Couples have been getting married and exchanging jewelry to signify their marital status since Roman times. Wedding bands were initially worn not only to signal that the wearer was married but to remind them to be faithful, and occasionally serve as an indicator of social status.

Many hundreds of years later the engagement ring was added to the mix and needless to say, after all this time, there are some deep-rooted traditions that go along with engagements, weddings, and the accompanying jewelry.

If The Dutchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton makes a public appearance wearing just her simple gold wedding band and not her internationally famous blue sapphire engagement ring - it makes headlines around the world.

Even in this modern age when we’ve redefined marriage, how we choose to physically display our marital status is so deeply steeped in tradition it still feels open to the court of public opinion.

However, the truth is when it comes to your wedding and your jewelry if you want to wear a wedding band instead of an ostentatious engagement ring - the choice is yours to make - and the choices are endless!

Table of Contents

• Who’s Wearing a Wedding Band instead of an Engagement Ring
• Tips for Styling
• What's the Difference Between Wedding Bands and Engagement Rings?
• Breaking Tradition
• Your Day, Your Choice 

Who’s Wearing a Wedding Band instead of an Engagement Ring?

The Minimalist Bride

Presenting a wedding band during a proposal makes sense for a more minimalistic style choice. In the age of Marie Kondo we’ve started throwing out everything that doesn’t bring us joy and though it’s hard to believe - a big single stone may not bring some women joy.

A glittering wedding band is an updated and sophisticated design for a modern bride who wants a versatile ring that can be paired with any ensemble for any occasion.

The Budget Conscious Bride

As discussed a traditional engagement ring features one large dominant stone, most commonly a diamond, and occasionally is surrounded by smaller stones or a ‘halo’ of gems.

Can you hear the dollars stacking up? Yes, depending on a variety of factors such as the stone, cut, color, clairty and carat weight the price for an engagement ring will fluctuate.

Typically, engagement rings will come with a bigger price tag than a traditional wedding band making a wedding band a more budget conscious proposal choice.

The Practical Bride

A wedding band in lieu of an engagement ring is also considered a highly functional choice. A lower profile ring is ideal for a woman who works with her hands or for a woman who frequently travels and doesn’t want to flaunt a flashy piece of jewlery.

Whatever the reasoning may be, Honey believes a piece of jewelry can be highly functional without sacrificing style or design.

The Honey Sienna band with approximately 2 ctw in diamonds set east/west is a perfect example of a refined and classy engagement ring alternative for the practical bride.

The Trendy Bride

As celebrity eternity band rings are being flaunted all over social media there has been a noticeable rise in the popularity of wedding bands being worn during engagements.

Khloe Kardashian really brought the trend to another level in 2018 when it was rumored that then boyfriend Tristian Thompson had proposed because she was suddenly wearing a striking baguette wedding eternity band on her left ring finger.

But in typical Kardashian fashion, there wasn’t just one eternity band, in which case, we take back what we said about this being a budget friendly option! After the debut of her new ring, everyone was putting their own spin on the traditional piece of jewelry. 

With the rise of couples deciding to use a wedding band in lieu of an engagement ring, Honey has launched new french cut eternity rings in a 1.3, 1.8 and 2.4mm widths.

The Bride Who Just Can’t Decide!

Some women have spent their whole childhood planning every detail of their wedding and a traditional, big sparkly single stone engagement ring is in the plans and some just can’t decide.

If you’re still unsure if a wedding band is the route you want to take for a proposal, it’s going to come down to age old piece of advice - communication.

Drop hints or straight up ask your bride to be if she has a vision for her ring. She may have no vision or she may have too many! Our advice, for the bride who just can’t decide, opt for the wedding band in lieu of a traditional engagement ring and get ready for endless stying options.

Tips for Styling Your Wedding Band

Worn alone, a wedding band is simple and elegant piece of jewlery; however, when you want to kick things up a notch, there are endless possibilities in styling a wedding band.

For the actual wedding ring exchange, adding an additional stacking band to the wedding band you proposed with is a great choice. In fact, every anniversary is an opportunity to add an additional band to that stack to interchange and keep the stack looking fresh year after year. 

At Honey, we started stacking bands long before stacks were even a thing - check out our London band as a great addition to a straight wedding band.

London is a fun take on a diamond spray band and this stacking ring features a focal point tapered baguette diamond while being flanked with both marquise and round accent diamonds. A low profile and notched design means that this ring can be paired with almost any ring for the perfect look.

We also wrote our own guide to stacking wedding bands with engagement rings.

Another stacking choice from the Honey collection is the Vivian v-shaped band. Available in 14k white, yellow, and rose gold as well as 18k white and yellow gold and platinum with approximately .25 cttw in round diamonds it stacks up beautifully with any wedding band.

Engagement Ring vs Wedding Ring: What’s the Difference?

An engagement ring is usually presented during a proposal. Typically the engagement ring is the showstopper jewelry piece and features one large dominant stone occasionally surrounded by smaller stones or a ‘halo’ of gems.

Since the 1940’s, when DeBeers popularized the slogan, ‘A Diamond is Forever’ and solidified the link between love and diamonds, a diamond has been the most commonly used stone in modern engagement rings.

Typically, men don’t wear an engagement ring, however; in the past decade, it has become more and more common for a man to wear an engagement ring.

Honey has created a ready to wear collection of bespoke engagement rings that we have built using unique, hand-selected diamonds and gemstones that personally speak to us.

The wedding ring, or wedding band, is presented during the wedding ceremony. The band is usually of less monetary value than the engagement ring as they’re typically more simple pieces of jewelry.

Traditionally the wedding ring is worn above the engagement ring, so as to be closer to the heart of the bride. Wedding rings are usually a plain metal band or an encrusted band of gemstones.

Wedding bands of encrusted stones are commonly called ‘eternity bands’, once again signifying how love - like diamonds - is eternal. A traditional engagement and wedding ring set match each other’s curvature so they fit together snugly. Commonly the two rings are bought and sold in sets.

Men will also wear a wedding band that is exchanged with the bride at the time of the ceremony, Honey also has a wide and diverse selection of men’s wedding bands to fit every taste.

Breaking Engagement Ring Tradition

In recent years, between social media, the rise of influencers and the popularity of reality television, we’re seeing the way others wear their jewelry more than ever.

The trend of non-traditional selections when it comes engagement rings has been making what was commonly thought of as a ‘wedding band’ as a highly sought out piece of engagement jewelry. Instead of one large stone, engaged couples are opting for larger stone eternity bands.

Diamond encrusted bands like Honey’s Chloe band is a perfect example of a sophisticated wedding band that could easily be presented during a proposal to a modern woman as an updated take on the traditional engagement ring.

Your Day, Your Choice

Wearing a wedding band during your engagement is a personal choice that just comes down to taste. Forget tradition, a wedding band is a modern choice for a modern engagement.

At Honey we have a healthy selection of wedding bands available, but if you don’t see exactly what you’re looking for, contact us and we’ll make you something custom that’s exactly what you want.