30 years on and my wedding band is never coming off—how about yours?

[Pauline2026]

I often wonder who still wears their wedding ring permanently after many years of marriage.
My mum is 72, and she has never taken off her cigar wedding band since the day my dad slipped it onto her finger 48 years ago. It always fascinated me, and I knew I wanted the exact same style to wear continuously from my wedding day onwards. So, we ordered a matching set: a wide, chunky, plain 9mm band for me, and a thin, simple one for my husband. I have worn mine ever since—for nearly 30 years now.
Because I have rather prominent knuckles and slender fingers, I remember my husband had quite a struggle getting it on during the ceremony. Later, after my first pregnancy, I put on a bit of weight and couldn't have removed it even if I’d wanted to. Now, it simply feels like a part of me. It won't come off at all anymore, as my knuckles have grown larger over time, yet I still adore it.
I’d love to hear your ring stories. Do you still wear yours, and what about your husbands?

My DH wears his but because I can't wear mine at work it's been in a drawer for 10 years!

I do find it hard to fathom how anyone can go 50-ish years or more without taking off their wedding ring a few times. I think it's nigh on impossible. There have been multiple times i have had to take mine off,

I do wear it most of the time - and DH wears his too. Not around the house though. Only when I go out.

Married 30 years, my DH wears his apart from when he got a wasp sting and his hand swelled up. I don’t wear mine or any other rings.

I'm not married but it would make me feel quite anxious and a bit claustrophobic if there was a ring on my finger I couldn't physically get off!

Haven’t worn one daily for years. Sill married though, into the 40th year!

My original band wouldn’t fit now. And I used the diamonds from my engagement ring to make a new wedding ring. I wear it if I’m going out but not every day.

We’ve been married for 17 years and neither of us are able to wear ours because we’ve both put on weight 🤣🙈 we keep meaning to have them sized up but never get round to it.

I wear mine all the time, but take it off to wash, and for anything messy. Isn’t there lots of grime under yours?

I felt a bit, but somehow left it on, got used quickly.

How do you clean underneath it? How do you clean the ring? What if you’re kneading dough or making pastry - I remove mine for lots of food handling jobs.

i dislike the feel of rings so have never had or worn one.

makes me feel a bit queasy thinking of a ring that’s never been removed for decades..

We’ve been married for 37 yrs , very happy , for a variety of reasons neither of us has worn a ring for 30+ years , the rings are quite happily living together in a box with my engagement ring which I also never wear .

For anything messy, I always wear gloves, and I keep it clean by twisting it round when I wash. It still moves up and down a little bit, so I’m able to look after the hygiene side of things properly. In the summer, when my fingers swell, it gets rather snug and takes a bit more effort to shift, though I’ve never had any skin issues with it.

I haven't been able to remove mine for years now either. Funnily enough it isn't embedded into the finger as you might think- it can move up and down and if I press on it I can see daylight through the ring so soap and water are still washing underneath it, but there is no way in hell it will come off over my knuckles anymore.

You'll likely need it cut off at some point so best to do it now and get it resized.

My friend had to have hers done in hospital after gaining weight, as it caused permanent nerve damage.

Do take it seriously OP.

The only time Ive taken my wedding ring off in 46 years was when I had it resized slightly about three years ago. I was without it for two days and it felt so wrong! When I had a ten hour operation a few years ago, I took my engagement ring and other jewellery off but refused to remove my wedding ring, so they just put tape over it. I’ve not had to remove it for any of the subsequent operations Ive had.

Oddly, my fingers have shrunk despite middle age weight gain etc and I probably haven't worn my proper engagement, wedding and eternity rings for a least 15 years.

I did buy myself a super thin wedding ring with diamonds so I had something to wear and keep all the single men away 😆.

Married 10 years - wore it when I went out up until Covid. Never worn it since. DH doesn't have one - neither he nor I like men to wear them.

I had to have mine cut off after around 30 years of marriage as my fingers had swollen and I couldn't get it off and it was uncomfortably tight. A reputable local jeweller cut it off for me and I've not worn a ring since.

I never really wore it to be honest! I don’t like rings.

I took my wedding and engagement ring off last year. I had put on weight and couldn't get them off and it worried me. I didn't want them cut off. So one day I did the string trick with dental floss. I'd tried many times and it hadn't worked - this time i pulled it every very tight and it really hurt......but I got them off.

I take mine off if I'm using both hands to knead dough or make crumble. I also put it and my eternity ring into my ultrasonic cleaner once a year for proper cleaning. It is a thin twisted band of yellow and white gold. My husband can't wear his as the movement against his skin causes a flare up of eczema. Nearly 40 years and I'm still glad we chose interesting rings!

My Mum wore both hers and also my Grandmother's wedding rings until she died. My father stopped wearing his very soon after the wedding 'due to work' but he never put it back on even after retiring and Mum buying him a new one that fitted his much fatter finger.

I take my jewellery off as soon as I get home. Watch, rings, earrings. Never sleep in jewellery or do cleaning.
I like my rings but I’m not so attached I can’t remove them and I don’t feel any connection or superstition about taking them off.

I only wear mine when I’m going out. If I wear it for prolonged periods, my skin gets itchy and dry and peels. It’s the same with watches and other jewellery. My husband didn’t want to wear his for work, heating engineer and very manual work, and now he’s out weight on it doesn’t fit.

The only time since our wedding day that I’ve not worn my wedding ring was the last couple of months of my first pregnancy. I’m not sure whether my hands has actually swollen, but it was a very hot summer, the ring fitted very snuggly by then, and the thought that it might get stuck made me feel panicky. So I wore it on a ribbon as a necklace until shortly after dc1 was born.

Otherwise, it’s never off for more than an hour or two for specific jobs that might scratch it or that it might scratch.

My hand has changed shape around my wedding ring.

Dh used to take his off every night, and put it on the bedside table next to his wristwatch. Then he got a smart watch, which he never took off at night. He soon lost the habit of taking off his wedding ring, and now also wears it all the time.

I’ve been married 27 years and wear my ring. Unfortunately not the actual ring from when we got married. I’ve got rheumatoid arthritis and my fingers get hammered with it, so I had to get a replacement, as I couldn’t have the original resized due to it having engraving inside it.

I’ve got a nice black tungsten one now, that can double up as an offensive weapon it’s so thick.