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?

So is this the ‘logic’ driving this for some people? Leave a symbolic piece of jewellery on 24/7 and it magically makes you stay married?

Take mine off every day! For showering/facewashing/washing /swimming/working out/and most importantly.....for sleeping! I don't want to scratch my face accidently in the night with my ring, that would wake me up!

DH takes his off for washin up and working out. He has a silicone ring he wearsbfor workouts.

I never wear mine

I've lost a lot of weight and last week my wedding band flew off my finger and so I haven't been wearing it this week incase I lose it!

I’ve been married 23 years and take mine off every night, I would feel really claustrophobic if I couldn’t take them off. I’ve had both my wedding ring and engagement ring made bigger as I’m heavier now than when I got married. I also take them off when baking / showering etc.

My mother in law has been married over 60 years and never took hers off, her fingers are arthritic now and the doctor told her she needed her rings cutting off as they were digging into her fingers so she’s just been and had them cut off and has got a big dent in her fingers where they were.

27 years married. Couldn't get it past my arthritic knuckle if I tried..It was my late dms ring, so doubly special..its clean underneath i do nursey scrubs frequently. I can't make pastry because of the arthritis.

I’d probably keep mine on more if it was plain, but it’s shaped to my engagement ring, so if I need to take the latter off for messy jobs, wedding ring comes too. As does the ring on my right hand made from my mum’s wedding and eternity rings.

I had a couple of months without rings when the engagement ring got uncomfortably tight before getting it resized. Wedding ring was fine as that was its original size, engagement ring smaller from when it had made smaller due to weight loss. I quite like going without rings for a day or two provided I know exactly where they are.

DH’s comes off for jobs I wouldn’t take my rings off for, and if it’s uncomfortable. Nearly 27 years and it’s never been replated (white gold) so it’s looking rough.

I had mine cut off about 10 years ago when I got stung by a horsefly and my hand swelled up enormously. I've not worn it since - not as any kind of statement, I've just never got round to getting it mended. I've been happily married for 34 years and wearing or not wearing a ring makes no difference to that.

Married 19 years - I wear wedding and engagement ring every day, but take them off at night.

I wear the engagement ring as it's only insured if it's on my finger or in a safe and it's very valuable both sentimentally and financially as it's an heirloom.

It's getting to a point where my fingers are swelling up too much to wear them in very hot weather, so I might need to see about getting both enlarged. The engagement ring again is tricky because of the value of the stone - but apparently there are specialist places that will do it in an open workshop so you don't have to take your eyes off it!

Nearly de-gloved my finger about 6mths after the wedding so took it off and never put it back on. DH wore his on the wedding day and hasn’t worn it since as far as I recall. 30 something years married.

I’ve never thought of mine that way. I just don’t feel the need to take it off because it isn’t uncomfortable and has no sharp
edges. If I took it off every time I showered or baked or slept whatnot, I’d be much more likely to lose it or drop it somewhere unreachable, as I’m generally quite scatterbrained and hamfisted. I quite often take showers at work (gym) and would worry about losing it there. It’s more like I’ve just sort of forgotten it’s there so it safest where it is!

Fair enough! Some people on the thread do seem to be actively superstitious about taking it off being symbolic of something marriage-related, though!

I'm not really a jewellery wearer, and I especially always had trouble with rings because my knuckles are pretty much even with my finger bones so it's just the flesh holding the ring on. In the summer my hands swell slightly and the rings are uncomfortable and in the winter my hands shrink when I get cold and the rings fall off.

When we got married we both forgot about wedding rings until a couple of days before the ceremony and we bought rings from Argos as a temporary measure. DH wore his for the ceremony, then took it off before bed and never wore it again. I kept wearing mine, and engagement ring, until 9 months later when we went to Malaysia for BIL's wedding. While in Malaysia I had an allergic reaction to something unknown. I woke up in the middle of the night with swollen eyes, lips and fingers. It was the pain from my rings that woke me. I had to hold my hand in a sink of iced water to be able to get the rings off. I never wore them again after that. They were stolen, along with all my other jewellery, in a burglary about 14 years ago.

Me and dh had matching ones. 35 years on he still wears his. I wore mine until 2022 when I took it off after a long and terrible flight. Left it on the bedside table in a hotel room and it was stolen, or possibly fell on the floor and went in the hoover.
Got myself a new one last year which is pretty close to the original.

Been married 36 years this week and haven’t worn my ring for about 30 years now as it makes my finger ache for some reason.

Married 28 years. Lost the first one, bought another but developed an allergy to it so I haven't worn it or any other jewellery for years. Sooner ringless than reddened, cracked skin with weeping pustules. 🤷‍♀️

Just how?

Looks over at husband balancing his on his nose like a dolphin...

Married 58 years and neither of us now wears our wedding ring, DH because his knuckle swelled so much his ring had to be cut off and me because I have borderline lymphodoema after a left mastectomy 21 years ago and can't wear any rings on that hand. It felt odd at first and I missed wearing my engagement rings and the anniversary rings DH gave me for 25 and 40 years,but I still get them out and look at them.

Married 22 years wear my wedding ring but have taken it off many times and had to stop wearing it a few times due to arthritis swelling which has improved with treatment.

My ring has a few small diamonds on it and serves as my engagement and wedding ring.

I’ve lost a lot weight so it’s very loose and currently got a silicone strip wrapped around the underside to make it tighter and not slide off, but it frequently twists round and then looks weird.

I don’t want to get it re-sized until I’ve stayed at my ideal weight for a bit. 🤔

My nana wore hers continuously for over 40 years and had it cut off when my grandad shut her fingers in the car door. I hate the idea of not being able to get it off quickly if my finger was swelling! Mine is diamonds rather than plain metal, so I regularly take it off and didn’t wear it when pregnant.

I’m married 28 years and I still wear my ring every day and night. Sometimes I swap it over to my right hand and give myself a fright when I catch sight of my naked left finger! I wear my engagement ring most days. I left it at home when we went travelling for a few months 25 years ago. I also didn’t wear it after I had my DDs because I was quite swollen.

DH wears his every day but takes it off at night.

@LemonPuppyPorkChop My rings aren't tight, so I can scrub the skin underneath with a nail brush, although I'm sure it's spotless anyway!

I've only had to cut 1x ring off in my career (anaesthetics) we generally spend 30min with plastic/string/lube and have a 98% rate of getting them off (I'm determined I feel bad for the patients). But the ring cutter is very delicate and are trained where to cut to make it easily fixable. Suppose if you're fingers jammed in a fence or such they'd be less delicate in cutting it but for semi-elective settings they aren't harmed

i would recommend having a jeweller cut them off and then make them bigger on repair. They are not part of yoh and it is not romantic to have a ring you can’t get off

I agree. Mine had to be cut off when I realised it wouldn't actually come off no matter how I tried. At which point I really wanted it off! I had it resized and it's ok now, however, I only wear wedding/engagement ring if we go out anywhere, and never ever overnight.