Yeah, I considered tungsten, but in terms of value and looks, I sort of prefer titanium to it.
Ah, Deon, it's a bit of a cultural thing, hard to explain, but I'll try. Not meant as a flaming post, just an interesting topic about different culture..
Where I come from, weddings and divorces are easy. Anyone could get legally married in half an hour, with a minimum of three random guests. Divorces are even easier; there has been a case where someone sent "I'm divorcing you if you don't listen to me" via SMS and it was legally recognized.
Having an expensive wedding sorta implies that she's worth the effort and the more spent on the wedding, the less likely it is for them to get divorced. Obviously, this is rarely true, but it's how people view it. Having a cheap wedding is kinda looked down upon, and I know at least one criminal case where the bail was reduced because the man wanted to pay for his wedding.
1) The comparing babies thing is a bit of an in-joke, but it sort of implies that whoever has the cutest baby has the cutest husband and thus, got the best catch. Wedding ring here is not exactly very personal.. it's sort of like showing how much the husband loves her.
2 and 3) Well, I have yet to meet a girl who didn't want anything less than a platinum + diamond.. this whole thread was about something prettier but cheaper
Here, old people have a lot of gold bling bling, literally gold earrings, necklaces, bracelets, ankle bands, rings on all their fingers. Gold is a tacky material that went out of fashion a generation ago. It's the stuff that cheap coins are made of. An "I love you" phrase on the ring are empty words, an expensive-looking gem proves those words far more than any phrase.
It's difficult to even say how much an expensive wedding is worth. Some people work hard just so they can get a big house, a luxury car, an ivy league education for their kids. A luxurious wedding is on that list, but it's far cheaper than the others. In a highly simplified sense, it's the cheapest kind of happiness money can buy.
I'm pretty much working my ass off to pay for the whole wedding too, lol. But purely financially, I see it this way.. in marrying her, I get a lot of the wealth she already has, so it's not a bad deal XD