Ceremony Ring Options: Who Knew!

One of the things that hadn't really crossed my mind was that there is an option of which ring(s) to use during the Exchange of Rings part of the ceremony. Because I had no clue, I hadn't even thought about what I'd prefer!

My bling... Yes, I still LOVE it!

From the research I've done tonight, I've learned a lot. The wedding band is apparently traditionally worn under the engagement ring which also means it's closer to the heart. Fortunately, that's where I've been planning on wearing my ring! As far as ways to use the ring(s) in the ceremony, there are five main options:

1. Transfer the ring to the right hand. Most of the time, the bride moves her engagement ring to the ring finger on her right hand. At some point before the end of the ceremony, she slips the engagement ring onto the left ring finger.
2. Groom puts both rings on the bride's hand. At some point - and I'm reading the option as either wearing the engagement ring as I walk down the aisle to Patrick or handing over the ring beforehand - I would give Patrick (or Sean?) my engagement ring, and Patrick would put both rings on my finger instead of just the wedding band.
3. Put the wedding band on top of the engagement ring. If I didn't want to have to take off the engagement ring AT ALL, I could keep it in place and have Patrick put the wedding band on the same finger. It would be in the wrong order, but that could be changed afterwards.
4. Wear only the wedding band during the ceremony. To have Patrick put a ring on my finger during the ceremony (without starting out wearing one), we could have someone hold the engagement ring or put it in a safe place during the ceremony. Afterwards, I'd be able to put it back on.
5. Solder the two rings together before the ceremony. Since the rings were made to fit together, they could permanently be attached. With this option, there would be no option rather than to use both rings during the ceremony

 Here are my thoughts for those options...

1. Transferring the engagement ring to my right hand isn't an option that will work for me. Right now, my engagement ring doesn't fit on the right ring finger, and I'm planning on getting it sized down another 1/4 of a size this week (it's gotten a little bit too big and turns so the diamond isn't on the top of my finger). There's no way it'll fit on my right hand when it's smaller. #1 = No.
2. I like this option because it incorporates the engagement ring - which I adore. I'm not sure yet how I feel about wearing the engagement ring down the aisle vs. not wearing it. I could see both sides of that argument, but the jury's not in for me yet. #2 = Possibility.
   
3. This continues the discussion about wearing the engagement ring into the ceremony, but I'm not a big fan of this thought. If I'm going to have both rings included in some way, I'd want them to be in the same order as I'd be wearing them in the future.  #3 = No.
   
4. The option of completely leaving the engagement ring out makes me sad. #4 = NO.
5. To solder the rings together would make it permanent, and that's not something I'm sure about. Before making that decision, I want to be able to wear both rings for some time and see if I prefer them to be separate or if it's better to have them solidly together. I'd probably like them together, but before making an uneducated decision, I'm holding out on that. #5 = I like the thought, but just not yet. 

Well, it looks like #2 is our winner! The only things to figure out are if I want to wear the engagement ring as I walk into the ceremony and at what point to hand over the ring. It would most likely seem to be the biggest statement if I walked in ring-less & out with a ring (or rings), but it's something to think about...


-Lisa

NOTE: If you received this blog post as an incomplete email first, I apologize; it was all thanks to the website's excitement to get this entry out to the universe. I tried to press "enter" to make it go to the next line, and the blog entry was inadvertently sent. Yes, blogger.com, that was frustrating, but thank you for your enthusiasm.