When you’re engaged to be married, your mind instantly starts planning, preparing and designing everything from your wedding bouquet to the layout of the reception hall and even what your home as a married couple will look like. While most of the aspects of your wedding and reception will only be around for those one or two days of the event, there is one thing that you’ll keep with you for your entire marriage: the ring.

Designing your own ring is a great way to make your commitment to your partner even more special. However, while you might be thinking that this is going to be a fun and creative process, there really is a lot more that goes into designing your own custom ring than you might realize. For instance, you may look at some Fancy Color Lab Grown Diamonds and immediately be taken away by the beauty, but actually picking the right one to have set into the band of your choice is not exactly going to be as easy as you hoped it would be, especially if you don’t have the person there to help you pick the exact one they will love (they would probably want them all!) Before you make the final decision, here are some things to consider when you’re contemplating this undertaking.

Know The Pros and Cons Before You Start The Process

Creating your own engagement or wedding ring has multiple pros and cons. According to JewelryWise.com, some of the benefits that most people enjoy are that the ring is completely unique and a very real representation of the love you and your significant other have. However, designing your own ring also can have some setbacks. For example, the rings are generally more expensive, take a while to complete, and may or may not come out as you had hoped. Before you decide that this is the process you want to embark on, make sure you and your fiance have weighed the options together.

Finding the Right Designer

Once you’ve decided that designing your own engagement ring is what you want to do, it’s now time to come up with your design and have your ring created. When it comes to picking the designer, Lori Seto, a contributor to TheKnot.com, recommends finding your “soul mate designer.” This means finding a designer that shares the vision of your ring, is enjoyable to work with, and has a trustworthy reputation. After you’ve found this person, Seto also advises protecting yourself by getting all agreements down in writing to guarantee you’re getting exactly what you want from this partnership.

Consider Not Starting From Scratch

Although you may initially think that designing your own ring would be easy, there actually are a lot of decisions you have to make. For some, the amount of decisions can be paralysing. To avoid this, Catherine Clark, a contributor to OffBeatBride.com, suggests taking an existing ring and making changes to it here and there until it’s the exact ring you want. This way of creating your ring may also help to make sure your finished product is exactly what you want since your designer will have some kind of visual idea to work off of.

Having a custom engagement ring designed by you could be the perfect way for you and your significant other to celebrate your love. Use the tips mentioned above to make sure you get your dream ring on the first try.