Human beings have a great love of adornment, and one event that provides them with an opportunity to dress up and also to buy jewelry is a wedding. Most cultures use symbols to indicate a person’s married status, and an enduring symbol is that of the wedding band. Wedding bands have been in use since ancient times and there is ample evidence of this fact from paintings and sculpture although the exact origin of the practice is obscure. What is very clear however is that the ancients invested the circle with many magical connotations because it is endless. This is probably the reason why it was chosen to symbolize marriage.

It is believed that the ancient Egyptians popularized the use of rings to symbolize marriage, and the practice was then adopted by the Greeks and it was then passed on to the Romans. Since the Roman civilization was the foundation of Western civilization as we know it today, it is not difficult to understand why the use of wedding rings has become very popular today.

The material used to make the wedding bands as well the finger it was worn on has changed over the ages. The ancient Romans were known to wear wedding rings made of iron or bronze. This practice changed over the ages and the practice of wearing gold rings became very common in medieval times. By these times, the purpose of the ring changed from mere indication of marriage to denoting how valuable the couple was to each other.

The use of a wedding band became widespread in the medieval ages when Pope Innocent the Third who rules in the 12th century decreed that all marriages had to be performed in a church, and that the ceremony would only be complete if it included a wedding band. This rule gave the wedding band a great religious significance which continues till today.

Even the finger where the wedding band was worn changed over the ages. It was previously worn on the third finger of the left hand because this finger was believed to have a nerve or artery running right to the heart. Also, this hand is closer to the heart. King Edward VI of England was responsible for making this official and the Book of Common Prayer instructed all people to do so. However, many European women prefer to wear the ring on their right hand.

Most couples spend a lot of time and money while choosing an engagement ring, but it is a wedding band that has primacy over it. This ring no longer has any magical connotation, and it has lost much of its religious significance today. However, it is still worn due to cultural reasons, particularly to indicate that one is no longer available to other partners and to signify ones commitment to the marriage. There is a huge selection of wedding bands that they can choose from unlike in olden days, and it is possible to get a set that matches their expectations as well as their budget.

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