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What’s the Difference Between Wedding and Engagement Rings?

If you haven’t been dreaming of the perfect proposal and your fairy-tale wedding since you first watched Cinderella, you may not be aware of what exactly the difference is between the engagement ring and a traditional wedding ring.

And that’s nothing to be concerned about – many of us won’t come to understand the difference until we’re halfway down the aisle!

The main difference that sets wedding and engagement rings apart is style and tradition, even though the symbolic meaning behind each may no longer apply since certain mentalities have become outdated. The best way to understand the difference between engagement rings and weddings rings is to consider the milestones they represent.

Think back to the moment you first met your partner – you’ll remember this period as a time in your life when the world just seemed a little bit brighter every time you heard his/her voice, a time when everything felt new and exciting, and you felt stronger just by having him/her by your side.

This initial elation may wear off as time goes by and you adapt to your everyday routine, but the core of this feeling – this knowledge of being stronger together – will persist in relationships that were truly meant to be.

Once we realize there simply is no other who could possibly fill this place in our life, we find ourselves committing to spending the rest of our lives with the one person who makes us feel complete. To mark such an important decision, we aim to recreate the magic and sparkle of those first months together, by proposing marriage with a ring that highlights the value and beauty of this most precious moment with a unique gemstone or a stunning diamond.

Engagement Rings

An engagement ring is worn by the bride-to-be to announce her upcoming marriage and is designed to be a looker that will prompt everyone to ask the question: So, when is the big day? Back in the day, the engagement ring was a direct reflection of how well a man could take care of his bride-to-be: the bigger the diamond or gemstone on her finger, the better.

These days an engagement ring is not necessarily seen as a symbol of the husband-to-be’s wealth – unless he happens to be a big shot celebrity – but his understanding of his partner’s style and preference, and his unconditional devotion to her. If you can navigate the myriad of designs and styles available for engagement rings as a man, and walk out of your local jeweller’s having made the perfect decision, you are definitely worthy of your soon-to-be wife.

Wedding Rings

For those of you who had a hard time deciding on the perfect engagement ring, you’ll be happy to know that picking a wedding ring is an easier feat. Wedding bands are to be worn on a daily basis, so it is important that the design of the ring will match the lifestyle of the person who is to wear it. If you engage in a lot of manual labour, you will not want a delicate ring that can get caught on tools and cause diamonds to go missing or the band to break.

Even if you don’t, wearing a big flashy ring on your finger on a day to day basis could cause for unnecessary stress seeing as you’ll constantly be worrying about losing it, getting it stolen or damaging it.

Hence, a simple wedding band is usually the go-to choice – which doesn’t mean to say that a wedding ring is boring in appearance. Many wedding bands are encrusted with small diamonds but are kept on the simpler side for easy, day to day wearing. And besides – traditionally, the engagement ring is worn above the wedding ring, so you’ll still be able to show off your pre-wedding bling!