Unique Wedding Bands

Wedding bands are perhaps the most intensely personal aspect of your wedding. It's not just the actual exchange of them during the ceremony (which is often accompanied by words that you've each chosen especially for that moment), but the fact that you hope to wear them for the rest of your lives!

Your wedding bands should reflect you as a couple, and embody your 'couple' personality, even if each of them is a bit different.

When it comes time to decide on your wedding bands, you'll need to choose between gold, white gold, platinum or silver, and you'll need to decide whether to include stones such as diamonds in them. But apart from those choices, there are four different types of wedding bands to choose from:

Antique or antique look wedding bands. You may have inherited wedding bands from someone in your family, or you just may like the 'look' of antique wedding bands. If you, as a couple, are interested in antiques, an antique-type wedding band might be perfect for you.
Personalized wedding bands. No matter what type of wedding band you decide on, you can have them personalized - with a favorite expression, a commitment statement, your 'pet names' for one another, the date of the ceremony -- or almost anything else you'd like to include! Express yourself as a couple by having something unique to you personally engraved -- either by hand or by machine -- on the inside of your wedding bands. WEDDING MYTH: Wedding bands are the symbol of a couples' unending love. They are worn on the 'ring' finger because at one time it was believed to have an artery that lead straight to the heart.
Hand-woven wedding bands. Handwoven wedding bands might be chosen to symbolize the weaving of your lives together, or something more specific like Celtic or Native American heritage. There's no limit to the kinds of designs that a couple can have hand-woven - let your personality and your heritage decide!
The plain, traditional style of wedding band is still the most popular - and can be made unique by personalized engraving. And because there are so many other choices now, traditional wedding bands have actually become unique.

What could be more romantic as a couple than choosing the unique wedding bands that you'll wear forever?

Style of Wedding Bands:

Follow your instincts with the look and design of your ring, while asking yourself if it will be a design you'll be comfortable wearing every day for the rest of your life. The traditional plain gold wedding band will be in style for years to come. If that's too plain for you, consider a beaded edge or an engraved style. For a slighty flashier look, what about channel-set diamonds? Ultimately, choose a wedding band that you feel is expressive of your style and personality. I've heard of a couple that chose to have wedding bands custom-made that resembled bicycle gears, reflecting their mutual love of bike-riding. There's really no wrong answer as to what style you should choose.

Gold, Silver or Platinum?

Many couples choose the metal for their bands by matching it to their engagement ring. However, don't feel bound to this. A bride can choose to wear her engagement ring on her right hand, and wedding ring on the left. Also, each of you can wear a similar style in different metals. Consider which metals each of you wear regularly - is most of her jewelry silver? Is his watch gold?

Primary engagement ring and wedding band metal choices include:

Yellow gold: the most traditional of metals; for many gold is a symbol of the warmth and love of a marriage. Look at the mark inside the band to see what quality the gold is - usually 14k, 18k, or 24k. While 24k is the most pure, it is also the softest. If you work with your hands, you may want to choose 14k or 18k to prevent scratches.
White Gold: A hot trend because it coordinates with both silver and platinum jewelry, yet is cheaper than platinum.
Platinum: This very stylish metal is also the hardest metal, making it for many a symbol of enduring love. Also, because its not mixed with the lesser metals that gold is, platinum is safe for those with allergies. However, you'll pay more for platinum than for gold.

Precious Gems

When considering precious gems, remember that you will likely wear this ring every day for the rest of your life. Therefore, while softer stones can be beautiful, they aren't the best choices for an wedding band or engagement ring. The Mohs scale registers a stone's ability to resist abrasion; 10 (diamonds) is the strongest and 1 (talc) is the weakest. Anything less than a Mohs scale 7 is not recommended for an engagement ring. If you are a person who does a lot of activity with their hands (how long does a manicure last on you?) then I would advise limiting your selection to rubies, sapphires and diamonds.

To help you out, here's a list of common stones, and their hardness level: