Quite often, your Maid of Honor and Best Man will keep a watchful eye over the wedding rings before the wedding. (Since Ring Bearers often are too young to know the value of your wedding bands and might pick them off to play with, or they might decide not to walk down the aisle at the last second, it’s always a good bet to leave this important task to the adults, and allow your Ring Bearer to carry fake options.) But – alas! – what if the rings are dropped while handing them over during the ring ceremony?
Well, according to superstition, if one of your wedding rings is dropped just before the ring ceremony, the person who drops the ring is said to be the first of everyone witnessing the wedding to die. Now that’s one hefty consequence, if I do say so myself!
I personally have never been the type to care much for superstitions, and this one is simply too melodramatic for me to take seriously. However, I do think that dropping the wedding rings can be an extremely bad luck situation. This is especially true if an open vent is nearby on the floor. The ring inevitably will roll its way into it. If the ring rolls underneath the guests’ chairs, it will almost always get to a prankster cousin first, who refuses to return it without a fuss. If the ring tumbles into a pile of shimmery decorations, your wedding then turns into a treasure hunt, with guests tearing apart your hard work and vision to find the ring. After all, I like to laugh at the fact that Murphy’s Law really does ring true in my life – what can go wrong, will go wrong – so I view everything in light of just how bad it could possibly get, and I try to plan for the worst beforehand.
If you’re worried about dropping the rings (or someone else dropping them), you can prep for the worst too with these simple adjustments to your plans.
1. Make sure to close all floor vents near where your ceremony is taking place before the ceremony. Seriously. Also consider elevating any thick decorations nearby that are on the floor. As for young pranksters in the crowd, simply arrange for children to be seated with their parents.
2. Practice the ring hand-off slowly at the rehearsal. Get a designated way that you plan to do this! I always suggest that the Maid of Honor and Best Man offer the rings to the bride and groom within an open palm. That way, the bride and groom need only turn and pick up the rings with their right hands when it is their turn in the ceremony. They immediately then balance the ring on their future spouse’s ring finger. (If it feels more comfortable, some arrangements opt for the opposite, with the bride and groom offering open palms for the Maid of Honor and Best Man to place the rings in.)
3. Make sure you know where the Maid of Honor and Best Man plan to keep the rings. No one wants the rings lost before the ceremony even begins! Often, the Maid of Honor will place the groom’s ring on her thumb for safekeeping just before the ceremony. Have the Best Man place the bride’s ring on his pinkie, or within a pocket that he has thoroughly checked for holes! Make sure he keeps nothing else in that pocket but the bride’s ring.
4. DON’T hand off the rings for safekeeping by the Maid of Honor and Best Man the night before. Tiny items often get misplaced, especially in the rush of a wedding! Either keep them yourself or entrust your mother with them (in their ring boxes!) until around 15 – 30 minutes before the ceremony begins.
5. Ask your officiant if he or she prefers the rings be placed within his or her binder or Bible along with your vow recitals. If so, your Maid of Honor and Best Man will place the rings within the folds as the ring ceremony begins, and your officiant will either have you pick up the proper ring yourself, or he or she will hand it to you when it is time. Again, this should be done however you prefer – so go with whichever option feels the most natural and comfortable.
Keep in mind that if the rings are dropped, and you cannot find them immediately, you don’t need to panic. Rings are simply an outward symbol of your inward commitment, so don’t worry that dropping one or both of them will make you not married at the end of the ceremony! So, as far as this superstition goes, I don’t think that a person who drops the ring at a wedding will be the first to die. I do think you should take some precautions to avoid the frustration of a lost ring, though!
Check out our other wedding superstitions installments and posts here.
Do you have a story about dropped wedding rings? Tell us in the comments below!
All photos courtesy of Rob Lyons Photography.
