Getting married is meant to be the happiest day of your life. The rings that you exchange are a symbolic gesture of your love and commitment to one another. The ring is said to symbolize eternity as it goes on forever with no start and no end. The hole in the centre of the ring is said to symbolize a door or gateway to things unknown and to give a ring to a woman signifies eternal love. The gesture of sharing rings may originate from Egypt and is common place worldwide today, although the true origins and reasons for this are still somewhat shrouded in mystery. It is thought that the oldest exchange of wedding rings came from Egypt around 4800 years ago, and rings were braided together out of papyrus and rushes gathered from the River Nile. In modern day society, most people will wear the wedding ring on the base of the fourth finger on the left hand, otherwise known as the ring finger.
A Bit More History
The Roman culture also adopted the ring in marriage, but they put their own spin on things. A ring was given to a woman to claim her and denotes ownership rather than eternal love. These were usually made of plain metals and were not decorated that much. These were later to be known as betrothal rings and later on they started to engrave and decorate them. Christians did not start using rings in the wedding ceremony until much later on as it was sometime around 900AD. These were ornately decorated with flowers and animals and were in fact frowned upon by the church as they said they it is something that heathens would wear. It wasn’t until around the 13th century that the rings were simplified and more accepted by the church. There is also a specific reason as to why the ring finger is used to place a ring on. It was thought at one time that this finger had a vein which ran directly to ones heart and was known as the Vein of Love. This is of course not true, but like a lot of superstitions it is still followed today, although the true meaning is lost on a lot of people and there are also other alternative theories to the use of this particular finger.
Modern Wedding Rings
If you are looking at getting married today and are looking for wedding rings for the both of you, then there is quite a lot of choice available in Kalmar Antiques.
- Gold Wedding Rings
- Platinum Wedding Rings
- Antique Wedding Rings
- Palladium Wedding Rings
- Bespoke Wedding Rings
If you are not keen on what is on offer with the new wedding rings available n the market, you can even approach a Goldsmith and get them to create a completely bespoke wedding ring for you made out of your desired metal. Traditionally gold was always used, but today all sorts of other precious metals are also used such as Platinum, Silver or Palladium. It is not only a question of cost but also a question of style and taste as well. Instead of something modern you may even look to get some cheap antique jewellery instead which has a bit of character as well as history.
In modern society, you will usually find that the engagement ring is the lavish and ornate ring whilst the wedding rings are usually plain, although this is not the case all of the time. As mentioned previously it is all down to personal taste and what you like. Ultimately the ring is a symbol within the relationship so you can use any ring that you want to show your betrothal and commitment to each other. Just because, society says you should have one thing, sometimes it is good to rebel and be a bit different from everyone else. Everyone likes to stand out from the crowd every now and then! Whatever you decide for you and your partner, remember it is the commitment which is important and not the ring itself!
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Misty Angel wrote and contributed this article for Kalmar Antiques. Kalmar Antiques carries a wide selection of Antique jewellery including wedding and engagement rings available. A keen blogger and collector of jewellery and history, Misty loves to share her ideas and thoughts with others.