Congratulations!!! She said yes. Now its time to choose a wedding band. A friend of mine is in that very situation and has been overwhelmed by all the choices; choices that he didn't even know exist, mainly what metal to choose.

There are several different kinds of metals used to make wedding bands. There's gold, platinum, rhodium, titanium, silver, tungsten carbide and last but not least, stainless steel.

Gold
What is it about gold that makes it so popular? Is it the bright yellow coloring or all the history it has as many of the early American settlers gave their all to find just one nugget.

When shopping for gold consider the karat and the color. Karat is the measure of actual gold in the metal. Most people don't realize it but you will never get a piece of jewelry that is 100% gold.

FYI:
9kt gold contains 37.5% pure gold (375 parts per thousand parts).
14kt gold contains 58.5% pre gold (585 parts per thousand parts).
18kt gold contains 75% pure gold (750 parts per thousand parts).

Boy sees girl. Girl ignores boy. Boy pursues girl. Girl gives into boy after she sees the good in boy. Boy falls in love and so does girl. Boy realizes he wants to marry girl. Now begins the search for that perfect diamond ring.

It has been said that diamonds are a girl's best friend and from my experience, when you give her that bling and ask her that special four-worded question it won't even matter how big the ring is at the time but a few days later as she shows the ring off to her friends, that is when the size of the ring counts.

Before you even think about shopping for a ring you need to learn the 4C's of diamonds:

Clarity, Color, Carat and Cut

June 15th is just around the corner and Father's Day is a time to give back to the man who brought you into the world. As you verge to the mall, you may be wondering how you can top last year's present.

I have a simple solution: Why not replace something he already has. With the economy in the toilet and gas prices rising ever so rapidly, money is tight. Thus Dad's favorite sports jersey may be a little faded or his favorite pair of sneakers may be dingy beyond cleaning. His watch may be a little dated, while his flip-flops may be totally flipped out.

Instead of killing yourself to get him something that he may or may not even like, just replace something he already has. I guarantee he will appreciate it and you know he'll like it.

Check out some of the gifts below.

Upon the release of his smash album, The Big Bang, Busta Rhymes hacked off the locks we grew to love. Rapper turned actor, Ludacris trimmed off his braids too. Even Law & Order: SVU star, ICE-T nipped off his pony tail recently.

So I decided to cut my hair too.

Since December of '06, I had been letting my hair grow and grow. Sprouting into a coiled, mini fro it became my trademark. So much so that we even developed a logo with a man who had an afro.

As the hair got longer and longer, so did the maintenance responsibility. So thick the hair became, I had to wash it if I wanted to comb it. Then after I finished combing and picking it, if you looked on the floor, you would think it snowed curls. Not to mention the constant battle I used to have with lint balls and the fact that it took forever to dry.

Weary from the strenuous undertaking, fed up with the post-hairpick cleaning of the bathroom floor and just plain old sick and tired, I crossed back over and chopped off my afro.

In an industry dominated by women, many men have a hard time finding true success in the fashion business. Laurence McCollum III does not have that problem.

This hardworking journeyman has grown from intern to being the Fashion Sittings Editor at Essence Magazine.

Responsible for all of the high fashion photo shoots and celebrity covers, his story is the perfect map of how to succeed if you want to be a fashion stylist.

Like a lot of people, he didn't start off in fashion. While a student Brooklyn College, he was an underwriter for an insurance company. Bored by the redundancy of the business, he began to develop friends in the fashion.

Anxious to get his foot in the door, he left his job to take a non-paid internship with BET's 106 and Park. Although it was a struggle financially, he worked hard and took every chance he could to learn more and more.

He also focused on developing relationships.

Manhattan's historic 34th Street and 7th Ave. was jumping as hip-hop fans and sneaker lovers lined up by the hundreds affront Footaction to meet Legendary rapper, Rev. Run.

The Run DMC front man was on hand releasing his new sneaker simply dubbed Icon. Symbolic of his own success, the shoe marries a classic, casual attitude with fresh color waves.

With humility, he signed autographs for fans of all ages while HOT 97's own, Uncle Ralph MC'd the festivities.

Keeping the event poppin' and the crowd moving, the Video Music Box host gave away tickets to HOT 97's coveted concert, Summer Jam. Attendees simply had to answer various questions to win.