 | |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Gallery
 | On Rings
Everyone thinks he/she knows the origin of many of our favorite wedding traditions. Much has been written about them but more has come down through oral exchanges and story telling. A writer named June Jenkins compiled a rather complete list of the origins of many and she provided them for a Bridal Fair in 1981. One of the most interesting traditions she described concerns wedding rings. Most authorities agree that Egyptians were the first to use wedding rings in their marriage ceremonies. In their religion, they believed that the circle represented eternity. That made it a perfect symbol for a lasting marriage.
Because by definition, traditions are built on what has gone before, it seemed natural that early Romans would adopt the Egyptian use of the ring. As the Roman civilization evolved early iron rings were replaced by gold. Many of them were engraved with likenesses of the bride and groom and it was not unusual to attach the key to a house to the wedding ring. The Egyptians are also credited with the tradition of wearing a wedding ring on the third finger of the left hand. They believed that a vein passed from this finger directly to the heart. If the vein was circled with a gold ring, the love was also encircled and could not escape. That is the reason that today many women never remove their wedding rings. In the Elizabethan court, it became fashionable for a woman to wear several fancy rings. To distinguish it, a simple gold band became the sign of a wedding ring. However, over time other cultures wore the wedding ring on other fingers. In the 18th century, many women wore their wedding rings on their thumbs. Europeans believed that if a wedding ring didn’t fit perfectly, it was a sign that the couple was incompatible. So much for allowing for periodic weight gain. Amazingly – while rings have remained important to multiple generations, there has never been a law that required their use. |
