This is from a post I sent in to a similar discussion in March 2005: I can't say for sure that Virginians followed the standard European > traditions, but I would imagine they did. A wedding ring from the groom > to the bride is an ancient practice. Wedding rings began to be routinely > exchanged in Britain and the continent at least by the 9th century. > > I teach European Women's History at Randolph-Macon, and one of the points > I drill into my students is that the wedding band may be a symbol of > eternal (without end) love NOW, but originally, it was a pledge of a > marriage jointure, or dower, by the groom to the bride in case of his > early death( land, goods, tools, whatever). Whether she had sole control > over the dower fluctuated by time period and nation, but the ring was the > pledge of economic support (the dower), and the exchange was the official > ceremony, usually held at the outer door of the church. Afterwards they > may have gone into church and had a mass. > > It was not until perhaps the 11th or 12th centuries that the mass became the official > part of the wedding, and the ceremony was moved inside the church. So, it > would be odd if wedding rings, routinely exchanged back in Britain, would > not have been exchanged here in an Anglican ceremony. As far as diamond engagement rings go, I > believe that tradition is relatively recent and still not universal, even > in the U.S. > > Pat Watkinson > Library of Virginia / Randolph-Macon College To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html