Men’s wedding rings: How to choose your perfect style

Men’s wedding rings: How to choose your perfect style

Image for illustration purposes only


If your big day is not too far away, then you might be searching for the perfect wedding ring that you’ll love to wear every day. In this article, Jack Jahan from
Ramsdens Jewellery shares five top tips for choosing a band that suits you and matches your personal style.

Over the years, most of the attention when it comes to wedding jewellery has been directed toward the bride. After all, everyone wants to see the engagement ring first, then the focus is well and truly on what beautiful pieces the bridal party are all wearing for the occasion. The groom’s wedding band has typically been something chosen to match or to be as plain as possible.

In more recent times, the groom’s wedding ring has gained more importance as couples have started to pick out ones that don’t match each other. This has opened up the possibilities for men, who now have more freedom to research and shop for a unique design that suits them and that they’ll love wearing for the decades to come.

However, if you’re a groom-to-be looking to find that perfect wedding ring, you may be a little overwhelmed by the range of choices available, especially if you’re not a regular jewellery buyer. To help you out, I’ve put together my top tips for narrowing down the search.

Consider what you want in a ring

As a wedding ring is such a significant item of jewellery, it’s worth stopping and having a think about what you actually want and what will suit your needs. Doing so will make sure that you have a much clearer picture of what you’re looking for before you start shopping around.

For instance, you need to think about what your tastes are, as you want a wedding band that truly reflects your personal style and doesn’t begin to grate on you one or even ten years down the line. If you wear jewellery regularly, then it’s often a good idea to pick something that won’t look totally out of place among the rest of your collection. Or, if you aren’t a big jewellery wearer, then a design that is more timeless and understated may be a better choice.

You should also consider what impact your lifestyle will have on your choice of ring. Someone who is very active or works with their hands might prefer a ring in a more hardwearing metal, like tungsten or titanium, as this will withstand any wear and tear. A sleeker design without any decoration might also be a better choice, as it will reduce the chances of the band catching on something.

Shopping for your ring will be a lot easier if you know what size you’ll be looking for, particularly if you are looking at pre-owned, vintage, or one-off pieces that may be limited in sizing options. It’s a good idea to get measured by a jeweller, or, if you’re shopping online, using a printable size guide.

Get familiar with the styles of wedding ring

Due to the limited nature of men’s wedding rings in the past, many grooms are surprised to find the range of options available to them when they actually come to choose a ring.

With this in mind, you should familiarise yourself with some of the most popular styles:

  • Classic rings: The classic wedding ring is the traditional choice you’re probably fairly used to seeing. It’s very understated style with a plain yet sleek and timeless look. They still remain a very popular choice among grooms.
  • Carved rings: A carved ring is very much like a classic ring in its understated design, but has a bevelled edge that changes the look of the piece to something a lot broader.
  • Diamond rings: Commonly associated with engagements and anniversaries, diamonds can also be found on many wedding rings. You can choose a just one stone for simple luxury or several for something more ostentatious. However, bear in mind that adding diamonds will increase the price tag significantly.
  • Alternative rings: If you’re looking to stand out from the crowd, an alternative style ring is the choice for you. These bands don’t have any traditional hallmarks and make use of other metals, shapes, and design features for a unique look.

Alongside the various styles available, you will also find rings with different profiles. Domed bands are formed like a letter “D”, with a rounded outer, while flat rings have almost no curvature to their shape. There is a whole scale of variance between these two extremes, so you should be able to find a profile that suits your tastes. As a general rule, domed rings are considered more traditional and tend to suit thicker fingers, while flat rings are more contemporary and sit better on thin fingers.

You can also vary the width of your wedding band, with wide to thin, and various measurements in between, available. Some grooms prefer to choose a wider band as they think it looks masculine, but I’d advise you not to prioritise this over how the ring feels on your finger. You’ll need to try potential rings on, and you should always try to balance looks and comfort to get the ideal ring.

Lastly, you may find that a ring you have your eye on is available in both a traditional and comfort fit. A traditional fit has a flat inner band that doesn’t conform to your finger, while you’ll find a curve on a comfort band that ensures it sits easier. Again, you’ll need to try each version on before you pick.

Decide on a metal for your ring

You’ll also need to decide what type of metal you would prefer for your wedding ring. Some factors to consider when making this decision may include what colour you’d like your ring to be, what your budget is, and whether you need your ring to be extra durable.

Some of the most popular metals for wedding rings are:

  • Yellow gold: Yellow gold is created when gold is mixed with another metal. It comes in two varieties: 9-carat and 18-carat, with 9-carat being the cheaper but more hardwearing of the two as it has a greater amount of blended metals. Yellow gold is the traditional metal choice for wedding bands, and it is a timeless choice.
  • White gold: White gold is made by mixing yellow gold with a white metal to create a silvery shine that isn’t dissimilar from platinum. It can be plated with rhodium to ensure it keeps its lustre, but must be replated every few years if so.
  • Rose gold: Gold is mixed with copper alloys and silver to create rose gold, a metal with a pink hue. It’s a very on-trend metal that is popular in contemporary ring designs.
  • Platinum: Platinum is the strongest, rarest, and most expensive precious metal. It delivers a lustrous white shine that is highly sought after — most rings are a 95% mix with another metal due to its scarcity.
  • Palladium: Palladium is an increasingly popular metal with grooms that has a dark grey shine to it. It is from the platinum family, sharing its durability and consistent shine, but is more common and therefore much more affordable.
  • Silver: Silver is the most common and affordable of the precious metals but still has a lovely shine and timeless look to it.

Follow my advice and you will be able to choose the ideal wedding ring in a style that suits you. With a band that has the right design, shape, colour, and feel, you’ll love wearing it every day.

4 Novel Games for Your Lake Como Wedding Reception

4 Novel Games for Your Lake Como Wedding Reception

4 Novel Games for Your Lake Como Wedding Reception

If you’re looking for new ways to make your wedding in Lake Como extra memorable, why not play some new games during the reception? A wedding in Lake Como will not be complete without some fun – especially when it involves the participation of as many guests as possible. The trick is to make the games easy and non-discriminative. Gone are the days when you ask your Italian wedding planner to round up the single ladies and have them play Trip to Jerusalem with the single best man. Today’s lineup of reception merriment is fresh and entertaining!

Game 1: Ultimate Rock, Paper, Scissors Challenge

Ask your Lake Como wedding planner to have some money exchanged in local coins, with a one-coin-per-guest ratio. At the party, give each guest one coin and then have them play rock, paper, scissors among themselves (giving the coin to each winner as a result) until there is only one winner left. Next, have all the winners from each table go up front and play a semi-final elimination round among themselves. The last two players will battle it out to win all the coins, which is a neat prize that they can use as extra shopping money after your wedding in Lake Como!

Game 2: Mystery Guest

Have your guests stand up and listen for any categories that apply to them, upon which they will need to sit down. For example, the first category is “a guest that is the eldest sibling in the family” – everyone who is not the eldest will have to sit down. The second category can be “a guest who’s travelled outside the country for the first time” Keep playing the game until there is only one person standing up, and that person is the mystery guest who gets to win a prize!

Game 3: I Spy (Wedding Edition)

Give each guest a copy of things they need to watch out for and take a photo of using their smartphone: the bride and groom sharing a kiss, a kid eating a dessert, three girlfriends dancing together, etc. Make sure that the guests will have to go around the Lake Como wedding venues (ex. a photo of a couple posing with the lake in the background) and the first person to complete the set of photos will win a token prize!

Game 4: Water Balloon Toss

If your guests are really game and don’t mind that they might get soaked, invite enough guests to form two teams that will stand facing each other. Have them toss water balloons to the person in front of them, with the two teams stepping further away from each other after each round. The team with the least number of soaked players will win the game.

For fun the whole night long, you can choose to play all games at the wedding reception to give as many people as possible the chance to participate in one that they like. These four games will surely make for a lot of hilarious photos, loads of belly laughs, and a ton of unforgettable memories that will make your wedding reception extra-festive.

Planning a Low-Key Wedding in Lake Como?

Planning a Low-Key Wedding in Lake Como?

Planning a Low-Key Wedding in Lake Como? Here are 5 Ways to Do It

Lake Como weddings are certainly a dream come true, but there’s no reason to stress yourself out just to make it storybook perfect! Since Lake Como weddings already are more than what most brides aspire for, you deserve to give yourself a break and take things low-key without sacrificing the beauty of the situation. Here are five ways that you and your Italian wedding planner can do it!

  1. Put a “people limit”. A destination wedding in Lake Como or anywhere else will usually have fewer people present given that not everyone that you’d wish to come will be able to make it. Basically, the fewer people there are to deal with the less stressful things will be. We’re talking about people limits in terms of guests and Keep the list trimmed to the bare minimum and the wedding planner you are working with will certainly have an easier time managing everything! You may simply throw a simple thanksgiving party when you get home from the wedding and invite those whom you did not consider inviting to your event.
  1. Get as many local vendors as possible. Flying in vendors will mean more coordination, so it really helps if your vendors are already in the same city as the Lake Como wedding venues you are considering. This includes vendors for food, lights and sounds, flowers, and styling services. Doing so will save you a lot of coordination effort as well as money. You may ask your Italian wedding planner for suggestions on tried and tested vendors, too.
  1. Decide on a few focal decorating points for your destination wedding in Lake Como, then keep the rest simple. We keep saying ’simple’ a lot, but it really is a key term to focus on when it comes to Lake Como weddings that are as low-key as can be! With that, you can focus on one or two aspects of the wedding venue and then keep the rest of the space minimal. For example, you can decorate the entrance to the venue with paper flower garlands, and then simply string around twinkling lights for the rest of the space.
  1. Limit the time spent for the entire event. Apart from ingress and egress, a reception that’s 4-5 hours long should be enough time to gather and have fun with your family and friends – and free you up from thinking about how else to fill out the time. Allocate enough time for dinner, a toast, maybe 90 minutes for dancing and mingling, plus another 30 minutes for photo taking and pretty soon you’ll be wrapping things up and heading back to your suite. Guests will have enough time for a shut-eye to wake up bright and early and see what else Italy has to offer, instead of nursing a hangover!
  1. Delegate several tasks to other people apart from your Italian wedding planner. Event organizers for Lake Como weddings often take care of nearly all details, but there may be some things you can ask your friends and family to take care of. This may be about the luggage that you bring in, transporting your wedding gifts to the airport, and anything else that needs to be attended to pre-, during and post-wedding.

When planning Lake Como weddings, it is important that you and your wedding planner are very clear about expectations, budgets and logistics. Even in a spectacular destination such as Lake Como, it is always important to remember that the celebration between two people in love is what is being highlighted and that everything else comes second!

Wedding shoes to dance down the aisle in

Wedding shoes to dance down the aisle in

Renè Caovilla Jeweled Lace Halter Pump

With wedding season fast approaching, it is time for your Lake Como wedding planners to share the top Wedding Shoes trends of 2018.  It is no longer about “no-pain, no-gain” nor about played out satin pumps. The latest wedding shoes are all about style meets comfort. From the Rene Caovilla bejeweled gems to trendy colors of black or purple to put a twist to a timeless choice with the affordable but sexy Embellished Black Evening Shoes from Florence Black to pretty flower chiffon wedding booties available online at Bella Belle Shoes to help express a bride’s personality freely.  A bride will have her choices of nude wedding shoes versatile in colors which are quite popular these days, always with a touch of comfort and elegance. A bride will only have to choose from nude Christian Louboutin or Elie Saab flats to exquisite Badgley Mischka hills to add sparkle to the bid day. There are plenty of choices for a bride in the new year. Now, who is as excited as we are to see what Megan Markle will wear on her royal wedding in May?

Christian Louboutin Wedding Shoes

Hiring a Wedding Planning Service

Hiring a Wedding Planning Service

Hiring a Wedding Planning Service – What You Need to Look for in Your Wedding Planner

One of the bigger decisions that a couple has to make for their upcoming wedding is whether or not to get wedding planning services. There are many benefits to hiring a Lake Como wedding planner, and what is perhaps the most important one is the amount of planning and coordination that they can delegate to someone who has the expertise in dealing with without batting an eyelash. Here are some things that you may want to consider when evaluating wedding planning services for your special day!

  1. Method for and frequency of communication. If your wedding in Lake Como will be mostly planned out for overseas, you will want an Italian wedding planner who can easily get in touch with you from both your country of residence as well as your wedding venue. Professional wedding planning services usually have local representatives who can meet with you in person within days’ notice, armed with all the information you need to proceed with the important details of wedding planning. Plus points go to wedding planners who are accessible via different means: in person, text, online, and through video – and make it a point to get in touch with you first.
  2. Extent of services. A good Lake Como wedding planner is always one that has a wide range of services – from pre- to post-wedding planning, on the day service, in-city or overseas, etc. The more offerings a one has for you to choose from, the higher your confidence should be with this individual in terms of meeting your needs. It is usually the ones who have more men on the ground that can pull off a variety of wedding planning services!
  3. Connections and Discounts for Service Providers. Another advantage of hiring a wedding planner for your Italian wedding is that a good one will always have a ready team of service providers for you to choose from. The wedding planning industry may be a big one, but those who have experience in the business will naturally form good working relationships with reputable vendors. Make it a point to inquire if a particular planner can provide a good rate from a reputable supplier, which will indicate how much clout she really has in her field.
  4. Extensive knowledge of legalities. Planning an out of the country wedding will naturally subject you to the legal terms of that country, so it is important that you have someone who can walk you through every step of filing the right papers and getting the necessary permits and approvals. A dream wedding in Lake Como is definitely worth the hassle, but it is so much better for you if you know that a professional is guiding you in making the right decision until everything is perfectly ironed out.

There are many wedding planners out there all eager to lend a hand in order to plan your wedding, but you will want one that meets the right balance of professionalism and warmth. It is never easy to plan a wedding with someone who isn’t genuinely into it. If you meet an Italian wedding planner who meets these conditions and gives you a good feeling inside chances are you’ve struck gold – so strike up a deal, stat!