How to wear your wedding and engagement rings

From ogling and drooling over celebrity engagement and wedding rings, and analysing their carats and shapes, we've done it all. However, the exchanging of rings is a deeply traditional gesture and holds personal meaning. But, is there really a right or wrong way to wear the engagement and wedding rings and does it even matter?

While it is encouraged that you do what feels most comfortable for you, and there are no set rules, because your hand is essentially your canvas, turns out, there are some common ways of wearing your engagement and wedding rings.

Rings on the Left Hand

The most common way to stack your rings is to wear your wedding ring first and then your engagement ring, both on the left finger. Jillian Sassone, founder of the jewellery brand called Marrow Fine mentions that according to Roman folklore, the vein in the ring finger, called the Vena Amoris, is directly connected to the heart. Even if we now know that each finger has a vein like that, the tradition of wearing the ring on the ring finger of the left hand has endured in most cultures.

Rings on the Right Hand

Depending on the practices of the region in which you live, one may also find couples wearing their sets of rings on the right hand. This practice is especially common in Northern and Eastern European cultures, such as Russia, Poland, Denmark and Greece. It is even common in certain parts of India. In other countries like Brazil, couples wear their rings on one hand and then flip it to the other, after they say their marriage vows.

No Rules Barred

If your engagement and wedding rings do not match, you can also go for wearing one on each hand. Others who do not like to stack both rings on either hand, also go for this choice. Jillian says that she sees people alternating rings on either hand, wearing their wedding rings all the time, while reserving the engagement rings for special occasions, and some even opting to wear them around their necks if they work with their hands a lot. "Couples are making their own traditions and we love to see them!"