Jewellery News

In modern day weddings in western society, rings are usually exchanged by both the bride and groom as a sign of their fidelity to each other. The rings are most often made of gold or silver and are at the core of the ceremony itself. Here are some facts about the exchanging of rings custom.

The best man is often charged with keeping the rings until the time to exchange them arrives.

Often the rings are brought down the aisle attached to a pillow to the front of the church by a young male with the title of ringbearer. Many times this is symbolic and the rings are not actually attached to the pillow.

In some cultures the wedding ring is the same ring as the engagement ring and merely has its name changed at the time of marriage while other cultures have two distinctive rings.

Though the custom of giving the bride a ring at the ceremony dates back centuries and was originally tied to an exchanging of valuables between the two families, the double ring ceremony in which the groom also is given a ring did not come into play until the early 1900s. Even at that time only roughly 10% of weddings included double ring ceremonies, it wasn’t until the late 1940s that the majority of weddings consisted of the groom being given a ring as well.

The placement of the wedding ring on the bride is also open to some interpretation. One tradition states that the wedding ring should be worn at the base of the finger so as to be closer to the heart of the bride; the engagement ring is then placed above the wedding ring. Another tradition states that the wedding ring is worn above the engagement ring so as to symbolically include the engagement ring and its meanings within the wedding vows.

Many different materials can be involved in the physical make-up of a modern wedding ring, including: gold, silver, platinum, a white or yellow gold alloy, tungsten carbide, nickel silver, and at times even stainless steel. Copper and brass are rarely used because of their corrosive nature.

While the wedding rings symbolize the completeness of the commitment of the marriage ceremony and are based on the tradition of an exchange of valuable gifts between the two families, there are many more customs associated with them that most are not completely aware of.