...neither does Beyonce:

I saw this on the yahoo homepage and thought I'd share it. Not that it validates anything.

The article

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- After remaining tight-lipped about her marriage, Beyonce is at last speaking out about her wedding to Jay-Z.

"What Jay and I have is real. It's not about interviews or getting the right photo op. It's real," Beyonce told Essence magazine in its November issue.

The singer says she did not want an engagement ring.

"People put too much emphasis on that," she told the mag. "It's just material and it's just silly to me."

According to Essence, the R&B superstar wears a band over a tattoo of the Roman numeral IV, which is significant because both Beyonce and Jay-Z were born on the fourth day of the month and they were married on April 4.

The couple chose to have a small ceremony because Beyonce said she is not a "traditional woman."

"It's been my day so many days already," she added.

My reason for not wanting an engagement ring is that I had already fell in love with a ring while working behind the Foleys/Macy's jewelry counter back in the day. **FH knew to never surprise me with jewelry. hehe** Its design is more like a wedding band than an engagement ring because it is really a right hand ring. It simply will not match with another ring. I still sport it around as I would an engagement ring and I leave it off around my relatives *most of them have yet to see it*. During the week of my wedding, I plan on leaving it off completely until the preacher asks us to exchange rings.

I think it's a very touching idea Butterbean. There are lots of rings that just couldn't be paired with an engagement ring. I have an engagement ring though, however, the wedding band that my FH wants to give me woud be too big for my finger (I think. I only saw the picture of it). I wanted something a lot thinner to match this terrific engagement ring he gave me, but he's insisting on the other. I'm thinking of posting the rings on my blog, maybe my sisters could help me choose.

I've known lots of women who forgo the engagement ring and splurge into the "It" wedding ring with lots of bling. I think not having an engagement ring is a personal choice, but most men wants to give their ladies an engagement ring. But that's truly a great topic of discussion though Divas. What do you all think?

I think it is completely up to the individual. A lot of people don't have engagement rings for a variety of reasons.

My engagement ring is big and really doesn't need a band. However, since my hubby wanted us to have matching rings, I have paired it with a very thin 4mm gold band. It is really special because our bands have our wedding vows inscribed in the inside.

I couldn't have cared less, if DH bought an engagement ring or not and he knew that. The wedding band itself was more important to me and us saying I do... Our two kids were my engagement ring. lol. The only real reason he did give me a ring was because my other engaged friends had their rings, so he thought that I felt left out because I didnt have one to show off. I had my paper, I was happy with that. He proposed July 2006, I got my ring for my birthday on March 10, 2007.

Yes, I think it really is up to the couple, their personal decision to symbolize their union however they feel.

I gotta say this: I am disappointed that they didn't go all out for a wedding. I really wanted to see Beyonce in People, or Essence magazine with all the details photographed. I bet that she would have chosen a badass dress.

I believe it is a personal choice also! I had an engagement ring but that was DH's choice...

I also agree that it is a personal choice. Everything has change now a days. Everything is so materialistic. Notice Back in the day those wives only wore a small band with no bling and they wore it with pride.

At the end of the day all that matter's is how you two feel about the topic & if your fine & so is he..nothing else even matters.

sensationablyhappy wrote:

I also agree that it is a personal choice. Everything has change now a days. Everything is so materialistic. Notice Back in the day those wives only wore a small band with no bling and they wore it with pride.

Very true. I just thought about my grandma's ring, which didn't contain a single diamond. Things have changed quite a bit. Just like there are women who don't have an engagement ring, others opt for a different stone: emerald, onyx, pearl, ruby.

My DH got the ring HE wanted me to have. I thought it was too big, but he thought it was perfect. I love it all the same.

It really is personal choice. I'm not a materialistic person by any means, not really a jewelry person either but I must admit, when it came down to getting my ring, and yes I wanted the ring, I was right there showing DH what I liked. We have totally different tastes in jewelry and lord knows what he would have picked. More than likely something gaudy and he would select carat over clarity.