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The flower petals are in place, the ring is ready, and the day John Musumeci has been waiting for is here. He’s about to propose.

“I knew I met the right person. I knew that I was done," Musumeci said. Musumeci and Taylor Onesto met through mutual friends 19 months ago, in the middle of the pandemic. In April of this year, he went ring shopping.

Asked if his fiancé knew he would propose, Musumeci said no.

"I keep telling her, you gotta figure next year we'll get engaged, so we'll probably marry in like, three years,” he said. The pandemic may have helped speed up that timeline. “We had more time with our families, 'cause you don't only marry the person, you marry the family, and I love her family," Musumeci said.

As it turns out, the pandemic may have also increased the cost of engagement rings across the five boroughs. Peter Amerosi is a jeweler on Staten Island. He says loose diamonds now cost 5% to 10% more than in 2019. The wait time may take a little longer now, too. “There were a lot of issues with the diamond supply line. There were issues with mining, there were issues with polishing and cutting the diamonds, and as a result, we saw a big shortage in diamonds," Amerosi said.

“We’re still able to get what we need," he added. "The way the industry is leveling it out, they’re just raising the prices, they’re passing on that cost increase to the consumer and to us.” The higher cost may be causing people to say "I do" to less expensive lab-grown diamonds. Matthew Selig owns Leo Ingwer Incorporated, a custom jewelry manufacturer. He's noted an uptick in lab-grown stones. “Created in the lab, considered real diamonds, and I would say their monetary value is probably 50% of a natural diamond that comes from the ground,” Selig said. The demand for diamonds is also fueled by an increase in engagements. “There are 2.2 million weddings that are held on average every year. What's happening in 2022, there's 2.6 million weddings scheduled to happen in the U.S. alone, and that means that there's going to be a certain boom in weddings this year,” said Esther Lee, senior editor at “The Knot.”

For his proposal, Musumeci went with a traditional mined diamond. He says he’s very excited to plan an in-person wedding with his new fiancé. “It is good to know that people can be in a room and you don't have that dark cloud over everyone's shoulder," Musumeci said. "We both have grandparents here, so our grandparents can be a part of the day, kind of with a clear head, so it feels good knowing that."