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You know the look: That quick glance at someone’s left hand to see if there’s a ring there. But the modern tradition of wearing wedding bands has grown out of a fascinating history filled with twists and turns — and men’s wedding bands in particular are a surprisingly recent innovation.
The History of Wedding Rings
Wedding rings appear to have first been exchanged in ancient Egypt, when couples used rings made of anything from braided hemp to ivory or leather to mark their commitment. By the time of ancient Rome, those rings had become more durable, with grooms presenting their brides with rings made of iron — the first metal wedding bands on record.
Sometime in those ancient days, the tradition of wearing a wedding band on the fourth finger of the left hand arose. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans all thought that a vein, known as the “vein of love,” ran directly from the left ring finger to the heart. While that’s not actually true, the tradition has survived more than 2,000 years to today.
The wedding band tradition took a great leap forward 1,000 years later when the pope insisted that Catholic marriages include a ring. At this time, only brides wore a wedding band. Gold was preferred by some popes, since it demonstrated the ability of the groom to support his new wife, but many other metals were also popular, including silver and iron, in a callback to those Roman wedding bands.
Wedding rings got downright fancy in the Renaissance, which is when men first began to flirt with the idea with wearing a wedding band. However, in this case, the men only wore their ring, called a gimmel ring, during their engagement. Gimmel rings, which were highly ornate, came in two interlocking parts. The engaged couple each wore one part until the wedding, at which time the groom turned over his ring to his bride, locking the two pieces together.
Of course, the Puritans wanted nothing to do with wedding rings, because they considered all jewelry to be ungodly and silly. New husbands often gave their brides a thimble instead of a ring, because it was seen as useful. (But the women often managed to remove part of the thimble to create a ring anyway.)
By the 1800s, rings started to go over the top in their ornateness. Instead of the relatively simple wedding bands preferred today, Victorian grooms dazzled their brides with precious jewels of all kinds. But still, it was only the women who got the privilege of wearing a wedding band.
What About the Groom’s Wedding Band?
Grooms finally started to get their chance to show off their love beginning in World War II. Many men fighting overseas started to wear plain gold wedding bands as a way to keep the thought of their wives with them at all times. It’s easy to see why this new tradition caught on — almost as if for centuries, all those young husbands had just been waiting for a reason to get their own wedding bands.
Who Should Buy the Groom’s Wedding Band?
Since WWII, wedding bands for grooms have become increasingly popular, with most couples assuming that of course each of them will wear a ring. But that (reiatively) newfound popularity brings up a new etiquette question: Who pays for the groom’s ring?
The good news? There’s no strict etiquette rule at all about who pays for the wedding band. According to Alpine Rings, couples often buy rings jointly. Sometimes the bride buys the groom’s ring, and vice versa. In a new tradition, sometimes each set of parents buys the ring for the new member of their family.
That means you’re free to create your own traditions as you plan for the one physical element of your wedding that will stay with you forever.
