Wedding rings don’t seem to get the same amount of press as diamond engagement rings — which doesn’t seem fair, frankly. I’ve been thinking about this a lot (probably too much, I admit), and I’ve come up with a few reasons, some obvious and some not, as to why the humble wedding ring deserves more pomp than it’s much flashier counterpart.
Time Frame. Compared to the average engagement, a marriage lasts much longer. So why do engagement rings get all the hype, while weddings rings themselves seem to signal nothing more than… well, than the end of the engagement ring hype? (And sure you can point to lots of stats about short marriages, and most of those occur in Hollywood, where the majority of engagement ring hype comes from, but to me that’s all the more reason why marriages that do last should get more attention than they do.)
Symbolism. In the symbolism department, wedding rings beat engagement rings hands down (so to speak). The engagement ring is the promise: the wedding ring is the fulfillment of that promise. Until the wedding ring happens, the engagement ring is all talk. Talk, I say!
Price. Most wedding rings are markedly more simplistic in design than their engagement ring companions, and so the wedding ring usually costs significantly less than the engagement ring. Once again, this is completely out of proportion with marriage versus engagement, and also for the symbolism involved. Which brings me to perhaps the greatest affront to wedding ring publicity…
Stealing the Spotlight. That’s right! Engagement rings are horning in on wedding rings’ action, even after the engagement’s done and the marriage has started. The past decades have seen a huge surge in the number of women wearing their engagement rings right next to their wedding bands. Many jewelers even sell the two as a fitted set. So not only does the engagement ring get a disproportionate amount of press and attention, but now it gets to overshadow the wedding ring for the rest of the marriage.
I’m… I’m sorry. I just get so emotional when I think of the poor wedding ring, the true symbol of love, the affordable gesture of commitment, the simple circular reminder of a promise kept… quietly going about its duty while its flashy precursor continues to hog the limelight. I need to go sit down. Read more about this topic at this link: www.mervisdiamond.com
