Which finger should i wear my engagement ring

This belief resulted in the tradition of wearing bridal rings on a specific finger. Many romantics quote an ancient myth. The ring finger has a vein of love flowing directly to the heart—aka the Vena Amoris.

This legend comes from the Ancient Romans. Although very romantic, this simply is not true. There is no specific vein in the finger directly connected to the heart. Since most people are right-handed, there is a certain practical sense to wearing an engagement ring on the left hand. An engagement ring and wedding band receive less wear than if worn on the dominant hand. Some refer to the right hand as the active hand. The opposing hand causes less wear for wedding bands and engagement rings.

Our photograph below shows a close-up view of the engagement ring on the finger. Shown with a simple, classically styled diamond solitaire engagement ring on the third finger of the left hand.

Doctors rarely number fingers owing to the confusion over which finger is genuinely the first finger. Do we have ten fingers or eight fingers and two thumbs? For this reason, a familiar name exists for each finger of the hand; thumb, index, long, ring and little finger. These terms are used today instead of more technical terms. Although this may be unorthodox, some brides and grooms wear their ring on the middle finger. It may be down to a health complication that an engagement ring or wedding ring is unable to be worn on the usual finger, these may include a break to the finger, amputation, or arthritis.

Some suggest the middle finger represents balance. Although we rarely see rings worn on the mid finger, we advise simple, comfortable designs for wear on the middle finger. Although the middle finger is at least two sizes larger than the ring finger, another example would be if someone has lost weight. For rings unsuitable for size adjustments, it might be practical to change which finger on which the ring is worn.

CanadaMark diamond in a modern four claw setting, shown on the correct finger. Your wedding ring goes on your left hand. And, what finger does the wedding ring go on? Wedding rings go on the same finger as an engagement ring.

In Russia, wedding rings go on the third finger of the right hand. The tradition of promise rings is also arguably traced back to ancient Roman times when "betrothal rings" were made out of inexpensive iron.

This was later followed by the rise of "posie rings" in England and France from the 15th to the 17th century. These were tokens exchanged between lovers and often inscribed with short love poems.

Today, they are predominantly gifted in the same fashion but the actual "promises" behind a promise ring can have different meanings to different people. Commitment is the general idea here, but whether that commitment is to an upcoming engagement, abstinence until marriage, the idea of forever, or just the immediate future, varies.

Rings are a nice way to symbolize your union, and they've got those endless, infinite circle metaphors making a solid case for them; but you've got options. Like not wearing a ring at all, for example. Or, if you're seriously committed to an expression of permanence and self-sacrifice, nontraditional couples may opt to get a tattoo on their ring fingers to signify their marriage.

In this particular instance, you should be very confident in your designation of the vein, finger, or hand that will display your commitment as it's no longer a simple slip-on, slip-off kind of thing. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Brides. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data.

We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. I Accept Show Purposes. Jessie Mooney DiGiovanna. She was previously a features editor at Brides. Brides's Editorial Guidelines. Ring Finger FAQs. What Is the Ring Finger? Meet the Expert Stephanie Selle is a jeweler and jewelry history aficionado with over 20 years of experience in the industry. Engagement Ring vs. Related Stories. This tradition of wearing the engagement ring sometimes refers to religion, customs and even it may come from the culture of a geographic region.

For example, while in most countries Catholics and Protestants, and even other religions wear the engagement ring on the left, in some countries such as Netherlands, Catholics wear the engagement ring on the right hand and Protestants wear it on the left hand.

The right hand for engagement ring and the left hand for the wedding band. Some people do not consider engagement as a formal marriage. Instead, in the tradition of these people, the wedding is considered as a formal celebration for marriage. So the engagement rings are worn in the right hands this is not considered a formal ring finger and the wedding ring will be placed on the left hand the fourth finger on the left, which is the special ring place.

In this tradition, the fourth finger of the left-hand is reserved for a wedding ring that will be exchanged at the wedding ceremony. These people prefer to wear the engagement ring in their right hand and keep the left ring finger empty for wearing the wedding band.

The right hand is divine and the left hand is evil! Another group of people who wear the engagement ring on their right ring finger believes that the left hand is unclean.

For example, some people in India adhere to this tradition. They think that the left-hand is a symbol of the devil aspects and everything that is attributed to the left-hand will be portentous.

They believe that the left-hand is created only to do worthless things, not valuable works. Brides who grow up with such beliefs will never be satisfied with putting the holy ring on the left. They put the engagement ring in their right hand to stay lucky in their romantic relationship and make a happy marriage in the future. Of course these days, most modern Indian Individuals are less likely to follow this tradition, but there are still people who respect that tradition and wear the engagement ring in their right hand.

Do men wear engagement rings? The engagement ring, especially in American culture, is usually for women. However, sometimes men want to wear the engagement ring to show their pure love. But you should notice that as in the popular culture the engagement ring is for women, so by seeing the ring in the hands of a gentleman people may unconsciously judge that this gentleman must have already married.

In the other world, the ring for men in society does not represent the engagement ring and is often confused with the wedding ring. So if you have a conservative family that cares about adhering to marriage customs, or if you don't want your engagement ring to be considered as a wedding band, then I recommend you be more cautious about the engagement ring for men and its design.

Do you wear your engagement ring on your wedding day? However, this custom can vary according to what feels most comfortable to the bride. In Germany, the fourth fingers of both the right and left hand can be used. As a general rule, the left hand is more prevalent among Protestants, and the right preferred by Catholics.

However, according to the old tradition, and also seen today in some of the more conservative Jewish ceremonies, the index finger or the thumb are used. Engagement rings are worn in several Islamic countries in South Asia and West Asia , and men usually wear them on the right and women on the left hand.

Wedding ring are not used in traditional Muslim wedding ceremonies , but if one is worn, it can go either on the left or the right ring finger. In Iran, the wedding band is more common and goes on the right. Indian culture never traditionally included rings. But now with Western influence, diamond engagement rings have become much more common. For the other part, the trend it is celebrity-driven, and therefore most prevalent among the fashion conscious.

Celebrities have generally made it more acceptable, or even desirable, for men to wear jewellery, such as diamond earrings. One of the most famous celebrity males to wear an engagement ring is Ed Sheeran, who announced his engagement on 19th January After he was photographed at the Brit Awards wearing a ring on the fourth finger of his left hand, the media questioned whether it was a wedding ring.