Wedding Rings and their customs

Article Written by Ben Munroe, January 22nd 2009

There are many customs related to giving these meaningful gifts of love, both before and after the wedding has taken place. They are also, in most parts of the world, seen as the final gift in a set of three, the Wedding Rings seen as being the most important. In some European countries, a tradition in past eras and still going today, is to use the Engagement Ring for the Wedding, only changing it’s identity by engraving and placing on a different hand. The exchange of Gold Wedding Bands before the Wedding could also entail engraving the name of the spouses to be and the date of the intended marriage. These platinum gold rings were also seen as a family heirloom, to be carefully looked after and passed down through generations. Eastern Catholic countries, commonly exchange rings at the betrothal stage of the relationship, always using two rings in the process.

Wedding ring

The groom would traditionally wear a Gold Wedding Ring, where as the bride would wear a Silver Designed Ring, both rings blessed using holy water by the priest. The ring finger which was chosen and still the same these days, was on the left hand, the Designer Wedding Rings are also exchanged three times in total. Things are quite different in most parts of Greece where identical plain rings are used with a particular choice of precious materials to be used. Usually, gold rings are the preferred option or even Platinum Rings, very popular in this modern age. These meaningful pre wedding gifts are usually worn on the 4th finger of the left hand until the big day, when they would be placed on the right hand. This is indeed in contrast to many customs today, where the titanium Rings or other style is worn on the left hand. There are so many beliefs or theories about the reason for choosing the left hand over the right one, one very practical reason could be the fact that most people are right handed, this in itself could lead to damage to the Wedding Rings whilst doing daily chores. Some nationalities practise the ceremony of betrothal immediately before the Wedding takes place, during which crowns are placed on the heads of the bride and groom to be, commonly called crowning. In the United Kingdom, a very strong tradition still used today, is to employ the services of a best man to take care of the unusual Rings until the precise time of ring exchanging takes place in the ceremony. For those people who can afford an elaborate wedding day, a ring bearer is usually used to carry out this task, often using a cushion to carry the Wedding Ring Sets. After the wedding has taken place, most countries prefer to wear the Unique Wedding Rings on their left hand, depending on their own personal traditions of course. An old Roman tradition would be third finger on the left hand, believed to lead directly to the heart.

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