Why You Should Engrave Your Wedding Rings: And What to Engrave
Why Should You Engrave an Inscription in Your Wedding Rings? Before answering: what to engrave on a ring, it might be a good idea to first answer the question: why? It’s not required, right? The chaplain’s not going to inspect the rings before they’re exchanged, right?
I’ve never seen a pastor call a stop to the ceremony and make you engrave your wedding rings first. Many people haven’t thought to have their rings engraved, so why should you?
Engraving Makes it Special
Adding a personal inscription to your wedding jewelry adds meaning to the most important piece of jewelry you’ll ever have. It makes it yours.
It is a romantic gesture to engrave an inscription inside your love’s ring. And if you add dates you’ll never forget your anniversary!
Dates and Duke the Honeypot
Now that I’ve convinced you your marriage is doomed to failure unless you engrave your wedding rings, what should you engrave? You and your betrothed names? The date you were married? A Biblical passage? Something prayerful? Something romantic? A message of undying love? Personal nicknames? The first five amendments of the Constitution?
Engraving Your Rings and Dragon Tattoos
Engravings are similar to tattoos: they’re both meant to be eternal. They’re not completely, one hundred percent permanent and irreversible but…almost.
Just as the giant dragon tattooed across your chest was never meant to be removed, neither was the “I Will Be Your Honeypot Forever, Duke” engraving on the inside shank of your wedding ring. (Not that that would fit!)
Size Matters, (That is, the Length of Your Message)
You also need to consider that with engraving, unlike Twitter, you don’t have 144 characters with which to play. If you want to be able to read things without renting an electron microscope, you’re going to have to limit the message.
Different engraving methods offer options of style, size and look. Read the engraving methods blog post.
Obviously, the smaller the ring, the smaller the message. Without making the font so tiny as to be unreadable without that aforementioned microscope, you’re going to have to limit what you say.
Typically, a date and initials will fit, or very short declarations of love.
Font Matters (There’s Not a Lot of Room for Choices)
It’s a lot easier to read a block style font than a script style. Script is a pretty type of font, but it takes up more room on your ring. So if you’re just engraving the date and your initials there’s a good chance you can have it done in a pretty script style. But if you’re engraving “Edward heart Bella forever” or something with more characters, you’ll probably need to go with the block style.
How Much Room do You Have?
I’ve included the widths of the engraved rings in this blog to give you an idea of how engraving will look with different sized rings.
The Key to a Successful Marriage
Thus…think what you want to say. Talk to your spouse-to-be. They might want in on the action and want a matching inscription.
Write down a list of possibilities and then narrow down the list.
Show the short list to your Jeweler so they can let you know what will and won’t fit inside your ring.
If you choose a 1.5mm width of ring not only will it be a candidate for future bending, but it’ll be hecka tough to engrave an inscription.
It’s Never Too Late to Engrave Your Wedding Rings
Finally, don’t despair if you haven’t engraved your ring prior to the wedding. It’s OK. It’s never too late to engrave your wedding rings. In fact it’s quite romantic.
Give me a call! I’ll be happy to engrave your ring for you.
Your Engraving Jeweler,
Calla
More Posts in the Engraving Series:
Restorative Engraving For Older Rings
Engraved Rings – Five Things You Need to Know
Pinterest Page with Engraving Pictures
Signet Ring, What Should You Engrave? Vanilla or Chocolate?
Why You Should Engrave Your Wedding Rings: And What to Engrave
I thought everyone got their rings engraved. Phil and I just had the date engraved-so that when I’m 95 I can figure out how long we’ve been married.
Alison, that’s great, you both will still be married then too!
Oh-I forgot-we did have our initials also-next to the date.
Engraving is nice for more than just wedding rings. I was given a beautiful watch with personalized engraving by my folks when I got my doctorate. It was a huge milestone for me and I have cherished that watch knowing that it is associated with that day. When I have doubts it is a nice reminder of what I have been able to achieve.
Thanks for the reminder of how personal engraving can further the meaning and importance of your jewelry. Always good advice from my Personal Jeweler!
Appreciatively,
Lynn
Dr. Lynn K. Jones, Certified Personal and Executive Coach
http://www.LynnKJones.com
Dr. Lynn,
That is such a great story. Getting your doctorate was huge. I’m thrilled that you have a piece of jewelry to remind you of your amazing achievement.
The fact that it is engraved is icing on the cake!
Your Personal Jeweler and proud of it,
Calla
Hello,
Thank you so much for your blog. Keep posting. Engraving info is important, but the guy with the dragon tattoo is really important!
I couldn’t resist!
Calla Gold,
I just celebrated my two year anniversary and never thought about engraving our wedding rings. Thanks for this inspiring reminder that it’s never too late to engrave them. Gonna talk to hubby about doing just that. Thanks!
Allison
Allison, I’m glad this post prompted you to think about engraving your wedding rings. I think it’s such a personal and sentimental touch. When I see some inherited 100 year old ring with the engraving intact, it is so moving to see. I just sized an inherited band ring for a client. It was way too big, but she didn’t want to disturb the engraving. I found a little area with no engraving and we sized it down and kept the engraving intact. It was the fact that it was engraved that made this band so special to my client.… Read more »
Comparing Wedding Rings to Tattoos is a bad idea. At least for me, it turned me off to your services immediately. They may be both eternal but, unlike a tattoo, you can take a ring of anytime. A tattoo is there forever and tattoos are both dull and ugly. The same cannot be said for most wedding rings.
Hello Jacqueline,
I’m sorry that my writing has turned you off to me as a jewelry designer. I like to try to be interesting in my writing and I decided to incorporate some humor here. I did not mean to cause offence.
Jeweler
Calla Gold
I personally loved the comparison of the tattoo and the engraving. My tattoos where done at specific times in my life and they are daily reminders of what I have been through already so I stay strong through whatever comes next. I married my Jr. High sweetheart and he was into to art so at 15 with a needle and thread he put his initials on my ankle. When we divorced I put a Ying Yang over it and I also got a sun and moon on my calf. The darkness was my past and the light my future. Years… Read more »
Dear Carla, Thank you for sharing the idea behind your tattoos and teaching me about the medical alert and life saving possibilities of tattoos as well. I’m pleased that reading about alternate metals like tungsten on my blog saved you from getting a wedding ring that’d end up in the jewelry box and not on your wedding finger. I too hope one day you’ll get to where a nice wedding ring. I don’t know if you watch the Amy Schumer show on TV, but the one I watched recently had a guest who had down syndrome. She was articulate and… Read more »
Calla, this is great information all in one place. What is your favorite, if you have one of styles for the decorative style.
I mean for a vintage looking design? Do you like wheat or something more flowing?
Dear Tracey Bee,
I am all about the flowy. If a client gives me my choice I often choose a scroll or floral pattern over wheat. Although in tiny spaces I love wheat and sometimes use both.
When my client wants the engraving to give a vintage look I always use the milgrain edging.
Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla