PUT A RING ON HIM

Women have been wearing wedding rings pretty much since there’ve been weddings. But men have only really gotten into it in the last century and a half.
From at least Ancient Egypt on, wedding and/or betrothal ceremonies included the groom putting some kind of jewelry on the bride, usually a ring, but sometimes a bracelet or other piece. Since marriage was as much a property matter as a personal one for most of history, the ring was as much about possession as affection…and it made sense that the woman would be marked.
She was the one who was property, after all.
Even for people who weren’t well-off enough to be uniting assets like land or money, marriage was still very much a matter of ownership – and for most of history that ownership only went one way. Wedding rings were also about showing status: men demonstrating that they could afford to deck out their women. In the poorest families, a wedding ring might well be the only piece of valuable jewelry a woman owned…and the very last thing she would sell or pawn in desperate times.
There are heartbreaking Victorian tales of good mothers surrendering a wedding ring to feed starving children, and like so many Dickensian tales, they’re probably based on grim reality.
Men, though, are usually not seen as property to be marked.
And the idea of male wedding rings stems from different impulses.
For the fellas, it’s much more about love and fidelity.
The first really noticeable trend for men’s wedding rings started in the Romantic Era, the 1840s, as a symbol of a groom’s love for his bride. Some Christian churches encouraged the double-ring idea as a way of encouraging male fidelity, too, which became more of an issue with Victorian mores.
But men’s wedding rings really became a thing during the World Wars. Shipped out to the front, men found they wanted a visible symbol to remind them of their wives and families. Back home, the sentiment collided with the growing consumer economy and the beginnings of feminism, and by the late 20th century, the majority of men left the altar with a ring, same as their brides.
In fact, by the early 21st century, a man who chose not to wear a wedding ring sparked suspicion. It wasn’t really fair to guys whose jobs made a wedding ring potentially dangerous, like some military deployments, firefighting, or industries involving high heat, but a man who chooses not to wear a ring these days has some explaining to do. By the time Prince William married Kate Middleton, his choice to go ringless drew considerable comment. The internet eventually concluded it had something to do with his profession as a rescue pilot…I personally concluded it was none of my darn business!
Another royal ring-wearer figures in A FATAL RECEPTION. In an unexpectedly sweet scene, Ella Shane’s fiancé, the Duke, asks her to give him a ring, as Queen Victoria gave one to her Albert. It’s not just the royals; he’s just come through a life-threatening misadventure and realizes he wants a sign of Ella’s love. The ring leads Ella to discover a key clue…and you’ll have to buy the book to find out how we got there – and what happens next!

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