A wedding ring or wedding band consists of a metal ring. In certain countries it is worn on the base of the left ring finger. In other parts of the world, it is worn on the right ring finger (see Post-wedding customs below).
Such a ring symbolizes 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.
wedding rings
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. This tradition was quite possibly introduced by the Romans. Other more recent traditions, encouraged by the jewelry trade, seek to expand the idea of a series of ring-gifts with the pre-engagement ring, often given when serious courting begins, and the eternity ring, which symbolizes the renewal or ongoing nature of a lasting marriage, sometimes given after the birth of a first child; and a trilogy ring, usually displaying three brilliant-cut round diamonds each, in turn, representing the past, present and future of a relationship.
A 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.
Among Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians, the exchange of rings is not technically part of the wedding service, but rather are exchanged at the betrothal. It is always a two-ring ceremony. Traditionally, the groom's ring will be made of gold, and the bride's ring made of silver, and are blessed by the priest with holy water. The priest blesses the groom with the bride's ring, and places it on the ring finger of his left hand; he then blesses the bride with the groom's ring and places it on her finger. The rings are then exchanged three times either by the priest or by the best man. In Greece both rings are always identical, plain bands, usually gold but sometimes platinum, and the betrothed wear them on the 4th finger of the left hand until the wedding, after which they are worn on the right hand.
The Church of Greece has recently stopped performing betrothal blessings separately, as these were often non-committing, and a betrothal ceremony is the initial part of the wedding service anyway. In many families an informal blessing is now performed by the betrothed ones' parents in a family dinner that formalises the betrothal. While in modern times, the ceremony of betrothal is often performed immediately before the wedding (or "crowning" as it is more properly called), the actual symbolic act of marriage is not the exchange of rings, but the placing of crowns on the head of the bride and groom, and their partaking three times of the "common cup".
wedding rings
The custom that calls for the future bridegroom to give his future bride a jewelled ring upon proposing to her is also common among Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians, though this ring is not used again at the betrothal or wedding. Indeed it need not be a ring at all, but any piece or set of jewellery, such as a bracelet, brooch, earrings, necklace, tiara or, rarely, a whole parure.
Such a ring symbolizes 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.
wedding ringsAmong Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians, the exchange of rings is not technically part of the wedding service, but rather are exchanged at the betrothal. It is always a two-ring ceremony. Traditionally, the groom's ring will be made of gold, and the bride's ring made of silver, and are blessed by the priest with holy water. The priest blesses the groom with the bride's ring, and places it on the ring finger of his left hand; he then blesses the bride with the groom's ring and places it on her finger. The rings are then exchanged three times either by the priest or by the best man. In Greece both rings are always identical, plain bands, usually gold but sometimes platinum, and the betrothed wear them on the 4th finger of the left hand until the wedding, after which they are worn on the right hand.
wedding rings
wedding rings
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