THE WEDDING RING AND THE WEDDING CAKE

The wedding ring is the most ancient of all marriage traditions. The Egyptians used the wedding ring as a symbol of the marriage agreement. In Egyptian hieroglyphics, the circle represents eternity. The earliest rings were braided grass, hay leather, bone and ivory. When metals were eventually discovered, the first metal rings were lumpy and awkward. Today, wedding rings can be anything from an inexpensive, plain band to an intricate setting studded with gems.


The most common placement for wearing a wedding ring is on the fourth finger of the left hand. This custom began with the Egyptians, who believed that a vein on the left hand was directly connected to the heart. . Today, a more practical explanation is that the left hand gets less use- and will be less likely to get damaged since most people are right-handed. However, wedding rings are not always worn on the left as a longstanding traditions. Wealthy Elizabethans wore huge, elaborate wedding rings on their thumbs. In the eighteenth century, Roman Catholics wore them on the right hand. In some European countries, the wedding band is worn on the right hand; in others the ring is worn on the left hand during the engagement period and switched to the right hand after marriage.

Wedding cakes have been a part of marriage ceremonies since medieval times. In the 1st century B.C. in Rome, the cake was thrown at the bride or broken over her head as one of the many fertility symbols which then were a part of the marriage ceremony. Guests often ate the crumbs as a sign of good luck.

Although wedding cakes were once white inside and out, there are few rules about how they look today. Contemporary cakes can be any color, flavor or shape. Even if a couple prefers a traditional layered wedding cake, there are countless options for decoration.