Most people in the United States know that it’s customary for a husband and wife to wear wedding rings and that these rings go on the ring finger of the left hand. But do you know why the wedding ring is on the left hand? And why people wear wedding rings at all? If not, learn all about the history of wedding rings in this article.
Why does the wedding ring go on the ring finger?
There’s a simple reason why we wear wedding rings on the ring finger, a tradition so common that the finger is actually called the ring finger because of it. This tradition goes back in time for centuries. In old times, the Romans thought that the vein located in the ring finger went all the way to one’s heart but that veins in other fingers didn’t. So to further signify the love that the married couple had for each other, they wore their wedding rings on the finger that had the “love vein” in it.
Why do we wear wedding rings on the left hand?
If you live in the United States, you probably think that the right place for a wedding ring is the left hand. But did you know that not all countries share this tradition? There are plenty of European countries where people wear their wedding rings on the right hand. The list includes Poland, Austria, Russia, Germany, Norway, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Denmark and a few others.
Where to wear an engagement ring?
When deciding where to wear your engagement, it all comes down to your culture and preference. In the US, it’s common to wear the engagement ring on the left ring finger, the same place where the wedding ring goes. In many counties of the world, couples put their engagement rings on the ring finger of the other hand, not the one where wedding rings go.
Interestingly, it’s becoming increasingly more common for men to wear engagement rings, with the practice being especially common in same-sex couples. In the US, most homosexual couples will wear their wedding and engagement rings on the ring finger of the right hand to set themselves apart from heterosexual couples.
So what about wearing your engagement and wedding rings together? Well, this is totally acceptable and commonly practiced today. If you want to wear both rings on the same hand, you can simply stack them by wearing them on top of each other. Many brides choose to wear their wedding ring closest to the heart at the base of the finger with the engagement ring being closer to the knuckle. As for your wedding day, simply move your engagement ring from the left hand to the right hand right before the ceremony and have your spouse place the engagement ring back on the left hand on top of the wedding band after or during the ceremony.