You're going to spend the rest of your life together and it's going to start with a beautiful engagement ring. This is a very important decision. The symbol of your love that you'll wear forever. There are so many choices. What is there to know about the engagement ring? What kind of stone do you want? What size? What shape? What kind of metal?

There are three types of metal that are normally used to fashion engagement rings white gold, yellow gold and platinum. White gold is used by many who love the look of silver and, yet, is much less expensive than platinum. The most popular tends to be yellow gold which has been the traditional metal used for years. It comes in 14k, 18k and 24k. The higher the number, the softer the metal, therefore 24k gold is not often used for making engagement rings. Platinum is a pure metal, not mixed with any other, and is harder than either of the golds. Platinum settings will be the most expensive, given the same stone. A platinum and diamond engagement ring and a Vera Wang designer wedding gown is every brides dream.

The traditional engagement ring has a diamond stone, but many brides choose not to go traditional, selecting one of the many other precious stones instead. The best choices are the harder stones, at least a 7 and above on the Mohs scale of hardness. The diamond, being the hardest, is a 10, rubies and sapphires are a 9, emeralds and topaz are an 8, aquamarine are a 7.5 to an 8, the amethyst is a 7 and the garnet ranges anywhere from a 6.5 to a 7.5. The rubies and sapphires would be the best alternative choice to the diamond since your ring will be worn for a lifetime and see a lot of wear and tear.

When you shop for your ring you need to be armed with some knowledge of the stone, or "the four C's" - color, cut, clarity and caret. Color: the less color (in a diamond) the better; cut: faceted to allow light to reflect from it; clarity: the fewer flaws inside the stone the more valuable the stone; caret: the size of the stone.

The shape of the stone and how it's set is very important. The style of the ring has to fit your style, just like your wedding gown has to be just right, so does this ring. On top of the list, most popular cut is the round brilliant cut stone. Next is the square and rectangle shape, which includes the emerald, radiant and the princess cut, which is also a brilliant cut. There's the oval cut, the pear shaped stone and the heart shaped cut. The marquise cut and the trilliant shaped stone, which can be used as a center stone or accent stone. The radiant cut stone has many facets and is exceptionally brilliant.

Now that you have some basic information, you can go out and shop for that ring of your dreams. Whether it's a clear princess brilliant cut diamond set in platinum or a beautiful marquise cut red ruby set in gleaming yellow gold. You'll enjoy it every day. You won't have to pack it away, like your designer wedding gown, only to be seen on rare occasions.