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Okay, okay he probably doesn’t read WB, but I think I’ll spend the rest of my life pretending Mr. Knitting was his inspiration!
As someone who is super excited about the royal wedding I was very excited to read that just like Mr. Knitting, Prince William will not wear a wedding ring. Apparently, Prince William “doesn’t wear jewellery” and therefore does not want to wear a wedding ring.
Copier:
Image via The Official Website of the British Monarchy
I also wanted to give a bit of an update about how I feel about Mr. Knitting and his lack of a wedding ring.
Many of you expressed concerns that you would not be okay with your husbands not wearing rings and I can definitely understand that. I was pretty sure this wouldn’t bother me and can say now, four months after our wedding, I definitely do not have any issues with him not wearing one. I don’t feel any less married or any less loved, and it doesn’t bother me that random women won’t immediately know he’s married. If some random woman is hitting on him (this is a really funny statement if you know what homebodies we are!) he can tell that woman he’s married and if he doesn’t that would make him a scumbag that I wouldn’t want to be married to anyway! Long story short, I don’t have any mixed or unhappy feelings about forgoing a wedding ring for Mr. K.
While reading about 15 different articles about Prince William’s ring decision (I should probably be embarrassed about that but I’m not!) I also learned that double ring ceremonies are actually a relatively new tradition. I’ve been calling our choice to have a single ring ceremony “wacky” when describing it to others, but perhaps I should have been going with “traditional” instead!
I’m now really curious to see if the fact that William is forgoing a wedding ring influences many others. My guess is no. While I’m sure their wedding will be make a huge impact in the wedding world, I think people are ultimately pretty attached to the tradition of wedding rings and I don’t see that going out of style any time soon. Who knows though, maybe in ten years the idea of a man wearing a ring will be hopelessly out of date all thanks to William.
What do you think? Will the fact that Prince William is forgoing a wedding ring spark a trend in this direction or are wedding rings for men here to stay?
Although I love seeing a wedding ring on my husband, I don’t see why it’s a big deal if one does not wear one. As for William’s (or, really, Mr. K’s) influence, well, it may change things because who would ever think big, poofy sleeves were a good idea until Diana wore them.
It’s funny because here in the UK the royal wedding is all over the news-every little detail and update is reported, but I haven’t heard about this- find it hard to imagine what with the royals being so traditional, and being expected to be so traditional aswell- off I go to google it!
Well my research tells me that men wearing wedding rings is a fairly modern phenomenon starting when men wanted a reminder of home when at war. My future hubby can’t wear one to work for fear of loosing a finger but I would like him to wear one outside of work for the most part. If he was really not up for that though I certainly wouldn’t make a big deal about it- like you said, he is perfectly capable of telling people he’s married!
Bridegrooms don’t get wedding rings in traditional Jewish ceremonies, either. There’s only one wedding ring, which is the thing of value that the groom gives to the bride as consideration for the marriage to “seal” the contract.
BUT we’re not traditional Jews (and Mr. Spaniel isn’t Jewish at all), so we followed American custom. You guys are OLD SCHOOL! 
You’re quite right about wedding rings for men being a fairly new thing historically, Knitting–as recently as the late 18th century, it wasn’t even super customary for women to wear them either. You can definitely find the odd portrait of a man with wedding ring in early modern times, but it’s rare.
I was bothered at first by FI’s pronouncement that he doesn’t like jewelry and didn’t want to wear a ring. We got one anyway, for the ceremony and for special/frmal occasions and if he ever feels like wearinog a ring. But I’ve since come to feel as you do, that it won’t make us any less married. And it’s more historically accurate anyway 
I grew up in a home where my father never wore his wedding ring. He had one, he just chose not to wear it. I asked my mother once if it ever bothered her, and she said it never did. My future Mr will be wearing his ring, but I definitely gave him the option. Your commitment isn’t based on whether or not you wear a ring.
I didn’t know double ring ceremonies were a new thing, either. 
Mr. T will have a wedding band, but likely won’t be wearing it on a daily basis because of work-related restrictions!
My fiance hasn’t been very excited about much of the wedding planning but he actually wanted to pick his own ring and seemed excited in his own way about it. He wasn’t jumping up and down or giddy about picking out his band but it was one thing I didn’t have to push him to do and he couldn’t wait to show it to his mother and one of his closest friend.
After almost four years… I can barely remember that Mr. Lemon doesn’t wear a ring! I think it’s more common than people think… and maybe this will curb the modern trend of men wearing rings.
It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized men even wore wedding rings! My dad doesn’t wear one and never has, even though he and my mom have been married almost 30 years. I never even thought it was strange.
While I do think many, many details of the Royal Wedding will be influencial (I mean, obviously!!), I don’t think this one will become a trend. I have no qualms with guys not wearing a wedding band if they don’t want one but I think the “new” tradition of guys wearing them is not going away anytime soon!
I did know it was originally only women who wore them, and what interests me is: why? Why was it considered important that women wore a wedding ring, but men didn’t need to?
My OH tells me he will wear one, which surprised me as he’s not a jewellery person. I wouldn’t demand that he did, but I’m glad that he wants to!
As for the Royal Wedding, I’m just concerned that they’ll have chosen the same colours as me and that people might think I’m copying them!
My husband is the same way! He’s never worn jewelry and doesn’t like to. Sigh. I can’t imagine that too many grooms will use William as their excuse, though.
Haha, our situation is kind of opposite. I don’t typically wear jewelry, but of course I’m not turning down the chance to wear a wedding band. My fiance, however, apparently differs from the norm a little–he’s so excited to wear his wedding band that the other day (a month from the wedding!) he picked me up at work wearing the ring just to try it out because he thinks it’s fun! I often catch him putting it on while sitting there watching TV and sitting there looking fondly at his hand. I think it’s so funny I just had to share. I’ve now made up the story that it’s cursed to wear the ring before the wedding just so he’ll stop trying to sneakily wear it. Ridiculous.
@Kinsey123:
That is the cutest thing ever.
It doesn’t bother me on a case-by-case basis, but I hope it doesn’t become the norm again. I think the asymmetry of it bothers me. I (personally) see the evolution into a two-ring ceremony as a step toward equality, in which both spouses are equally bound to fidelity, and in which the fact of being married is as important to the husband as to the wife.
But then, this is coming from someone who doesn’t have an engagement ring, in part for that reason, so I’m definitely not the norm.
My Dad never wore a wedding band either. I think it may be a bit of a battle to convince my FI that he wants to wear a ring every day. I see him as maybe wearing it to work or on date night. But not everyday wear… We’ll see!
I grew up in a small town, and I still remember when every wedding in the newspaper (which pretty much meant every wedding in the town) specified whether it was a “single ring” or “double ring” ceremony.
I grew up in a small town, and I still remember when every wedding in the newspaper (which pretty much meant every wedding in the town) specified whether it was a “single ring” or “double ring” ceremony.
I’m with mightywombat, though: I really hope it does not become the norm. I still recall the stories about my grandfather telling my grandmother that he wasn’t going to wear a wedding ring, because a wedding ring was a “badge of servitude.” I really don’t want to go back to those days!
@mightywombat: I completely agree with everything you said. I never really consciously thought about it from that perspective, but I definitely agree.
@2dBride: That’s awful! It makes me so mad that people think/thought about marriage like that.
My Dad loses his ring left and right. He’s actually started casting his own (a perk to being a dentist is having a decent understanding of metallurgy) so he has a reserve.
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Mrs. Knitting, Toronto Age and Occupation: 24, Student Recruitment Assistant Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Neuroscience PhD Candidate Engagement Date: October 2009 Wedding Date: December 2010 Venue: University of Toronto Faculty Club About Me: I'm a pearl wearing, etiquette book reading Toronto girl who loves cooking and baking, museums, charm bracelets, and collecting books on Jackie Kennedy (a lot). I've been known to spend Sunday mornings at the antique market, Wednesday evenings at sister sushi dinners, and any bit of spare time reading. After six and a half years of many late night walks, watching DVDs together in bed, travelling to places like New York, and Tobermory, doing Sudokus together on the couch, lots of Indian food, the occasional yoga class, moving in together and so much more, Mr. Knitting and I are planning a cozy Christmasy (it's a word!), vintage wedding in Toronto complete with many DIY projects (eek!) and lots of help from our amazing group of family and friends.
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