Is There A Right Or Wrong Way To Wear Your Wedding Rings?

Getting married begins with getting engaged; marking that special occasion is the engagement ring. This symbolic jewelry is a traditional way to ask your partner for their hand in marriage. According to Diamonds Factory, the engagement ring can be dated back to Ancient Rome when women would symbolize their engagement by putting their ring on a key. The first diamond ring later made its appearance in 1477. When the wedding rolls around, you might partake in a ceremony in which there are traditional or cultural rituals, vows, and of course, an exchange of wedding bands.

Today, it's common for a bride or a spouse to wear both the wedding band and an engagement ring together. However, because this jewelry that symbolizes a unity in marriage stems from tradition, many are also left wondering how they should wear both rings. Things don't always have to be so strictly traditional, and you may have more freedom than you anticipated.

When looking at your fingers, you can probably identify the one on your left hand, known as the "ring finger." This is because this finger is where the engagement and wedding rings traditionally go. Like many customary things, this also stems from ancient history based on a belief that a certain vein in your hand connected directly to the heart. "In Ancient Rome, it was believed that the fourth finger on the left hand (now known as the ring finger) was connected to the heart via a vein called 'vena amoris,' or the vein of love," founder of jewelry brand Marrow Fine Jillian Sassone tells The Knot. "Now, we know there is a vein in each finger connected to the heart, but the romantic tradition has endured in Western culture."

Romantic symbolism is one thing many people in different parts of the world can share a love for, but it can be expressed differently in a variety of cultures. In places like Spain, Greece, Poland, Denmark, Russia, and other Northern and Eastern European countries, they wear their rings on their right hand. Wearing your rings on your right hand can also be a personal choice, such as LGBTQ+ couples who do so against heterosexual norms. Some people even move their rings around from finger to finger and hand to hand as fun, expressive styling. Sometimes, it simply comes down to your own preference (via Brilliant Earth).

Now that you have an engagement ring and a wedding ring that both go on the same finger, how do you stack them? It's common to wear the wedding band stacked under the engagement ring because this allows it to be closer to the heart. Others wear their wedding band on top to secure the engagement ring but also to stack them in the order they were received (via Brilliant Earth). Other times, you may have a wedding ring set that was designed so both rings would complement each other's shapes. The wedding band might have a curve design that essentially frames the stone from your engagement ring. Depending on the stone, this then offers even more flexibility to stack it on top or the bottom (via The James Allen Blog).

However, there really are no direct rules to follow. Maybe you don't want to stack them at all and want to wear them on different fingers or hands. You can choose to wear them and express yourself however you want. There is no right or wrong way to wear or style your rings.