Choosing a Wedding Band
The wedding band you select is one of the few wedding purchases that will last beyond the wedding date - and be with you every day of your life. The band must fit not only your tastes, but also your lifestyle.
Ring Shapes:
- Softly rounded or lentil: Rounded on the ring's interior and exterior. The rounded interior makes for a comfortable fit.
- Dome or oval bulging: A conservative style, this shape offers an exaggerated roundness on the ring's exterior, and often is made in narrow widths. The rounded interior makes for a comfortable fit.
- Flattened barrel. A very simple and often contemporary style. The flat interior can diminish a comfortable fit.
Metals:
Decide which material appeals to you. Some rings can even be designed as bicolor, including two different precious metals.
- Platinum
- Advantages: Mostly pure, so is hypoallergenic. Metal never wears away. Will never need to be replated.
- Disadvantages: Expensive; metal can become matted and dented.
- Gold: Gold is available in three different colors, differentiated by the alloys included in it and the percentage of each metal alloy.
- Yellow Gold: Yellow gold's reflection on a colorless diamond can make the stone appear yellowish and therefore less valuable. If a stone is yellowish, however, the metal can mask the tine and make it seem brighter.
- White Gold To reduce a yellow tint, white gold is often plated with the shiny white metal rhodium. Over time this plating may wear off.
- Rose Gold This gold receives a pinkish tint from a proportion of copper in its metal alloy.
- Advantages: Easy to clean, less expensive than many precious metals.
- Disadvantages: Metal wears away and rings may need to be replated.
- Titanium: Used mostly for men's bands, this metal once reserved for the engineering and aerospace industries offers yet another option for wedding rings.
- Advantages: Hard, lightweight, resistant to corrosion.
- Disadvantages: Must be forged from a solid block of metal and cannot be resized.
Surfaces
Rings come in a variety of surfaces. You may prefer a high polish, a matte, a textured or decorative surface that you and your jeweler work together to create. This is an opportunity for the groom's band to match the bride's with a special decorative accent. Consult with your jeweler about the specific precious metal that you have selected. For instance, a high-polish platinum ring will display a smooth surface for a very short period of time, since normal wear will dull the surface.
Stones
You may want to include precious stones, such as diamonds, into the band. BOLD: Channel setting: Often called eternity bands, this style is known for ridges in the metal that create a space to hold gemstones firmly in place.
Three- to five-stone bands: These are typically selected as women's bands.
Unique settings: Men's and women's bands can include a selection of small diamonds set into the band for decorative effect.
Should the bride's and groom's bands match?
Often, couples select their rings to coordinate and look as if they were made together. This does not work for every couple, and you should make the decision that fits who you are as individuals.
