Weddings are are about much more than the joining of two individuals in marriage. They have far greater social implications, and are rich with customs and traditional rituals that provide a link with the past. Many cultures have specific ceremonial jewelry that a bride wears as part of her wedding attire, and the pieces are often quite symbolic in and of themselves. This is a look at some of the most interesting ceremonial wedding jewelry from around the world.

In no country is wedding jewelry more important than India. There is a vast suite of pieces that an Indian bride wears, and no wedding would be complete if a piece were missing. The people of India are known for their love of pure 24 karat gold, and this is the preferred material for much of the wedding jewelry suite worn by Indian brides. The sets of bridal jewelry are extremely intricate in design and ornately decorated. The glowing gold is adorned with numerous precious stones. The most common gems used are rubies, jade, garnets, emeralds, amethysts, and pearls.
The Indian bride is lavishly decorated with jewelry literally from head to toe. At the top, she wears a headpiece called the shringar (or shingar) patti, which is an elaborate gold piece worn along the hairline with a circular pendant in the center which rests on the forehead. Along the part of her hair, the bride also wears thin decoration known as a maang tikka.

Like brides around the world, the Indian bride will have a special necklace and earring set for her wedding day. The Indian version, though, is considerably more ornate and heavy than what most Western brides would wear, and usually consists of bold gold pieces dotted with precious stones. The bride's necklace and earrings are chosen to complement both her wedding attire and the rest of the traditional bridal jewelry suite.
The nath, or nose ring, is another part of the Indian wedding ceremonial jewelry collection. The nose ring is a vitally important item for a bride, as it is one of the key symbols of a married woman. The wedding nath can either be a simple stud or ring, or it can consist of a nose stud that has a long chain attached which hooks into the bride's hair. Bangle bracelets are another sign of a married woman in India, and the chudi, as they are called, are worn in multiples which jangle merrily on the bride's arms. The finest bangles are made of either gold, glass, or ivory, and a woman will usually gather quite a collection of these thin bracelets over the course of her marriage. Another form of bracelet is sometimes worn by Indian brides, and that is the hathpool, which is a bracelet that is attached to a ring by a slim chain. This style is also common in Native American jewelry, where it is sometimes called a "slave bracelet".

Working our way down the body, we come to the hands of the young Indian bride. Decorated with intricate henna patterns in the mendhi ceremony in the days before the wedding, the bride will adorn her fingers with many rings, called anguthi. Like the rest of the wedding jewelry, these rings are usually gold, and are worn in addition to the engagement ring on the left hand. Diamonds are popular accents in the anguthi.
    Even the ankles and feet of the bride are adorned as part of the Indian wedding tradition. Custom forbids the wearing of gold below the waist, so the decorations for the feet and ankles are generally crafted from silver. The bichhua are the silver toe rings worn by married Indian women, and are one of the must-have components of the ceremonial wedding jewelry. The payal (or pajeb) is the name for the ornate silver anklets worn by Indian brides.
    The most important piece of jewelry is not worn by the bride before the marriage ceremony. It is the mangal sutra, which is a very special wedding necklace. The mangral sutra is a necklace consisting of black beads from which a gold or diamond pendant is suspended. The bride's husband places it around her neck as a symbol of their unity, and she wears the necklace until they are separated by death. The mangal sutra is considered the most important sign of marital status in India.

It is probable that few other cultures have such an elaborate and involved suite of ceremonial wedding jewelry worn by brides as India, yet there are special symbolic pieces of wedding jewelry in many other countries and traditions. The Native Americans, for instance, have their own customary jewelry that is worn as a part of the marriage ceremony. It is important to note that the various Native American tribes each have their own set of wedding rituals, so there is no one standard type of ceremony that applies to all Native Americans.
    Some of the tribes in the West favor the fine turquoise and silver jewelry for which Native American artisans have long been known. Unlike in many other cultures, both the bride and the groom are adorned with these special pieces of ceremonial jewelry. In the East, brides are more likely to wear necklaces created from beads and shells. Traditionally, brides from the Delaware tribe wore wampum beads around their foreheads, as well as necklaces around their necks.

Chinese heritage has long been rich with symbolism, and this is certainly true for weddings. The traditional marriage garment for brides in China is the cheongsam, which is an exquisitely embroidered silk dress. The cheongsam worn by a bride is usually red, which is the color of luck in China, and it is embroidered with images of phoenixes, which are the symbol for the female half of the sign for a bride and groom. In keeping with this theme, the ceremonial wedding jewelry for Chinese brides is a gilded silver tiara that is decorated with feathers and pearls as another reference to the phoenix. The special tiara is worn with a red silk veil to cover the bride's face. As the tiara is very heavy, most brides will not wear it for the entire wedding ceremony and reception, just for the key photographic moments.

Another country which has a traditional wedding headpiece is Sweden. For centuries, Swedish brides have exchanged their vows while wearing brudkronan, which are dainty silver crowns. The brudkronan is not a tiara, but a true crown that forms a complete circle. They are generally made of silver, gold, or brass, and are small but tall. The typical dimensions for the Swedish wedding crown are about 2 inches wide at the base, 3 ¼ inches wide at the top of the crown, and 3 ¼ inches high. Due to the precious metals used to create the crowns, they can be quite heavy to wear.
The history of the brudkronan dates back to at least the Middle Ages. They were predated by handmade wreaths of myrtle and streamers. The origins of the wedding crown in Swedish wedding customs is tied in with the Catholic Church in Sweden, and with the Virgin Mary in particular. The brudkronan is a symbol of chastity and virginity, and the Church permitted them to be worn only by virgins, at least in theory. Because they are so valuable, the marriage crowns are passed down through generations of brides in a family, or more often, borrowed from the local parish church for the wedding. A bride was required to swear to her virginity before a group of church elders in order to be permitted to borrow the parish brudkronan. There are tales, however, of the occasional bride who was in a family way skirting this strict requirement by promising to re-gild the crown if she was permitted to wear it.

Most cultures around the globe recognize some form of wedding band as a symbol of marriage. The endless circular shape of the wedding band represents eternal love and devotion. This is also the case in Sweden, but wives there will generally wear three bands on the ring finger of their left hands. The first ring is an engagement band, which is the customary betrothal gift in Sweden much as the diamond ring is in the United States. The second and third bands are given to the bride by the groom during the marriage ceremony. One is the wedding band, to which we are all accustomed. The third band is the ring of motherhood, given in anticipation of the children that the newlyweds will one day be blessed to have.

The Irish have their own unique wedding band, one which is familiar as a symbol of Ireland to people everywhere. This special ring is called the Claddagh ring, and it is so named after the little fishing village in Galway, Ireland where the design originated. The village of Claddagh was an isolated little hamlet of Celtic settlers. The unique ring was used as a wedding band in Claddagh alone for hundreds of years before it finally spread beyond the borders of that small village. The Claddagh ring eventually became popular in many places, and it is said to be the only Irish-made ring ever worn by Queen Victoria of England.
The design of the Claddagh ring consists of three symbols (the number three is quite powerful in Irish symbolism, as we shall see later). The first is the heart, which represents love. The second motif is a pair of hands, which stand for friendship. The final element in a Claddagh ring is a crown, whose inclusion symbolizes loyalty. The design of the ring consists of the heart in the center, which is held in the pair of hands, and topped by the crown. The full message of the Claddagh design is "Let love and friendship reign". One can certainly see why this message resonated with brides and grooms. The manner in which a Claddagh ring is worn is also full of meaning. Worn on the ring finger of the right hand with the crown pointing away from the fingertip says that the wearer is available, or not yet spoken for. When the ring is turned over so that the crown is closer to the fingertip end of the hand, the message being sent is that the wearer is involved in a relationship. Worn facing that same direction on the ring finger of the left hand indicates that the wearer is married. I say "the wearer", not the bride, because men and women both wear Claddagh rings.
The history of the original Claddagh ring is a matter of Irish folklore, and there is one tale which is more fanciful, and another which is more probable. In either case, it is widely believed that the three part design of the ring can be traced back to the Joyce family of Claddagh. The more intriguing legend is that it came from a woman named Margaret Joyce, who married to the mayor of Galway in 1596, but had wealth from a previous husband. Apparently Margaret Joyce was well known for the bridges that she had built using her own money. The story goes that she was sitting near one of her bridges when an eagle dropped a ring into her lap. It was said that the gold ring which dropped from the sky was a heavenly reward for all of her good deeds and generous spirit.
The less interesting, but more likely story is that the Claddagh ring was designed by one of Margaret Joyce's relatives, a goldsmith named Richard Joyce. He had at one time been enslaved in Algiers by a wealthy goldsmith, where he learned the trade, and there is speculation that the idea for the design of the Claddagh symbol may have come from his time there. Either way, the Claddagh is one of the foremost symbols of Ireland that we have today.

Another motif involving the number three is also a part of the ceremonial wedding jewelry of the Irish. The trinity knot is a knot with three sides, and it is frequently worn by Irish brides. The knot, generally crafted from gold or silver, can stand alone as a pendant or a pair of stud earrings, but it is often used as the base for a drop pearl. The more elaborate versions of the trinity knot which are most cherished by brides feature a precious gem like a diamond or emerald in the center of the knot.
    Unlike the lore surrounding the origins of the Claddagh ring, the background of the trinity knot is fairly straightforward. The trinity, or number three, is extremely significant in Ireland, as it represents the Holy Trinity of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. The trinity knot was designed as a Celtic symbol for God. When the early Christians came to Ireland, they folded many of the ancient Celtic symbols into their manuscripts, such as the Book of Kells. The knot design was very important to the Celtic people of Ireland, as its neverending form stood for eternity with no beginning and no end. In addition, the knot shape represents binding together and and intertwining, so it is a natural symbol for couples in love to adopt.
   

American brides reading this may feel as though they are lacking the potent symbolic wedding jewelry that is so important in many other countries. This is not entirely the case, however. It is just that in the United States, the diverse heritage and customs of its inhabitants tend to work against the establishment of the very specific suite of ceremonial jewelry that is seen in countries such as India. Nevertheless, Americans do have pieces of jewelry that are strongly associated with weddings and marriages. The reason that they may not immediately spring to mind is that these pieces are iconic across many nations and countries, not just in the United States.
These classic bridal symbols include the diamond engagement ring, the wedding band, and traditional pearl bridal jewelry. A bride in America who wishes to highlight the wedding customs of the United States can certainly include these time honored pieces in her marriage ceremony. Because America is so culturally diverse, though, she can feel equally free to incorporate some of the ancient ceremonial jewelry that would have been worn by her relatives in her ancestral homeland, and many brides do indeed choose to do just that.

The pomp and circumstance of a wedding ceremony is a very important way of marking the rite of passage into marriage. In every culture and in every nation around the world, there are rituals, rites, and traditions that are intended to make a wedding feel significant and to strengthen the bond between  past and present generations. Ceremonial wedding jewelry is one physical expression of the ideals which marriage represents in a society.