When committing their lives to one another, most couples celebrate an engagement with a ring to symbolise their intention to take their partner's hand in marriage. Others might choose something more personal, such as getting matching tattoos or even planting a tree together to symbolise growth and compassion.
However, one couple have left Reddit users baffled after sharing how a fiancée bought her soon-to-be husband an engagement gun to symbolise her undying love for him.
He explained how he proposed to her in the "traditional way" with a ring - and how she responded by presenting him with a gun, wanting to create a "balance" in their gift giving.
When responding to the question "Why do men not get engagement rings?", the man said: "Personally, I'd rather it be more balanced. I got her an engagement ring, and I got an engagement gun - a SigM400.
"Every time she looks at her hand and sees it sparkle she thinks of me. Every time I shoot my new gun at the range, smell the fired powder or clean my gun I think of her."
According to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), engagement rings can be traced all the way back to ancient Rome.
However, it wasn't until 850 when engagement rings were given an official meaning, with Pope Nicholas I declaring that the engagement ring represented a man's intent to marry.
A statement from American Gem Society reads: "A man presents his prospective bride with an engagement ring upon acceptance of his marriage proposal.
"Anthropologists believe this tradition originated from a Roman custom in which wives wore rings attached to small keys, indicating their husbands' ownership.
"In 1477, Archduke Maximillian of Austria commissioned the very first diamond engagement ring on record for his betrothed, Mary of Burgundy. This sparked a trend for diamond rings among European aristocracy and nobility."
Commenting on the Reddit post, one user said: "I am from India and we exchanged engagement rings in a ring ceremony. We actually did not have marriage rings.
"For our first anniversary I had gold bands made for us. Mine had the date in the US way MM/DD/YYY and hers I put it in the Indian way DD/MM/YYYY."
Another user added: "In Pakistan (my family at least), its customary to give the man a watch. woman gets a ring/jewellery and the man gets a watch..
"We don't give jewellery/watches to show commitments but instead to just give a gift for the joyous occasion."
A third user said: "My wife gave me [an engagement ring] after I asked her to marry me. She said she wanted other women to know I was taken - so I wore it. It was kind of fun I guess. I can see a lot of guys not getting into it, but I enjoyed it."
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