Wedding Rings 101: Myths, Lore, and Fun Facts

The "never ending band of gold" represents the never ending love and devotion that a marriage is supposed to provide. Although "until death us do part" perhaps isn't as much of a vow as it was in past days, new brides and grooms every single day are exchanging wedding rings with confidence that their union will indeed be never ending.

Do you think that the wearing of wedding rings is a relatively new custom? Not so! It is quite surprising, but the first wedding rings of woven and braided reeds and rushes were exchanged by a new bride and groom in Egypt well over four thousand years ago!

Many cultures in centuries even reaching into the B.C. era considered a circle, and thus a ring, an emblem of eternity. Rings have no beginning and no end so it became popular to exchange them at marriage events. For the ancient Egyptians, the circle shape had an additional meaning (to worship the sun) and even the hole where a finger is placed had its own meaning (a door leading to the past and future).

As an interesting note of history, the ancient Egyptians and later other civilizations wore their wedding rings on the same finger that is used in many cultures today. The legend was that the vein in the "wedding ring finger" (third finger, left hand) led directly to the heart.

A second note of interest is that in the medieval days, in parts of England, the groom would say "in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit" while putting the ring part way onto the bride's thumb and next two fingers, to have it permanently stay on the next finger, today's "ring finger."

Using metal for making wedding rings eventually became popular but they were usually far from perfectly round and they often had gems put into them. Other rings made of metals (especially gold) were used as money in some ancient cultures as well. If a person was wealthy, they often showed that fact to others by the jewelry they wore.

Very early in time, when metal was used for wedding rings, most often used were brass and copper but the Romans preferred to use iron. And yes, there was indeed a problem with rust. To them it denoted strength and that was a good way to represent the love that was felt for the bride by the groom. It has just been a relatively recent tradition for the man in the union to wear a wedding ring.

Rings were not always given to the bride at the marriage ceremony. Sometimes the rings were given after the wedding was over and the bride and groom entered their new home.

By the 17th century, silver was sometimes being used for rings and some wedding rings were having inscriptions put in them. Words of love, hope, and devotion were suddenly being worn and kept close 24 hours a day, making the wedding ring even more sentimental.

Some Superstitions:

In Ireland it was once thought to be bad luck if your wedding ring was made of any material other than gold.

In parts of the world, the superstition goes that wedding rings have to fit perfectly well on the wearer's fingers or various types of bad luck will visit. (Too tight or too loose each had their own miseries attached).