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New York, NY--So far in our Bridal Bootcamp series we’ve dispelled common myths about the bridal jewelry consumer and discussed how to use the Internet to build a relationship with these customers.

But no matter how well you market to them, the sale will always depend on whether not you actually have the ring they want to buy! According to The Knot's research, the average groom shops for three months, goes to four stores and looks at 27 rings before he makes a purchase. Clearly you can see why having the right inventory is important to keeping him (and his sweetheart!) shopping with you.  

What exactly are brides and grooms looking for today?

• Stone Cut & Shape: The bride has the most influence on this one and two out of three brides receive their first choice. Kate Middleton notwithstanding, majority of engagement rings (95%) are set with diamonds, while only 5% of brides choose a stone that is not a diamond. More than half want more than a simple solitaire: 58% of brides choose a diamond center stone with diamond side stones or accents. The solitaire is still popular with 26% of brides who want to make a statement with a single stone.

             More than half of brides want side or accent stones in their setting. This set is by PeJay Creations.

• The Shape of Things. It's still a round and square world with these two shapes accounting for more than 80% of engagement ring sales. A little over half of diamonds are round, and 30% are princess cut.
• Setting Metal and Style: The bride also has a lot of influence over the metal her groom chooses for her setting. Nearly three quarters of rings are set in white gold, followed by 16% in platinum. Yellow gold, while popular for fashion jewelry, only accounts for 7% of bridal jewelry now. The prong setting is the most popular (35%!) followed by cathedral (15%) and halo/shared prong settings (7%). Other diamonds are most often set pave style (15%), channel set (11%), or with baguette side stones (8%). 

              Princess cut, left, is the second-most popular shape. This ring is from Peter Storm. The halo setting, like this one from Ritani, right, is gaining popularity.

• Stone Size: The groom has the most influence over the size of the center stone.  The nationwide average for the center stone is 1 carat with an additional 0.4 carats of accent stones. Nearly half of rings contain a center stone between 0.5 and 1 carat while 27% were between 1 and 1.5 carats. 14% of brides surveyed by The Knot indicated their stones were larger than 1.5 carats.
• Wedding Bands: If you sold the engagement ring, are you competing to sell them their wedding bands? Our research shows 22% of couples purchase the bride’s band as a matching set with the engagement ring. Fewer than 2/3 of engaged couples (63%) purchase at least one band from the engagement ring retailer--but that figure is down from 69% two years ago. There is more metal variety in grooms' bands, but like the engagement ring, white gold still is the most popular.
• Wedding Day Jewelry & Gifts: Jewelry and gifts for the wedding day can be a huge opportunity to grow the average value of your customer. Eight out of 10 brides purchase or receive an average of $600 in jewelry to wear the day of the wedding. 30% of grooms purchase or receive more than $300 in jewelry for the wedding day. Over 60% of brides give jewelry to their bridesmaids with an average spend of $73 per bridesmaid. With the average bridal party usually numbering four or five, that's $365 and four or five potential new customers.

Next Week: We’ll wrap up our series with a look at your bridal strategy, attracting and retaining these customers for life!

As always, you can follow us on Twitter @TheKnotB2B or visit our blog at theknot.com/b2b for educational ideas and market trends to help you grow your bridal business. To inquire about advertising on The Knot, email Nikki Spangler at nspangler@theknot.com.