Weddings are perhaps the most important events in society. Every culture in human history has established rituals to honor this union. In addition, weddings not only unite a man and a woman, but their families too; and in the past, even entire kingdoms.
A lot of these rituals related to weddings have survived to our days. Some are still as powerful as they were centuries ago and some have evolved in order to adapt to modern times. Among these, the use of jewelry is of special significance.
First of all, there’s the engagement ring, which the bride receives when the groom proposes to her. This can be one of the most exiting moments in the life of a woman.
Although not as thrilling as the engagement ring, wedding bands are also a very important part of the wedding ceremony and married life. Wedding bands are exchanges right after the bride and groom declare their vows, and they wear them for the rest of their lives. Or until they divorce, of course.
Wedding bands have a very powerful meaning, both to the spouses as well to society. They represent the love that unites the spouses and the unconditional support that they promised to each other. On the other hand, wedding bands are the system that society uses to identify married people and tell them apart from single people, a piece of information that is becoming increasingly important in an era where divorces are very common.
Because wedding bands are so important and people wear them for years or decades, jewelers have developed and amazing range of them. You can get wedding bands in several materials, not only silver and gold, like in the past. For example, tungsten wedding bands are increasingly popular among men because they are much more resistant to rough treatment and look darker and, in some people’s opinion, manlier. For the purists and traditionalists, gold and silver wedding bands come in hundreds of sizes and designs, with different karat values, that adapt to several budgets.
Speaking of which, the person that buys the wedding bands depends heavily on the country and traditions of the families involved. The most modern couples prefer to buy them together, which spoils the surprise but assures them that they’re getting exactly what they want. This also allows them to get matching bands, if they so desire, although it’s not very common and it depends a lot of their individual tastes. Other times, each spouse gets the wedding band for the other one. And finally, there are some countries where a third person gets the wedding bands for the couple.
To a woman, her wedding is the most important day of her life. It’s an event that most women have played in her heads since they were little girls. Some of them have it planned down to the last detail, while others just have a simple image about it. Most of them have something, an object, a person, or a place, that is indispensable and plan it to have it at their real wedding at all costs. Maybe it’s a special hotel, a type of dress, the approval of her father or that beautiful pair of shoes she fell in love with when she was in high school.
However, a wedding is also a very important day for the groom. Although usually forgotten, it’s an important day for him as well. It’s a day where he commits the rest of his life with the woman of his dreams, and swears to uphold values such as fidelity, support and family. And to remember this promise, the groom (and the bride) wear wedding bands for the rest of their life (or marriage).
Now, wedding bands used to be almost similar for the bride and the groom, with the groom’s one being slightly bigger or wider than the bride’s. Nevertheless, times have changed and jewelers have developed new materials for wedding bands, which are more appropriate to modern day needs.
Some of the new options that are available to grooms are tungsten wedding bands. Tungsten wedding bands are a very different option from the traditional gold wedding bands that men have usually worn. First of all, they look very different. Tungsten wedding bands are gray and steely, which makes them look much manlier than more traditional wedding bands made with more conventional materials.
Also, tungsten wedding bands are much more resistant to everyday wear and tear, and won’t scratch as easily as other soft metals, like gold or silver. This will make them last a lifetime. Or even more than one lifetime, if you ever decide to hand your wedding band to your children as a heirloom.
Nevertheless, despite their resistance, all emergency rooms have equipment that can cut off tungsten wedding bands in case of an emergency. This is very important for men who work as firemen or factory workers, where heat or machinery can cause an accident with rings.
Another advantage of tungsten wedding bands is that they’re hypoallergenic. That means that tungsten wedding bands will not cause rashes or change of skin color, like some other materials do.
Finally, one last advantage of tungsten wedding bands is that they’re cheaper than their gold counterparts. This comes in handy at a time when you have a budget for your wedding. And as you know, weddings aren’t cheap at all.