How to Personalize Your Wedding Band: Engraving Your Rings with a Special Saying

When you and your fiancé are purchasing wedding bands that you plan to wear for the rest of your life, engraving a special saying inside them is a good way to give them a personal touch and sentimental value. However, many couples are at a loss for what to engrave on them (after all, it will be there forever), or don't even think about the possibility of engraving the inside of their wedding bands.

Cost of Engraving Your Wedding Band
Believe it or not, most places will engrave your wedding band for free if you buy it from them. Other places charge a nominal fee, usually $10 or less, which is not much in the big scheme of things. When you are shopping for your wedding bands, you should ask about their engraving services, in particular, how much it costs, how many characters you can engrave, and what fonts are available. Also ask if there is any additional restocking fee if you need to return or exchange an engraved band.

Engraving Your Comfort-Fit Wedding Band
If you are getting the increasingly popular comfort-fit wedding bands, you will not have as much space to engrave because the inside of the wedding band is domed and the engraving can't get too close to the edge. Therefore, especially for women, your letters might only be 1 millimeter tall, which is not big enough for most people to read. You might want to consider a wider band or a traditional flat inside surface.

Re-Sizing Your Engraved Wedding Band
Another thing to consider is that if you ever re-size your band, it might warp or cut out part of the engraving. Therefore, if you have stones on your wedding band, check to see if the engraving can be mostly on the side under the stones so it will still be intact if the bottom side needs to be cut to add or remove metal when it is re-sized. If your saying that will be engraved is long, ask how far around the ring it will go so you can size your ring smaller without cutting any of your engraving out.

What to Engrave on Your Wedding Band
Whether a letter, a word, a symbol, or a whole saying, your engraving should be something that is meaningful to both you and your spouse. You can either pick out your own things to engrave, or keep it a surprise and engrave a short message on each other's rings. They can be identical, (like the wedding date or your names), complementary (his saying "Spice" and hers saying "Sugar"), or completely different. Many Christian couples choose to engrave Bible verses or references on their rings, such as the popular passage on marriage in Ephesians 4, or a verse about love from Song of Solomon 8.

What Not to Engrave on Your Wedding Band
As much as possible, try to avoid engraving meaningless clichés on your wedding rings. Engraving "I Love You" is not the most thoughtful or unique thing out there, and I'm sure you can think of something that better encompasses your relationship. Also be careful with inside jokes or things that you think are funny. Will you still appreciate them and see them as valuable in 50 years? The rings will last a lifetime, and your engraving should remain relevant for the duration of your marriage.