If you are looking for wedding rings this simple guide by How Fine Designs will help you choose your perfect ring styles.

How to choose your wedding rings

Choosing your wedding rings is such an important task, because long after your wedding day, your rings remind you of the love and trust you have for each other. This will tell you about the different styles and make it easier for you to decide what sort of rings you really want. 

Traditional or D shape

Ring Styles

This is flat inside next to your finger and curved on the outside. A traditional choice for wedding rings.

Round or Halo

A round section ring is completely round. It is also known as a halo ring as it has no flat sides, so it looks like an angel’s halo. Quite a dainty style in narrow sizes.

Court or Oval 

This is an oval profile ring, wider in height and narrower in depth, with gently curved edges.

Comfort or Inverted D shape 

This is curved inside and flat on the outside, it feels comfortable to wear. A more contemporary look.

Flat or Rectangular 

This is flat on the inside and outside, also known as rectangular. It can be gently rounded so the corners are more curved. This makes it more comfortable to wear.

18 carat yellow gold D shape classic wedding rings made at How Fine Designs Wedding ring workshops

18 carat yellow gold D shape classic wedding rings made at How Fine Designs Wedding ring workshops

Surface finish

You may like to add a textured finish also known as hammered finish. Jewellers use various shapes of hammers to create different patterns, for example dotty or striped. This type of finish reflects the light in different ways and is great to add a reflective surface to an otherwise plain band. These are generally very hardwearing and tend to stay looking good over the years. 

Hammered wedding ring band with hammer

Hammered texture on wedding band 

You can also choose to have a satin or scratched surface. This is another more contemporary finish. It will likely need to be retextured once in a while to retain the satin finish as it is more of a shallow surface decoration, but this is not expensive and is relatively quick for jewellers to do.

The surfaces of your rings can also be shaped or textured, or simply highly polished in the classic style. 

Handmade Wedding rings

Handmade wedding rings white gold and yellow gold

Can I match my engagement ring?

Yes, it’s a great idea to match the style of your engagement ring. Many people do wear wedding and engagement rings together once they are married, and it’s right that they should look good when they are worn together. Some people do prefer to transfer their engagement ring to their right hand, but even if you plan to wear them apart it is still lovely when your engagement and wedding rings look great together. If you wear them together you would usually wear the wedding ring closes to your heart, then your engagement ring on top.

It’s sensible to choose the same metal for both the engagement ring and your wedding ring, as the hardness of metals can wear them down at different rates. The purest gold is 24 carats, but it isn’t really used for making rings as it is too soft. Gold is alloyed with other metals such as copper to make it stronger. So the best gold for making rings is usually 18 or 14 carat gold. 9 carat gold is sometimes used for making wedding rings, but the colour is not so rich or golden as the higher carat golds because it has much more copper content, but it certainly does bring the price down.

So if you have an 18 carat gold engagement ring it really is sensible to buy an 18 carat gold wedding band, as they will match and have the same hardness. A harder 9 carat gold wedding ring has the potential to wear down a softer 18 carat gold engagement ring, so this sort of combination is best avoided.

How to choose your wedding rings - a simple style guide

Do we have to have the same or matching rings?

No, it’s your wedding, so you should choose what you like most. If your partner wants something specific, but you want something else, that’s fine. You will have your own personalities and styles. Sometimes couples choose different metals, but both opt to have the same surface texture, which makes them ‘go together’. 

Width of ring

There are many different things to consider when choosing your wedding rings. If you have slender fingers or are more slightly built, a slimmer fit of ring may be more suited to you. If you have larger fingers you may prefer a thicker style of ring. Though obviously much of it will come down to personal preference. The average mens wedding ring is between 5mm and 7mm wide and the average ladies wedding ring is between 2mm and 4mm. The wider your ring you will need to measure up in size slightly, so it is worth trying a few styles on to see which style and fit you prefer.

Wide hammered wedding ring band 6mm and narrow wishbone shaped wedding ring 2.3mm. Both D shaped

These are both D shaped rings. The wide hammered ring band is 6mm and the narrow wishbone shaped ring is 2.3mm.

Depth of ring

This is how much your ring is raised up from the surface of your finger. A deeper ring depth contains more gold and so is less likely to get misshapen over the years. So if you are very active and know that you will be likely to damage a thinner ring a deeper ring may be stronger. People who are more careful are likely to be fine with a thinner depth of ring shank and it will reduce the cost of your precious metals. 

Engraving 

You may like your rings to contain an engraved message; from the simplest initials and date of your wedding, to a fun message for each other. Some clients send each other messages which remain secret until they are married!

Font readability known as legibility and sizes are important to consider, as the tiniest font sizes are barely legible to the eye without a jewellers loupe. Larger bands 3mm and above make it easier to read engraved messages. Think about whether you would like a clear font such as Ariel, or Helvetica, or whether you would prefer script, which looks more like handwriting. As guidance you will need more space for script and it tends to look better in upper and lower case, than all block capitals. Try printing out your idea of text in your chosen typeface and size to see what it will look like. If you can read it easily it will look similar when engraved. NB. Be extra careful to type the message correctly and check it, as mistakes once engraved cannot be easily changed.  

Diamonds

You may also consider adding diamonds for added sparkle; these used to be saved for eternity rings, but are now more popular in contemporary wedding bands.

New beginnings and infinite love

Wedding rings symbolise your new lives at the beginning of your journey together.  With each ring you give each other a perfect circle representing infinity and symbolising your love for one another. Long after your wedding day is over, your wedding rings will be one of the only gifts that you will wear or use every day.  A very precious thing. 

Throughout history the wedding ring has tradiionally been worn on the left ring finger in most western countries. It was thought to represent the vein leading to the heart and although our knowledge of anatomy has improved since then, it’s still a sweet thought! In some European countries wedding rings are worn on the right hand.

The circle of the ring symbolises your unbroken love. The oldest wedding rings are thought to date from Egypt where natural materials such reeds were used to make rings. These were replaced as they broke, and before long more hardwearing materials were used including leather and bone. Luckily we now use precious metals which should last a lifetime. 

Your Ring Guide - Everything you need to know about Wedding Rings

Have you thought about making your own rings for one another? You would be starting with a new piece of gold and be able to create a perfect ring; an infinite circle made for each other with your own hands. If you would like to know more about making your own wedding rings in Yorkshire you may like to read this.

Bride and groom making each others wedding rings at wedding ring workshop in North Yorkshire

See my Platinum Listing on Tie The Knot Wedding Directory here

How Fine Designs

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By Sally

I'm a jewellery designer who loves to make jewellery for creative people. I run wedding ring making workshops in Harrogate, North Yorkshire and also make rings to commission especially for you. I work in gold and silver and wherever possible I use eco friendly and sustainable methods. I am also an approved Fairtrade Gold ambassador. Please contact me for more details. I will be happy to talk about your ideas for your wedding jewellery.