Wedding Jewelry / Wedding Ring

A wedding band, or wedding ring consists of a precious metal ring, usually worn on the base of the ring finger -- the fourth finger (with the thumb counted as the first finger). Such a ring symbolises marriage: a spouse wears it to indicate a marital commitment to fidelity. The European custom of wearing such a ring has spread widely beyond Europe.

Pre-wedding customs

According to some customs, the wedding ring forms the last in a series of gifts which also may include the engagement ring, traditionally given as a betrothal present, and the promise ring, often given when serious courting begins. (Other (more recent) traditions (and the jewelry trade) seek to expand the idea of a series of ring-gifts with an eternity ring, which symbolises the renewal or ongoing nature of a lasting marriage, sometimes given after the birth of a first child, and a trilogy ring (usually) dsplaying three brilliant cut round diamonds each, in turn, representing the past, present and future of a relationship.)

An European tradition encourages the engraving of the name of one's intended spouse and the date of one's intended marriage on the inside surface of wedding rings, thus strengthening the symbolism and sentimentality of the rings as they become family heirlooms.

Wedding ceremony customs

The best man has a traditional duty to keep track of a marrying couple's wedding ring(s) and to produce them at the symbolic moment of the giving and receiving of the ring(s) during the traditional marriage ceremony.

In more grandiose weddings, a ring bearer (usually a young boy) may assist in the ceremonial of parading the ring(s) into the ceremony, often on a special cushion or pillow(s).

Post-wedding customs

Before medical science discovered how the circulatory system functioned, people believed that a vein of blood ran directly from the fourth finger on the left hand to the heart. (This belief allegedly dates to the 3rd century BC in Greece.) Because of the hand-heart connection, people named the putative vein descriptively vena amori, Latin for "the vein of love". Due to this tradition, it became accepted to wear the wedding ring on this finger. By wearing rings on the fourth finger of their left hands, a married couple symbolically declares their eternal love for each other. This has now become a matter of tradition and etiquette.

In most Western cultures, the wedding ring is worn on the left hand. In some countries, however (such as Germany, Norway, and Chile), it is worn on the right hand. Orthodox Christians, East Europeans and Jews also wear the wedding band on the right hand traditionally.

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