With this ring…

A ring warming is a beautiful part of the Wedding Ceremony and a great way for the couple to include guests in their wedding ceremony. It is one of my favourite symbolic ceremonies, it is very spiritual and it gives your guests the opportunity to impart their love and good wishes to the happy couple through warming their wedding rings in their hands and silently… making a wish, a prayer or blessing. Which is great if you have an eclectic guest list as everyone will have the opportunity to impart their good wishes in their own way so no one gets left out.

Ringing the changes

In a traditional twist it is always good to give someone the role of ring bearer in a very different way than the usual tradition of walking the rings up the aisle (if you have one) on a cushion, that way the ring bearer can take charge of your rings to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to hold them and to make sure everything runs smoothly and they don’t get lost! Ring warming is still relatively new in the UK and as Celebrant I would explain to guests, what it is and how it works so that they know something about this beautiful part of the ceremony is and what is expected of them.

There are many different ways that you can incorporate a ring warming into your ceremony. You can have the ring bearer begin to pass the rings from the back and by the time they reach you at the front they will be thoroughly drenched in the love and best wishes of your guests and ready for you to hold and impart your own wishes into them before you place them on each other’s finger. I can write some beautiful words for you to say that speak of the ring warming and the meaning and intention behind it or you could write your own words to say to each other.

A circle of love…

Have you thought about a different kind of seating arrangement? This is a great one for smaller outside ceremonies but is equally effective when used inside. Set your seats in a large spiral, so that when you walk in, you walk between your guests and end up in the middle, your guests will then surround you and will be able to see you from all angles and really lovely for the ring warming.

If you have a lot of guests you might want to have everyone warm your rings as they arrive and before they take their seat, this can be managed by having a sign up with an explanation of what it is about and giving the ring bearer the responsibility of greeting the guests and handing them the rings for the warming, attaching the rings to a cushion or placing them in an organza bag would ensure that they don’t fall and save your ring bearer the trouble of crawling on the floor to find them!

You could have an Owl swoop down with your rings to be received by a trusted member of the wedding party and the process can begin from there. You could run a string or ribbon down the rows of seats which will be secured after passing it through the rings and they can be safely passed along your rows of guests without fear of losing them. Or place tied together them in a pretty bowl, perhaps someone could make one for you with two holes to thread the ribbon through to securely tie them to it? For a beach wedding you could use a beautiful shell to hold the rings. The possibilities are endless…

A sign of the times

An example of a sign for your guests to read before they take their seats could be… “Before you take your seat, please take a moment to join together in the warming of our rings. Hold the rings in your hand for a moment and warm them with your love, make a silent wish, say a prayer or give us your blessings. Then we will always carry with us your love and good wishes throughout our married lives”.

If you like the idea of a ring warming ceremony, whichever way you decide to do it, i’m sure it will be perfect for you. If you would like any more information about this or other ceremonies, please feel free to contact ,e using the comments box below and I will be more than happy to answer any questions that you might have.

Footnote:

You only get one chance to have your ceremony and as ours is not yet a regulated profession anyone can call themselves a Celebrant. Any professionally trained Celebrant will be more than happy for you to check that they are qualified. I trained with The Fellowship of Professional Celebrants, see my About Liz page for more information.