Okay, file this one under "trivia."  But Pat's interesting comments on  
European practices remind me that in my own faith tradition--Eastern  
Orthodox Christian (Greek, Russian, Syrian, etc.)--there are some very  
ancient and distinctive practices concerning wedding rings.  To wit:

1.  Both bride and bridegroom receive rings.
2.  The rings are blessed and conferred in a special ceremony, the  
"betrothal," that originally took place earlier than the wedding but is  
now just the first part of the wedding ceremony.
3.  A wedding ring is worn on the fourth (third if you don't count the  
thumb) finger of the right hand.

I believe these practices date back to the Byzantine Empire.  More at  
http://www.ultimatewedding.com/articles/get.php? 
action=getarticle&articleid=921 .   It's surely safe to assume, though,  
that Western European practices differed, even before the Great Schism  
of 1054.

This post is almost irrelevant to VA-HIST discussions because I'm  
fairly certain there were no Orthodox churches in the commonwealth  
until well into the twentieth century.

--Jurretta

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