'I told my husband I secretly hate my engagement ring. His reaction floored me.'

There's no happier time than when the person you love most 'pops the question'. There's shock, elation and overflowing love, but for one Reddit user there was also a certain kind of horror. The horror that despite her careful coaching, her fiance had picked a ring she didn't like. 

At just 25, Natalie* had been with her husband for three years when he proposed. 

He wanted to do a traditional engagement where it was mostly a surprise for her, so he asked her family, picked the ring himself and got down on one knee. It was all exactly as they have it in the fairytales. 

However, despite Natalie being honest with her partner about what she wanted in her 'forever ring', what he picked out was nothing like it. 

"I showed him many photos of rings I liked, we even shopped together and picked a few we both loved," she shared online. "He ended up proposing with a ring that looks nothing like anything we had picked together."

To her horror, Natalie later found out that her groom had decided to override her wishes for the ring on his mother's advice. The mother-in-law was the reason for being denied the ring of her dreams. 

"He told me later he showed his mum photos of what I liked and in short, she disagreed," she shares. "She didn't like that we had picked lab-created or moissanite stones. She also told him the shapes that I liked were 'dated'."

Natalie said that her mother-in-law had previously had one of those shapes she deemed 'dated' and had recently spent thousands of dollars getting her ring redesigned with a more modern 'pear' shape. 

"She pushed him for 'real' diamonds, which blew his budget, so my husband picked a tiny diamond pear, halo, with stones around the band. Similar to his mum's, just smaller," she said. 

A carbon copy of the mother's ring. Image: Getty

Stuck with a ring nearly identical to her mother-in-law's, Natalie soldiered on and wore her ring for the following six months of her marriage. 

"I hate it. I struggle with sensory issues and the side stones pinch my fingers. I think about it all day every day. I sometimes have to take it off while driving because it hurts to hold anything. I've worn the ring out of loyalty for my husband since he proposed," she said. 

Natalie felt self-conscious about how much the ring choice was impacting her, worried she would come across like a brat if she said anything. 

"It's a constant reminder my husband picked his mum's taste over mine for a symbol of our commitment. I would rather have green fingers from something meaningful than this 'purist' crap," she shared. 

Eventually, the overwhelming feeling that the ring wasn't right was too much, and Natalie decided to confront her husband. 

"A few days ago I stopped wearing my ring," she shared in an update. "After the last repair it's been in my jewellery box. I have been wearing my wedding band in a stack by itself for now."

Noticing that his wife had forgone wearing her ring, Natalie's husband enquired about it. She decided it was time to come clean. 

"I explained that my engagement ring pinches bad while I drive and I decided I would only wear it on social occasions," she said, starting small with her honesty. 

He said that she could just not wear it at all, but keep it for sentimental value. 

"I was a bit taken aback," she said. "He was waiting for the ring to wear out, or me to stop wearing it because he's wanted to replace it "since he bought it" and he wants to upgrade that "bad boy" as often as he can."

Naturally, Natalie was floored by this revelation. 

"In all of my avoidance to protect his feelings, it didn't occur to me that HE didn't like the ring either," she said. 

"As I suspected, he honestly thought his mom's taste would be better - the conversations compounded and it made him second guess himself. After he confessed he didn't like it, I confessed the style isn't mine, and it makes me think of his mom. We laughed together."

Natalie's husband admitted that he had already been saving for a new ring for her, but told her to pick something out in the meantime that she could wear. 

"I'd marry him again with a twist-tie," she said. "I wish I wouldn't have danced around the fear of hurting his feelings for so long. Live and learn," she wrote. 

*Names have been changed.

Featured image: Getty