The Meaning of the Wedding Ring

Wedding rings are an emblem or symbol of love shared between two people. Customarily rings are exchanged during a wedding ceremony uniting a man and woman. While many people feel that the size, cost and beauty of the woman’s wedding ring is directly proportional to how much love her husband has for her, the ring is actually a symbol of fidelity, love, and commitment. In a civil marriage service you will often hear the bride and groom repeat the words “I offer this ring to you as a symbol of my love and of the vows I have spoken.”

Fidelity is defined as…

1. Faithfulness to obligations, duties, or observances.

2. Exact correspondence with fact or with a given quality, condition, or event; accuracy.
The ring helps to remind us that we have made a commitment to remain true to our husband or wife. We have an obligation to observe the covenants entered into when sealed together as husband and wife for time and all eternity.

Love is defined as…

1. A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.

2. A feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair.

3. A person who is the object of deep or intense affection or attraction; beloved. Often used as a term of endearment.

4. An expression of one's affection: Send him my love.

While the size or value of a ring does not equate to the amount of love an individual has for their spouse, the time and thought put into choosing the perfect ring for your significant others tastes does show love and affection.

Commitment is defined as…

1. The act or an instance of committing, especially:
   a. A pledge to do.
   b. Something pledged, especially an engagement by contract involving financial obligation.
2. The state of being bound emotionally or intellectually to a course of action or to another person or persons.

A ring is a symbol of commitment to spouse and to the bond of marriage. Honestly, what message doesn’t it send if a man takes off his wedding ring while away from his wife? Or what if a woman goes to a hangout without wearing her ring? They may just be pieces of metal and rock but they symbolize a much deeper bond between man and woman.

A ring should mean something special. For LDS church members the wedding ring also stands as a reminder that marriage is eternal. Elder Matthew Cowley, former member of the Quorum of the Twelve, expounded this idea saying “God is Love, God is eternal, therefore love is eternal, and the sweetest expression of love is marriage, therefore marriage is eternal.”