Wedding Ring Inscriptions

Engraving the inside of a ring is a very old custom. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, English and French lovers exchanged “posy rings” — plain gold bands inscribed with a short verse or motto, the posy, hidden against the skin where only the wearer knew it was there. A wedding ring inscription is the same idea: a few words meant for one person, carried every day.

The lists below have been collected by Today’s Weddings readers since 1999, and we have added to them and corrected them over the years.

• Before you engrave
• Classic and sentimental
• Spiritual
• In other languages
• With a smile

Before you engrave

Size first. Resizing a ring after it has been engraved can stretch or cut through the lettering. Have the rings fitted, then engraved.

Count the characters. How much fits depends on the width of the band, the size of the finger and the style of the lettering. As a rough guide, a slim band takes around 15 characters and a wider one 25 or more; ask the jeweler before you fall in love with a long phrase.

Choose the lettering. Block capitals are easiest to read and fit the most; script is more romantic and takes more room. Hand engraving has a depth and irregularity that machine and laser engraving don’t, and costs more.

Allow time. Engraving usually takes a week or two. Collect the rings and check the spelling well before the wedding.

Check the metal. Very hard metals such as tungsten and some ceramics can only be laser-engraved, or not engraved at all.

Classic and sentimental

Initials and the wedding date — R.S. & M.A. 7.15.2027 — are the most traditional inscription and never date. The phrases below can stand alone or be combined with them.

Spiritual

• Bless, O Lord, this ring
• Each for each other, both for God
• Whither thou goest, I will go (Ruth 1:16)
• God’s blessing forever
• I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine (Song of Songs 6:3)
• In heaven, too, you will have my hand
• Our unity is Christ
• What God has joined together (Mark 10:9)
• Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8)
• A threefold cord is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:12)

The last three come from readings often used in the ceremony itself; you can find them in full among our religious readings.

In other languages

Many of the French inscriptions come from medieval and Renaissance posy rings and keep their period spellings, which engravers will reproduce if you ask.

French

• Mon cœur est à vous — My heart is yours
• Pour vous seule — For you alone
• Vous et nul autre — You and no other
• Autre ne veux — I want no other
• Deux corps, un cœur — Two bodies, one heart (posy spelling: Deux corps, ung cuer)
• Mon cuer avez — You have my heart (Middle French)
• Rien sans amour — Nothing without love

Latin

• Ab imo pectore — From the bottom of my heart
• Ad finem fidelis — Faithful to the end
• Amor vincit omnia — Love conquers all
• Amorem meum tibi semper dabo — I will always give you my love
• Pari passu — Side by side, as equals
• Semper amemus — Let us always love
• Semper fidelis — Always faithful
• Te amo — I love you

Italian and Spanish

• Con tutto il mio amore — With all my love (Italian)
• Per sempre — Forever (Italian)
• Para siempre — Forever (Spanish)
• Mi corazón es tuyo — My heart is yours (Spanish)
• Contigo — With you (Spanish)

Hebrew and Irish

• Ani l’dodi v’dodi li — I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine (Hebrew, Song of Songs 6:3)
• Dodi li va’ani lo — My beloved is mine and I am his (Hebrew, Song of Songs 2:16)
• Anam cara — Soul friend (Irish)
• Mo chroí — My heart (Irish)

With a smile

Some couples prefer something that makes them laugh every time the ring comes off at the sink. The first four were sent in by readers years ago; the rest are ours:

• Put it back on!
• May the Force be with us
• No guts, no glory
• IYCRTYAD — If you can read this, you are dead (reserved for couples with a dark sense of humor)
• Told you so
• Yes!
• To infinity and beyond

Choose with care: a joke that feels hilarious this year will be read every time the ring is resized, cleaned or passed down.

For choosing the rings themselves, the archive’s guide to buying a diamond still explains the four Cs clearly. For where the rings appear in the ceremony, see the order of the ceremony, and for the origin of the ring on the fourth finger, see something old, something new.