Carrying the Rings
When the wedding party includes a young ring bearer, there are a number of ways to handle getting the rings securely to the front of the ceremony without worry.
Youngsters can feel nervous about being in the ceremony, too. Make sure they attend the rehearsal and understand when they will be entering, who will be helping them, who to stand with on the platform, or where they are going to sit if they will not be remaining on the platform with the wedding party.
Here are several ways of handling the rings:
1. Have the minister tie each of the rings onto the pillow with a loop that allows him or her to pull one side of the ribbon to untie a ring. Don’t give the pillow to the ring bearer until the wedding party lines up for the procession.
2. Leave dummy rings on the pillow for the ring bearer to carry in, but have the best man and maid or matron of honor carry the real rings. If you choose this alternative, have the best man carry the ring for the bride in his pocket or on his little finger. Have the maid or matron of honor wear the ring for the groom on her thumb. This reduces the chances of dropping or losing a ring while making them easy to manage, even for a maid of honor with a large bouquet.
3. Dispense with the ring bearer and the pillow all together and go with #2.
4. If the bride and groom want to carry the rings they are going to exchange, follow the guidelines in #2 above for the wedding couple.
For your pleasure, a couple quick stories about ring bearers:
One young boy came down the aisle at the wedding rehearsal growling to the left and right as he walked. When he was asked why he was growling he answered, “I’m the ring bear!”
Another little boy announced to me during the planning meeting for his dad's wedding that he was going to be “the ring dude.”
So for all of you with ring bears or ring dudes, help them do their jobs well and you’ll have a great time along with some charming photos and memories!
