The day you received your engagement ring is a day you’ll never forget. It’s a story that will pass to friends and family and maybe even generations. The ring holds special memories, but do you wear your engagement ring when you walk down the aisle?

Do you wear your engagement ring on your wedding day?

Many brides-to-be don’t think about what to do with their engagement ring on their wedding day, until that day! Or maybe at the rehearsal. If you’re reading this to find out what to do about your engagement ring on the day of your wedding, relax. You have a number of options.

What to do with your engagement ring on your wedding day?

First, you can wear your engagement ring if you want, but it does tend to make things a little awkward during the ring exchange if you follow wedding tradition. Traditionally, the groom slips the wedding ring onto the ringfinger of the left hand during the vow exchange. Wedding ring tradition also places the wedding ring on the finger before the engagement ring. So if you wear the engagement ring, you might have to pause to remove it with nervous fingers and then slip it back in place after the wedding band is on.

This is one of those personal choices. I think it is an unnecessary risk as I’ve been to a wedding where the ring was dropped and disappeared under pews. Wedding guests hunted for it dressed in their wedding finery. It did create a memory, but if it isn’t the type of memory you want to add to your special day. Here are some alternatives to consider:

• Wear your engagement ring on your right hand for the ceremony. Once your wedding ring is in place, you can move it to your left hand or wait until after the ceremony.
• Make the engagement ring part of the ring ceremony with instructions for the groom to place the wedding band on the finger first, followed by the engagement ring.
• Wear your engagement ring on your left hand, and have the groom place the wedding band on top of the engagement ring. After the ceremony you can put them right. (Talk to the wedding officiant about this plan and ask if any problem exists from a religious standpoint).
• Give the engagement ring to trusted family member, friend, or someone in the wedding party the Maid of Honor to hold during the wedding. You can retrieve it after the ceremony and still have it available for photos. If you choose this option, make a plan for the ring the return of the ring after the ceremony.
• Wear your engagement ring on a delicate chain as a necklace for the ceremony.

From ancient times, the ring exchange is a tradition that represents the commitment two people make to each other on their wedding day. The last option is to omit the ring exchange ceremony and opt for an alternative ritual like handfasting. If you do something like this, you can always choose to exchange vows with a ring exchange privately.

History of Italian wedding soup

A legend of sorts accompanies the Italian wedding soup recipe. The story says that this soup was served at Italian wedding receptions and that it worked more or less as an aphrodisiac. Following the wedding reception, when the bride and groom consummated the marriage they’d be full of plenty of vim and vigor. Even as I researched this I wondered about the effect of the soup on the other wedding guests. But that would be another story, and if it were true, I don’t think the soup would be reserved for wedding receptions. While it’s a great story, the truth is that Italian wedding soup has nothing to do with weddings. Not only that, but some people suggest its origins have nothing to do with Italy because Spaniards carried it into Naples. But again, that’s one side of the claims. The other side is that it was a well-known recipe in Italy long before that. I'm not here to solve who is right.

Why is it called wedding soup?

Minestra maritata, which means “married soup” is an ancient peasant soup recipe. That's how it got the name Italian wedding soup. It earned the title originally because of the 'marriage' of the main ingredients. Originally, it consisted of inexpensive bits of leftover meat and leafy greens. The green vegetables (minestra) blended well with meat (maritata) and was eaten by people in Italy who couldn’t afford food. It was usually made using bits of sausage or meatballs and whatever green or slightly bitter veggies they had on hand and often contained no meat at all. The soup helped them not to feel hungry throughout the day much like the cabbage soup fad years back. If you’re looking for the recipe, it turns out there are a number of variations. As the stories go, some say it originated in Naples, others in Calabria, and others in Puglia, but all the recipes contain green vegetables and bits of meat. The recipe also has ties to America because the Neapolitans brought it when they arrived, though the Americanized version tends to be lighter. The one thing they all have in common is that they are a delicious way to add some greens to your diet.

How to make Italian wedding soup

Today, pasta often finds its way into the soup pot. I’ve included a video below of the soup I’ve tried. It won’t disappoint, though it is far from a peasant dish with some added ingredients. For this one, pasta is added to the soup bowl before serving.

 

While Italian wedding soup isn’t traditionally a soup served at weddings, feel free to add it to your wedding menu and serve it with crusty bread, homemade croutons, breadsticks, or an arugula salad. For fun, you can add some Italian wedding cookies to your dessert table too. And if you’re not planning a wedding, it’s still a perfect dish for the holidays. Special, delicious, and with history you can make your own. Plus it's easy to adjust to be keto friendly too.

 

Photo credits: Tom Ipri