RISING GOLD PRICES Looking for yet another wedding expense to worry about? USA Today educates us about the rising price of gold, and what it may mean for engagement ring and wedding ring buyers:

As wedding season approaches, prices for gold jewelry are expected to jump 10% to 20% over last spring, the World Gold Council, a gold-mining industry trade group, estimates.

Luckily, there is some good news:

The jewelry-store price of gold isn't soaring quite that fast. In part, that's because gold makes up only about 25% of the price of a piece of jewelry, notes Whitney Sielaff, editorial director of National Jeweler magazine. The rest comes from designer and overhead costs.

Stiff competition in the jewelry business, too, should help moderate the effect on consumers.

And of course, there are always alternatives to silver and platinum:

Jewelers are reacting to higher gold and platinum prices by shifting inventories toward diamonds and jewelry made with other, less-precious metals, such as steel, palladium and titanium.
"Men seem to really groove on these new white metals," Donahue says.