Wedding bands are an important part of the ceremony that unites two people in matrimony.
Before the rings are passed to the bride and groom to put on each other’s fingers, there is a time that they have to be held by someone else.
Before and during the marriage ceremony, it is the ring bearers’ job to hold the wedding bands. This role is most commonly filled by the best man and/or the maid of honor. However, anyone can be a ring bearer, such as other family members or close friends.
There are traditional ways to go about having the rings presented, but there are many other options that are available to the public.
Everyone is allowed to make the rules for their own wedding, but some ideas and traditions are listed below.
Ring Bearer
Ring Bearer is an important role to have during the wedding ceremony.
By definition, a ring bearer is a person who carries the rings at a wedding ceremony.
Tradition is to have a young boy between the ages of 4 to 8 that has a special connection to the bride and groom be the ring bearer.
Throughout recent years, that tradition has changed to someone who is close to the bride and groom who is entrusted to carry the rings.
A ring bearer is a position of trust that the bride and groom must agree on.
The trust can come in the form of the Best Man, Maid of Honor, or a close family member.
This is a decision for both sides of the party and not just one.
Best Man or Maid of Honor
The Best Man is the most commonly used person to carry the rings for the soon married couple.
This role is close to the tradition of the ring bearer.
Tradition states that the Best Man would hold the rings before the ceremony and hand it off to the young ring bearer.
Now people just handle the situation by making the Best Man the keeper of the rings and the ring bearer.
The Maid of Honor is another option that is used by people today.
There are times where the bride and groom are more comfortable with the Maid of Honor holding the rings than the Best Man.
This is less common but still exists. The roles are very similar to that what the Best Man would be doing.
It is also common in today’s age for both the Best Man and the Maid of Honor to each carry a ring.
Typically, the Best Man will give the Groom the Bride’s ring to put on her finger, and the Maid of Honor will give the Bride the Groom’s ring to put on his finger.
Family
There are times that the bride and groom feel more comfortable with handing the rings to a close family member.
For example, this could be a parent or sibling.
They will have similar responsibilities to that of a Best Man or Maid of Honor in holding the rings, but not the other responsibilities that come with those titles.
For those that go for the traditional ring bearer, other precautions are needed.
The young boy that you decide to be your ring bearer has to have a special connection with the groom and bride.
With a young boy carrying the rings, there are concerns about him losing the rings or dropping them.
That is why many people use a pillow with fake rings, while a trusted family member or someone for the bridal party holds the real rings in the meantime.
Carrying the Rings during the Ceremony
Finding a way to carry the rings is important.
It can be a big presentation or a subtle way to carry them before the ring exchange ceremony.
There are many different ways of carrying a ring depending on who the ring bearer is.
Tradition is for a young boy to carry the ring down the aisle after the flower girls come out.
The traditional way that the young men hold the rings is that of tying them to a small pillow.
This small pillow has a place for both rings to be tied into place so that they do not fall off the set.
In the event that the ring bearer trips or drops the pillow, this extra security will help keep them on the pillow.
The pillows usually have fake rings on them anyway, but a little safety measure never hurts!
For those that have the Best Man, or someone you trust, carry the rings, it is a little different.
You can still do the traditional pillow, but there are other ways that they can be presented.
One way just has the rings in the person’s pocket.
This pocket can be the breast pocket of a suit or any pocket of a dress.
Another way is to carry the rings in a box. This box has to have room for both rings to be presented.
Presentation of Rings
The presentation of rings is the exchanging of rings that take place after the vows.
The Officiant will begin the ring ceremony after the vows are exchanged between bride and groom.
The Officiants will say something along the lines of, “Wear these rings as a reminder of the vows you have made.”
This statement will be different for each officiant, but the themes are similar.
Once that statement is said by the officiant, they will instruct the bride and groom to put the ring on their partner.
There are also sayings that you can say when you present the ring to your significant other.
For example, “Let this ring be a symbol of the love I have for my (Wife/Husband).”
These ring vows are a symbol of what the ring really means to you.
The more meaningful, the more everlasting they can be in the mind of the one you are presenting them to.
Wedding rings are presented to go on to the fourth finger on the left hand, also called the ring finger.
Traditionally, the wedding ring will be the first ring to go onto the finger to symbolize that it is the closest to the heart.
If they are wearing the engagement ring during the ceremony, that ring will then be moved to the fourth finger on the right hand.
Once the nuptials are done, then they can put it back on the ring finger above the wedding ring.
