It’s June! This is the month most associated with weddings and so I thought it fitting to do a little research into where the most enduring symbol of love and weddings originated. I love to discover the history of objects and follow their evolution through the years. Sources credit ancient Egypt with the invention of the wedding ring, albeit not in its present form. Scrolls and hieroglyphs describe the early wedding band as a braided ring fashioned from reeds, grasses or hemps. Rather than symbolizing eternal love and devotion it was to honor the brides’ ability to keep house. I am sure none of those early rings survived all the cooking, cleaning, washing and scrubbing that followed ;)
Through time the ring became to be made first of more crude metals like iron until it evolved into rings made from increasingly precious metals as we know them today. Still, the ring was a symbol of possession rather than enduring romantic love.
The custom of both the husband and the wife wearing a wedding ring is a fairly recent one in this country. Before the Great Depression only about 15% of all wedding ceremonies involved the exchange of rings. The tide started to change largely due to aggressive marketing, although the notion of a male engagement ring never caught on as retailers in the 1920’s had hoped.
By the 1940’s that number was up to 80% and is pretty much the norm in today’s society. But over recent years couples have begun a shift away from the more traditional yellow and white gold bands to an approach that showcases their individual tastes to a much greater degree and includes the use of more unusual materials, such as wood, bone, acrylics, tungsten carbide etc. Designs are definitely changing as couples are moving towards the expression of their individuality through the rings they choose. And so I decided to comb the internet for some interesting and unusual options.
Some want to branch out:
Some want to remember a special place:
Some love nature:
Some throw all convention to the wind:
It can hardly get more personal than this!
Your hearts belong together:
You are not afraid of being different:
Together the world will be your oyster! (I know, it’s more like a clam shell, but humor me)
I hope I have inspired you to think outside the box when it come to wedding ring designs. Be daring, be different and show the world you are not afraid of who you really are!
If any of you has a special story about how they came to to pick out their wedding ring, I sure would love to hear from you! And if you are among those who are getting ready to tie the knot soon! Congrats and I hope you have a wonderful life together!
Karin
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