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Wedding RingsWedding Rings"With this ring, I thee wed..." After all your planning, ordering wedding cakes and wedding gowns, deciding on reception venues, wedding decorations, centerpieces, flowers, we come to the wedding rings - symbol of this entire wedding day. Your wedding rings will still be on your fingers long after the wedding cake is consumed, the gown is cleaned, boxed and saved, and the ceremony, reception, decorations, centrepieces and flowers are memories captured in pictures. How do you make the right choice? Here are some guidelines:
A good part of choosing your rings is your own personal taste. Do you like white gold better than yellow gold; do you like plain or fancy; do you like wide bands or thinner ones? Start out by figuring out what your taste is, but leave yourself open to other options when you go looking. If you have an engagement ring, remember that your wedding band doesn't have to match it. Some people wear their engagement rings on the ring finger of the opposite hand after the wedding. Some people wear unmatched rings on one finger. Some people wear their engagement and/or wedding rings on chains around their necks. Just so's you know, wearing unmatched rings - rings that are not part of a set - is now becoming more popular. Even if you think you know exactly what you want, go out and look at your options just to make sure. God willing and the creeks don't rise, you'll be wearing this ring for the rest of your life. Make sure it's the one you want. Mine is a plain yellow gold band (that cost all of $30.00 thirty three years ago!), but it took me a while to come to the decision that this was really what I wanted. I must have tried on hundreds of bands of varying kinds and widths that February when we started our search for our wedding rings and I love my ring still. It's perfect. Jewelry stores are just one kind of place to look for rings. There are many on line shops to peruse, as well as estate jewelers or sales, auctions and antique stores. There may be a relative of the bride or groom who has family rings to give you. There are talented artisans who craft one-of-a-kind custom rings, or who can take a family ring and change the setting to suit your tastes. There may be a kind of ring that is traditional in your family, for example, Celtic rings, that you may want to look at. Figure out what features are important to you: Each person will have different features that are important to them. Keep in mind that certain occupations have rules about jewelry you can wear on the job. If you suspect this might be the case for your job and you want to wear your ring to work, check it out.
Leave yourselves lots of time to get your perfect wedding rings, because: Here's some Wedding Ring Trivia: In most cultures, the wedding ring is worn on the left ring finger which is closest to the heart - the finger that contains the "vein of love". People in other cultures wear their wedding rings on the same finger of the right hand, or on their toes. It used to be that the groom would give the bride gold and silver coins as the last of his wedding gifts to her. This tradition morphed into gold or silver rings. In some cultures, the wedding ring doubles as an engagement ring too. The bride gives the groom a gold band and the groom gives the bride a silver band at a betrothal ceremony and these rings are placed on the left ring finger. When it comes time for the wedding, these rings are taken off this finger and switched to the right hand. As a matter of fact, the custom of giving two separate rings is as recent as the 15th century. It used to be that the best man always carried the rings. Now, ring bearers can perform the same function. Some wedding bands have three "strands" of metal fused together, or three stones set into the bands, to represent the past, the present and the future together. Today, rings can be crafted out of yellow or white gold, platinum, titanium, silver and even stainless steel. A bride wearing gloves to church will need to have a pair with a removable ring finger, or will have to - hopefully gracefully - take the gloves off before the exchange of rings. Leave wedding rings and back to main page.
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