The Wedding Bands
The wedding ring has symbolised
love and devotion throughout the ages and has changed over the ages so that it
looks more beautiful today. The circle
of the ring means “forever” and often a marriage celebrant will explain the
significance of the wedding ring when it is being placed on the ring finger
during the ceremony. Many couples will
have the inside of their wedding rings engraved with perhaps initials and a
date, and my wedding ring has our initials and date engraved inside.
You may wonder why the third
finger of the left hand is the traditional finger for the wedding ring to be
worn and it is because of a belief that the vein in the third finger of the
left hand moves straight from the heart, so women would wear their rings close
to their heart.
You may decide as quickly as I
did when I chose my wedding band on a trip to Hawaii three months before we
were married. I went into Na Hoku Jewellers
in Maui (fabulous shop – Google it!), and my eyes immediate fixed on a
beautiful gold wedding band engraved with the Maile vine leaf. I asked the significance of the leaf and was
told that it symbolises “respect and honour” and that the vines were often used
to bind the hands of the bride and groom at the marriage ceremony symbolising
their commitment to each other.
There are a variety of choices
when you decided to select your engagement and wedding rings, ranging from
Gold, White Gold, Platinum, Titanium.
I have listed a few tips to
consider when selecting your rings:
Gold
Gold in its pure state of 24
caret, is thought to be too soft for every day practical use and is often
alloyed with other metals which increase its durability. Gold rings when manufactured are coated with
rhodium, another white metal and this is similar to platinum and also includes
its white colour.
Titanium
Titanium is very strong and there
are three colours available which are silver grey, blue moon and sunburst. Often you will see titanium wedding rings
with a striped inlay of either silver or gold and perhaps diamonds added.
Platinum
Platinum is very long wearing and
is a white metal and is made in approximately 95% of its pure form, it does not
need to be rhodium plated like Gold.
Finger types and what suits you best
Long fingers will suit a flowing design,
not being too restricted and if you have short fingers then a slimmer straight
wedding band would best suit you. I have
noticed that white and gold wedding rings are becoming more popular with men’s
rings. Yellow or white gold looks good
on olive skin tone and white gold looks best on very fair skin.
