Why Do We Even Wear Wedding Rings?

ONCE UPON A TIME…

The origins of the tradition of wearing a wedding ring vary but most accounts point to the ancient Egyptians. Back in their heyday, the Egyptians believed in the “vena amoris,” or the “vein of love.” This vein, they thought, ran from the fourth finger of your hand all the way to your heart. Put a ring on it and, well, you get the symbolism. 

The Egyptians hardly had a monopoly on rings, though. For time immemorial, human cultures have used rings as a way to signify any number of major commitments.

In ancient Rome, rings denoted social status; only certain classes could wear gold. Signet rings were all the fashion during the Middle Ages. Such a ring might be a part of any number of religious, legal, and commercial decisions. It might even sign a letter in a world before caller ID. Today, of course, rings are often worn to celebrate a couple’s commitment to one another.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

The romantic origins of the wedding band are murky but the tradition of wedding rings is longer than the somewhat more popular modern-day tradition of engagement rings.

Thanks to the engagement bling of celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor or, more recently, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, we now often equate the start of wedding planning with the exchange of a ring.