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What Do Wedding Rings Symbolize?

Ancient Wedding Ring Customs

In the 2^nd Century B.C., rings were already being exchanged to profess lovers' undying love for each other. They were given prior to the marriage as a sign of a man's promise to marry a woman, similar to how engagement rings are given today. Meanwhile, traditional German customs involved the giving of wedding rings the morning after weddings, as a part of the "morning gifts" couples gave each other.  Later on, the Romans started exchanging wedding rings during marriage ceremonies. This ritual carried on into the Christianized Rome and to other European countries as well.

Ring Finger

So significant was the exchange of wedding rings in wedding ceremonies that during the seventh century, Bishop Isodore of Seville went so far as to say that wedding rings were given by one spouse to another "as a sign of mutual fidelity". Therefore, wedding rings are usually found on a person's fourth finger, beside the pinkie, as it connects to the vein that flows directly to the heart.

An Everlasting Promise

Wedding rings are ideally worn by the couple everyday, even if it has already been years since they got married to remind them to stay true to their promise of love and fidelity to each other.