In November 2016, Ariel Desiree McRae was at Pandora’s jewelry store in the United States with her then-fiancé, Queen McRae, to choose rings for their engagement.
The couple were served by a jewelry store employee before another employee approached them and said, “Can you believe some men get them as engagement rings?”
“How pathetic,” added the rude employee.
Influenced by the rude comment, Ariel later took to Facebook about the incident where she defended the $130 engagement rings they bought from the store.
“My husband doesn’t have much, and neither of us has. We’ve gotten rid of the bills and are doing our best to pay the bills and put food in our stomachs, but after almost two years of dating, we’ve decided we can’t wait any longer, so no, we do.
Ariel continued to write, saying she didn’t really care about the rings.
“I wasn’t even thinking about rings, I just wanted to marry my best friend, but he wouldn’t have it,” she wrote.
“He won just enough money to buy two identical Pandora rings. Sterling silver and CZ to be exact. It’s what’s on my finger, and I’m absolutely in love with them.”
Ariel went on to describe that the disrespectful comment made her husband “fall in the face”.
“He felt really bad that he couldn’t afford the pear-shaped collection that obviously captured my heart and covered my Pinterest. He really felt like a failure, asking me again and again ‘Are you sure that you would be happy with these things?'” Are you sure it’s okay? “
“He was so upset that I wasn’t happy enough and didn’t want to marry him because my rings didn’t cost enough money or weren’t flashy enough.”
The post quickly spread across Facebook on social media since it was posted and many people praised her for supporting her husband.
“I would all have married that guy if it was a 25¢ gumball machine ring.”
Ariel and Quinn were later married in a Tennessee courthouse, on the second anniversary of their first meeting.
“But here I am, married at Court House, $130 ring, the love of my life by my side and happier than I could have ever imagined,” she concluded.
The 25-year-old didn’t expect her post to go viral and was shocked by the inspiring and encouraging responses she received.
“I got a lot of messages from people telling me that I gave them the courage to propose or finally get married, even though they couldn’t afford the ring,” she said in an interview with TODAY.
“People shouldn’t be in debt for love. Love is what matters. You can get married without rings,” Ariel said.
