The church gradually became more involved in the law of marriage. In 1215, the Catholic church declared marriage to be a sacrament and it became a public institution involving a priest, witnesses and parental consent. After that time a couple could only marry privately by special licence.
The ring, an unbroken circle, is a symbol of betrothal and marriage. Some 10,000 years ago in Sumeria, a ring may have acted as a shackle to keep a captured wife in tow. A husband in ancient Egypt would place a gold ring (which was also a money token) on his wife’s finger to indicate that he trusted her with his property. In ancient Rome the giving of the equivalent of today’s engagement ring accompanied the delivery of the dowry. In the 16th century, the gimmal ring was popular. It consisted of two or three jewelled rings linked together and signified the joining of two lives. The wedding ring, separate from the engagement ring, is usually a simple object today, but was once elaborately engraved and often encrusted with symbolic stones, either the birthstones of the bride or turquoise, the stone of Venus. Ornaments on the ring varied from intertwined hearts to a lover’s knot or a pair of clasped hand, but the plain gold band has been the accepted style since the late 18th century.
In the Middle Ages, many brides would be chased by unmarried girls who would rip pieces off the wedding gown in the hope that it would act as a fertility charm. But as wedding dresses became more expensive, brides threw other objects, at first garters, then the wedding bouquet, to protect their investment and hasten the marriages of their girlfriends.
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