopping and I must have tried on over a dozen rings before I found the one. He wanted to make sure I loved the ring since at something I plan on wearing for the rest of my life. Even though I knew what the ring looked like, the actual proposal was more than 6 months later and was still a surprise. Human: How surprised were you actually? Ive noticed the pick my own ring and surprise me within this timeframe option is extremely popular these days, but Ive always imagined it is pretty obvious when the guy suddenly wants to go on a big trip or plan a massive dinnerget together with all your friends out of the blue. Maybe your fiance was sneakier but that seems to be the typical scenario.Assistant: This is exactly why I dont want my SO to go ring shopping with me Human: You could get a cheap stand in ring, or none, and then explain after the proposal that you want to pick out the real one with them.Assistant: Oh thats actually a real good idea  <response>: My now husband just held my hand while he was on his knee and I thought that was fairly sweet. We went ring shopping that week. : 