Unique Wedding Rings - Ideas

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Maybe you've looked at too many jewelry stores, and flipped through too many wedding magazines and ooohed and aaahed over too many friends' rings -- but all wedding rings have started to look the same. It seems like a wedding ring is a wedding ring is a wedding ring. But you want something different, something unique -- something that represents the individuality of you and your relationship.

If you know you want something unique, but you're not quite sure what, here are some ideas for how to get the wedding rings of your dreams.

This couple designed their own unique wedding rings.

Unique Wedding Rings Idea #1: Design Your Own

The best way to get truly unique wedding rings is to design your own. This can mean working with a jewelry designer to give them an idea of your style, then letting them come up with the design. Or, it can mean creating your own sketch of what you want and having a jewelry designer emulate it. If you do that, you can be fairly certain no one else will have a ring just like yours.

So, how do you go about finding a designer? Well, you can talk to friends who have had rings designed, check out the listing of wedding ring designers at TheKnot.com or visit the forums at IndieBride.com to talk to others who have had their rings designed. Or, you can actually make your own rings (with the guidance of jewelers) at a Wedding Ring Workshop. Now, that's pretty cool.

To learn more about designing your own wedding ring, My Wedding Planning Guide offers some tips and caveats, including the fact that it will be more expensive to design your own ring.

Unique Wedding Ring Idea #2: Go Vintage

Another way to get wedding rings that won't look like anyone else's is to get vintage wedding rings (and you can also go with a vintage engagement ring to match.)

Vintage wedding rings are not only different, but they have the patina and charm that comes with age -- not to mention that each one has a history. Maybe you even have an heirloom ring in your family that someone would be willing to pass on to you, or perhaps you have a ring in the family that has beautiful stones in it that you could have reset in your own unique setting?

If not, then consider going shopping online for a vintage ring. Keep in mind that antique rings are more than 50 years old, while vintage rings are less than 50 years old. Vintage rings are available from many eras, including the Victorian era, the Art Deco era and the Retro era. They come in metals ranging from white gold to rose gold to platinum.

Vintage rings are truly one of a kind.

Unique Wedding Rings Idea #3: Mine Your Heritage

This won't be for everyone, but if one of you is (or both of you are) extremely in tune with your own heritage, why not use that as the inspiration to create or buy unique wedding rings that reflect that heritage?

For example, there are Celtic wedding rings, there are Arabic wedding rings and there are African wedding rings. If you can't readily find wedding rings that you like that reflect your heritage, it would be easy enough to research some traditional symbols in your culture and have those designed into a very unusual ring.

Here is a guide to African wedding ring symbols, and here is a guide to Celtic wedding ring symbols.

Celtic rings reflect heritage.

Unique Wedding Rings Idea #4: Tattoo It

For a variety of reasons, more and more couples are choosing to forego wearing a wedding ring, and instead have one tattooed on. One of the top reasons for doing this is to have a unique wedding ring; other reasons include allergies to metal -- and maybe even being "allergic" to tradition. (And, think about it, a partner whose ring is tattooed on can't ever take it off! Well, without a laser that is.)

About.com Weddings has a good article on tattooed wedding rings that states some couples like the permanence provided by a tattoo wedding ring. If you do go the tattooed wedding ring route, you have many, many design options that will make your "ring" even more unique: you can draw your own design, have one created for you, choose a pattern you like from a vintage or heritage ring and have it tattooed onto your finger. You could even use your beloved's name.

This groom had his wedding date tattooed on his ring finger.

Unique Wedding Rings Idea #5: It's What's Inside That Counts

You could decide to choose a wedding ring that might be simple on the outside, with no razzle dazzle factor, but have something unique and meaningful engraved on the inside. The upside to this is that this is something very intimate, between just you and your bride or groom, because no one else will know about it (unless you show them.)

Engraving a unique and special message will help make the rings even more special and personal for you, and you probably will think of what's inside every time you look at the ring. You could engrave anything from your initials and wedding date, to a favorite love quote, to your first words to each other, to your entire wedding vows. About.com Jewelry has a list of creative ideas for what to engrave inside your wedding rings.