Wedding Rings and Engagement Rings - Libby Deege

As we are slowly creeping into Spring and Summer, it always reminds me that wedding season is starting to fire up! I started thinking about some of my older realitives and even my own parents who just opted for the wedding ring VS the whole engagement ring and then the wedding ring. How long ago did all of this start? The man goes out and buys a diamond then goes out to buy even more diamonds to present the day of the wedding. I often think of the act of telling your friends "Hey I am engaged!" the first response "Let me see the ring!!" What happened to congratulations? Has it become of symbol of how much you are loved by the size of the diamond?

Not just a mere object to adorn a finger, the ring has been a powerful symbol throughout history. Its circular shape and its banding to the body have given it meaning - from the magical to the practical. Rings have represented the cycle of life, the sun and moon and in the case of engagement rings, eternal love.

Although we now mostly associate the diamond, with its nearly indestructible properties, as the symbol of eternal love, it was first the plain ring that represented the promise of companionship. Today we still honor the plain ring as wedding bands, although the diamond engagement ring is seen as a more important or more powerful symbol of a man's love for his bride.

There is some evidence to suggest that the first wedding rings used by ancient peoples were actually ropes that held a woman as property and that is why the symbolic ring remained a part of our tradition. Rings may also have been used to signify ownership to men or tribes, and the exchange of rings signified the passing of the daughter of one clan to another.

Today, the diamond engagement ring is regarded by most as an essential part of the act of getting married. There are many styles, shapes and types of rings to choose from and diamonds to fit almost any budget. The modern wedding ring has spawned a global business of retailers, crafters, miners and importers. And to think it all began with a simple little bit of rope.