The wedding industry is dominated by brides. And it was all part of a concerted attempt to make marriage more stylish. Choosing the perfect ring can be a daunting task. Buying a diamond ring for your bride is one way to express the special feelings you have for her. Aside from being beautiful, diamonds are a symbol of unselfish love and are often used in engagements. Consider buying a princess cut halo diamond ring for your bride that gives her the ethnic appeal. Traditional weddings were, after all, realistic mergers and business agreements. As a result, today’s flowery dream is solely a female creation. Guys, on the other hand, devised the wedding ring. It displayed ownership, and trade at first.
Wedding bands for women are indeed a matter of status and property in some patriarchal cultures. The modern wedding ring, on the other hand, wields far more power than its ancient forerunner. Plus, because they’re worn by men (and same-sex couples), their importance has altered throughout time. Let’s have a glimpse at some of the several shades of meaning that might be attached to that nuptial union symbol.
Marital Status
Wearing a wedding band is an obvious visual indicator that you’ve been ‘taken.’ Particularly in today’s dating climate, where infidelity can lead to costly divorces. And, because married women in many countries have a higher social status over single women, that ring matters, even if your marriage isn’t perfect. But things were different in Ancient Rome.
Usus, confarreatio, coemptio (commercial marriage arranged by male relatives), and were the three types of marriage they had (legal marriage among nobles). In the latter, the man presented his bride with an annulus pronubus, an iron ring.
The family paid a gift to finance her care in her new marital house, as it looked to brand her as a husband’s property.
Romantic Love
Marriage used to be a way of securing family lineage as well as transferring property in the old days – Shakespeare or rather King Arthur. It wasn’t a romantic issue. This is why so many knights married lady-loves who were the husbands of other people. During these entanglements, a knight may present his lover with a posy ring (posie/poesy) engraved with a secret love message that only they may read.
This custom may have evolved into etchings and otherwise engravings on wedding bands later on. Often, the ring will have marks that indicate the karats or weight. It could have the name of the maker on it. However, the pair will frequently engrave their names on the ring, the wedding place, or the wedding date.
Perhaps they’ll choose a passage from a beloved song, poetry, or a phrase that means something to them. Wedding bands for women and men are worn on the left ring finger because it had been believed that this finger had a Vena Amoris or ‘Lover’s Vein’ that led straight to the heart.
Permanence
Wedding bands are round in shape. Infinity, limitless ages, and eternity are all represented by circles. Rings were forged and cast in various styles, but the seams were always hidden. A wedding ring was supposed to have no beginning and no finish. It was thought to be pre-ordained in some communities. Because many marriages were arranged, this made sense.
The Roman wedding ring – annuls pronubus – was made of iron to represent the strength and indestructibility of marriage (although divorces did happen). The metal also symbolised the bond’s indestructibility. The concept is akin to – albeit less romantic than – the idea of staying together in eternal love until death separates you.
Holistic Healing
We now know that wedding bands originated with the Ancient Egyptians. We also know they had a complicated religious system that encompassed elements of alchemy, marriage, and rebirth. As a result, it’s only natural that the jewels on your wedding ring have significant meaning. Engagement rings typically feature larger stones, whereas wedding bands for women typically have smaller stones.
Unless it’s part of a pair or three, a wedding band might not feature any gemstones at all. If you don’t want to go with traditional diamonds, you might choose birthstones or any valuable stone that is meaningful to your relationship. For shared childhood trauma, you can use a healing stone-like rainbow obsidian. Or fossilised wood for a common past. For fertility, emerald is a good choice.
Material Matters
Wedding rings were first made of reeds or rather planted stuff, and they had to be renewed on a regular basis. If you don’t want to wear metal, you can have a wedding ring made of wood or silicone. Silicone wedding bands for women are easy to clean; therefore, they’re chosen by health workers and those with busy occupations, active lifestyles, our daily routines that need a lot of hands-on labour, such as assembly line workers.
Wearing a wedding ring made of bamboo or getting a bridal band tattoo can help you stand out as ethical or environmentally conscious. If you still desire a metal wedding ring, yellow gold represents fidelity, rose gold represents romantic love, and white gold represents friendship.
To represent all three and your common past, present, and potential future paths, you may get a tri-metal wedding ring.
Commitment
If you’ve ever labelled someone as “just a buddy,” you understand the importance of commitment. You realise that the moment your family recognises this as your spouse or partner, it raises the stakes to a whole new level. It could also explain why, even in heteronormative relationships, you insist on addressing your loved other as your ‘partner’ or ‘person.’ That term is significant—quite a bit.
The Bottom Line:
Finally, we can draw from the history of wedding rings that we maintain this habit primarily owing to history and tradition instead of any long-held symbolism. With that in mind, the wedding ring’s origins — as far as we know, dating back to ancient Egypt — are inextricably linked to the circle’s design, which represents eternity and eternal love. There is a possibility to be made that there is no greater, more powerful, or more appropriate symbol for the job.
If you choose to go full-on conventional or go for silicone instead of gold, the meaning you assign to your ring is all up to you.
You may be sure that your chosen meaning shines through each and every time you look at it if you design your own as well add an engraving.
