Which Hand Does A Woman Wear Her Wedding Ring On

Which Hand Does A Woman Wear Her Wedding Ring On

Are You Thinking About Proposing?

As December is responsible for over 32% of the country's proposals and with Christmas Eve being on a Saturday. . .we want to wish our nervous friends who have that ring box in their pockets the best of luck and know come Monday, we will be right here to take you through the fun process of planning your big weekend. 

 

Illustration by Karen Kurycki /For The Washington Post

With Same Sex Marriage Laws Come Stunning Alternative Wedding Bands

In recent months, many states have passed groundbreaking laws allowing same sex marriage. While not yet federally recognized, the laws have allowed many people the chance to make their relationships official and even to obtain tax and health benefits that states allow to other couples. With these changes, a segment of the population that was largely excluded from the wedding community has a chance to make their love official, and with these ceremonies come a host of remarkable alternative wedding bands.

While a number of same sex couples opt for traditional wedding bands, many couples are looking to alternative jewelry. While for some the choice is in order to obtain custom matching bands, for others the choice is about finding rings that stand out and serve as a reminder of how hard they fought for the right to have what the rings symbolize. Alternative wedding bands come in a variety of designs, settings, and colors, and the choices are nearly infinite.

One popular trend among same sex couples is to purchase matching bands or rings for their wedding. Many of these bands share a common inscription, which may be on the inside or the outside of the ring. The inscriptions vary, from names and dates to sentimental phrases, literary quotes, biblical verses, and more. Other couples opt for matching rings with symbols of gender or traditional wedding symbols, such as the Claddagh.

Another common trend among current same sex couples is to choose matching settings and use alternative stones rather than diamonds. The most popular stones chosen are for each member of the couple to use the other’s birthstone. This creates beautiful rings that mark a special occasion in a unique way.

Many same sex couples also consider rings with six differently colored stones representing the rainbow, which is considered a symbol of gay pride. When these rings are made with real gemstones, they are both exceptionally beautiful and quite valuable. For couples unable to afford these gemstone bands, there are alternatives made with simulated stones.

Perhaps the most popular ring style among same sex couples is the band. While the band can be simple or elegant, it does not contain protruding stones. This is for both aesthetic and practical reasons. Many people do not enjoy protruding stones that immediately draw the eye, and in many professions they are considered hazardous and even forbidden. They can quickly snag on gloves and machinery and can present a risk to wearers, patients, and coworkers. This has helped to increase the popularity of alternative wedding bands.

While many people can not wear rings with three dimensional stones, many couples still seek rings that offer more than a simple, single colored band. Many alternative wedding bands feature a combination of two or more metals in a pattern. This can be anything from black titanium and platinum to a combination of white and yellow gold. Designs range from simple stripes to intricate Celtic knot designs and gay pride symbols.

There is really no shortage to the designs that can be implemented on alternative wedding bands. Many same sex couples elect to create their own custom wedding bands in order to have a set of rings that is truly unique to them. These couples have waited a long time, some of them an entire lifetime of sixty years or more for this day, knowing that they may never see it, and the desire for everything to be perfect means the creation of the perfect wedding rings.

While not yet legal across the nation, a few states have set forth this groundbreaking legislation. Political arguments aside, these laws allow for numerous happy couples to finally have the chance to walk down the aisle and pledge their lives to the person they love. While each ceremony is still considered groundbreaking and each couple still feels incredibly lucky to take part, at the heart of every ceremony is a simple exchange of vows and rings that symbolize the culmination of many years of struggling. With the exchange of these alternative wedding bands, these couples can take a look at their ring fingers and know two very important things; they have finally been able to legally promise to spend their lives with the ones they love, and they were truly a part of changing history.

With the legalization of what has long been called an “alternative lifestyle”, it is only fitting that there is commonly an exchange of what we consider alternative wedding bands. Not the three dimensional, diamond studded bands that are expected at most weddings, but quieter, more subtle, and often with stones embedded inside the band, these rings are unique and often one (or two) of a kind. They seem to make a perfect way to mark a union so unique and so desperately fought for.

Seven Pointless and Painful Wedding Traditions

African-American couples jump over the broom, Jewish couples dance the Hora, and my own parents’ wedding involved my mother wearing a special hat while old ladies sang a Polish folk song around her. Not to mention the traditional Polish vodka-drinking competition.

Wedding ceremonies are ruled by traditions, most stemming from the couple’s ethnic heritage, their religious affiliation, or where they live. Many wedding traditions reflect deep ties to our culture and community, but like anything else, weddings evolve as the times change. Some old-fashioned traditions have become meaningless actions that don’t have much relevance to our modern lives. As summer approaches, many of us will be sweating through a wedding or two, and we definitely wouldn’t complain if some of these outdated rituals fell by the wayside.

1. Throwing the Garter
This tradition supposedly originated in a belief that it was lucky to grab a swatch of the bride’s clothes. Somehow, it metamorphosed into the groom removing the bride’s lingerie and throwing it at all the single men, bestowing nuptial luck on the catcher of the garter. It’s archaic at best, just plain uncomfortable at worst. Who wants to watch a woman hoist her skirts above her head on what is supposedly the happiest and most dignified day of her life? And what single man actually wants to catch the thing, anyway?

2. Smashing Cake in Each Other’s Face
It’s your wedding day, you’re all dressed up, and you’re being watched by all of your nearest and dearest … now is not the time for a food fight. The lore surrounding cake-smashing describes it as stemming from an ancient Roman ritual where cake was thrown at the bride to ensure fertility. While it’s nice that the tradition has become a little less violent, covering each other in pastry is pretty silly and juvenile. Married couples have the rest of their lives to throw things at each other, and if you’re paying top dollar for photography, you don’t want all your pictures to show a face full of frosting.


3. Catching the Bouquet
What is it with weddings and projectile accessories? The tossing of the bridal bouquet, another remnant of distributing the bride’s “lucky” clothes to the anxious single ladies of the audience stopped being compulsory when women stopped rushing to the altar. I have been to several weddings as a single woman and not once has the dance floor been full of women anxious to catch the darned thing. And for those who are looking to get hitched, nobody wants to pop the question to a girl who’s writhing and scrapping for flowers on the floor.

4. Ginormous Wedding Parties
Having a best friend or two stand with you at your wedding is powerful and meaningful, but does anyone really need an entire army of attendants? It’s doubtful that any marauding hordes are going to try to bust up the wedding. Most friends are delighted to help with the shower or bachelorette party if they can, but are perfectly happy enjoying the ceremony from the sidelines. Plus it saves them from spending $250 on a dress or renting a tuxedo.

5. The Bride’s Parents Footing the Bill
This relic of a time when girls were used as bartering chips just doesn’t fit in with modern families. The bride’s family doesn’t have to show their appreciation to the groom for taking their daughter off their hands. Few modern weddings are paid for solely by the bride’s parents; most are financed by the couple themselves, in conjunction with their parents. If everyone is able to contribute to the affair, they should.

6. The “Dollar Dance”
It’s nice to want to drum up a little cash for the bride and groom as they start their new life together, but charging guests $1 to dance with them for sixty seconds just feels chintzy. At the end of the night, what difference does $47 really make? Wedding guests already bring gifts and well-wishes and don’t want to feel like they have to make extra donations.

7. Diamond Engagement Rings
Diamonds may be “forever,” but they haven’t been that way for very long. The De Beers company created the engagement ring rush in the early twentieth century as a way to boost sales. Their PR machine placed diamonds in Hollywood films and advertised diamonds as the ultimate expression of love and fidelity. Americans bought it hook, line, and sinker, becoming the world’s largest market for diamonds. Actually, diamonds aren’t even all that rare, but diamond miners control the supply to artificially inflate prices. Especially since people have become more aware of diamonds’ origins in conflict-ravaged Africa, some people are opting to avoid diamonds in their engagement jewelry.


What was once fashionable and expected doesn’t have to rule how couples celebrate their marriage nowadays. Many couples now write their own vows or choose exciting locations for their ceremony, rather than follow the usual traditions. Having cupcakes instead of cake or wearing dresses in colors other than white are other ways that people create the wedding they want.

Ultimately, it’s up to the couple to decide which traditions they want to include in their celebrations and which traditions to leave out. It’s no more necessary to put a sixpence in the bride’s shoe than it is to save a piece of wedding cake until the first anniversary. And any tradition that’s special and meaningful to the bride and groom will seem special and meaningful to their guests, no matter how many bridesmaids there are, how cheesy the first dance is, or how many undergarments get tossed into the crowd.

By: Allison Ford
Via http://www.divinecaroline.com/22360/76067-seven-pointless-painful-wedding-traditions