Wedding Rings

The Tradition Of Handing Down Wedding Rings

Wedding rings symbolize the everlasting love that holds a couple together throughout the marriage and everything that it brings (good and bad). The tradition of handing down wedding rings has its origin in the Ancient Egypt where men made some bands out of twisted hemp strands and handed them over to their women in order to prove the immortality of their love. Later the Romans have taken this idea and turned it into a new one by that that they used iron instead of the hemp strands and positioned the iron band on the third finger of the left hand where the vein that goes to the of heart is said to be.

In those times handing down this ring was a symbol of not merely love but also possession as the wife was seen as a thing that belonged to the husband and the finger band was the object to prove it. Next to the symbol of love there was also another connotation for the act of handing the ring; for example in the medieval England the words “with this ring I wed thee” were followed by the gesture of the groom handing a leather purse filled with gold and silver coins to the bride as a gift of “earnest money”.

Later on among the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians appeared the tradition to hand over the rings as being part of the betrothal ceremony rather than the wedding one. The metal also differed, it was the groom that had a gold ring, whereas the bride’s was made of silver. Both of them were blessed by the priest with holy water. The act of handing them down was performed by the priest placing the rings on the ring finger of their left hand. This tradition made a betrothal more important than the rite of wedding as the ever to last vows of a marriage were sealed during the ceremony of engagement.

In British tradition, there is this figure called “the best man” as the person to keep track of the wedding couple’s rings and at the moment of exchanging vows he is supposed to hand them over to the couple. For some elaborate weddings there is also a custom for another person to be in charge with the wedding rings, this one being named “the ring bearer”, who is usually a young boy that is supposed to parade the rings into the ceremony, often on an elegant small cushion.

In the middle ages there was a sign of wealth for those who afforded to buy gold and silver bands. The more embellished they were with gems or stones, the more they reflected the social status of the wedded couple. But even so, they still represented a transfer of ownership of the bride from the father to the husband.

Nowadays the tradition of handing down wedding rings to be worn on the ring finger of the left hand kept in most of the countries but there are still some regions where the newly wed wear the wedding rings on the ring finger of their right hand. But no matter where you wear the wedding rings the simple act of handing them down symbolizes an indestructible bond that connects for life man and wife.