Wedding Ring Finger
Wedding rings had their origin in ancient Egypt where sacred grasses and reeds which were considered holy were used as rings. In a renewal ritual, the old rings were discarded every year only to be replaced by fresh ones. The advent of gold wedding rings is a more recent happening. Even then only women wore one. Only around the Second World War did men start wearing wedding rings.
Wedding Rings: Which Finger?
While there is no hard and fast rule about the hand on which the ring is worn, it always worn on the fourth finger counting from the thumb. The Catholics of Eastern Europe almost always wear the wedding ring on the right hand, the left hand having connotations of being negative. Among some communities, the engagement ring was reused as the wedding ring after engraving it with the date of the wedding and name of the spouse. Sometimes, the bride wore silver while the man chose gold. Before the study of anatomy became prevalent, it was believed that a vein, vena amoris, went straight to the heart from the left ring finger prompting people to wear the wedding ring on that finger. Now it is common for women to move the engagement ring to the right ring finger to accommodate the wedding ring.