Tip: Do it in the summer. (If that’s all you needed, there you go. Story and explanation follow.)
Let’s start with the assumption that the majority of the population probably intends to wear engagement and/or wedding rings to mark those events in their life. I could write another whole post about my ambivalence on the subject. Despite this ambivalence, I have both.
In the last month, however, I’ve only been wearing my engagement ring. It makes me feel strange, just not as strange as if I weren’t wearing a ring at all. I realize what a different connotation it has. Engaged ain’t married.
The reason: the heat that’s been plaguing DC lately. My fingers always get fatter in the summer and the recent humidity has been making them almost fluffy.
We got engaged in the end of June (2006), so I had my ring sized for fat fingers (Delaware gets quite humid too). We got married in July but I got to weigh in on that ring and had it sized that March. It wasn’t humid at all and quite cool, so my fingers were their svelte selves.
On the first day of my honeymoon, I probably made Micah quite nervous by spending a lot of time taking off my ring. I’d fight with it, tug at it, finally get it off. Then I’d put it back on for another hour until I felt the panic again.
I’m not sure where it came from, but I was terrified that it’d be stuck on my finger and my finger would die and fall off. It was also uncomfortable, too tight and constricting.
This summer, I decided to avoid the discomfort and panic altogether by taking it off when the weather warmed up. I’ll put it back on in the fall.
It’d be smart for me to get the ring sized now that it’s summer, I just don’t have the same comfort with the area that I had in Delaware. After living there for years, I knew a trustworthy jewelry store. So maybe I’ll do it, maybe I’ll wait until I find a store I know and trust. I’ve got the engagement ring anyway.
But if when I do get it resized, I’m going to do it in the summer.
Save yourself time, money, frustration, and freaking out your spouse (though Micah’s quite understanding). When getting your rings, get them sized at a hot and humid time. It’s easier and cheaper to buy a little ring guard for the winter (if your fingers dramatically shrink in the cold) than to deal with this discomfort your whole life.
Am I the only one with this seasonal problem?
Print Friendly
{ 18 comments }
I totally agree. I got engaged in February and didn’t get my ring sized down because I figured it’d fit a bit more snug come summer. That didn’t quite happen and both my engagement and wedding rings are too big-but not so large that they slide off. I have “Get Rings Resized” on my to-do list, and I’ll definitely be doing it on a hot day.
lol…interesting. I’d never heard of this, but it makes sense. Maybe all this time I thought I got fat, but it was just the humidity!! (lol. Who am I kidding…I gained weight)
I’ll keep this in mind for buying ANY rings. Good tip!
Argh, my fingers do this and I also freak out my fiance when I take the ring off. It’s still too loose the rest of the time though, so maybe I just have magical inflating fingers!
I have the opposite problem! When it’s really cold out (by California standards), my fingers shrink so the rings spin around on my fingers all the time and I worry that they’ll fall off.
You’re not the only one; I have issues in summer too. I got my ring November, it’s not engagement ring or anything just a really nice ring, so it’s not really a big deal but this is a good tip for when that day comes. 🙂
This is one of the “Duh, That’s brilliant” posts!
Totally hip to this one! Except i never listened to anyone, and now the ring is tightening like a noose around my finger 😉
Maybe i’ll see you at the store this summer, and we can re-size together! haha….good post.
Yes….mine is also quite snug! Engagement ring has always been 1/2 size too large, so summer is great for that, but the wedding band is getting bad! Nathan thinks his is getting tighter too because of all the man-muscle he is building from weight lifting (well, he can dream, can’t he?)
I stopped being able to wear my wedding ring about half-way through my first pregnancy. I haven’t worn it for over five years, in the belief that I’d lose weight “someday.” I am losing weight now, so I may be able to wear it within the next year.
Resizing is definitely something to be open to.
When we picked up my engagement ring, the saleswoman told us that lots of women get their rings resized many times during their lives, due to pregnancy and other things. She said it was totally normal. She also said that it’s better for those types of rings to be snug; if the ring is hard to pull off your finger, it’s less likely to fall off. I thought I wore a 7 or an 8 and they resized me down to a 6! I haven’t had to deal with your issue yet but my fingers do get swollen in the mornings; that’s when it’s hardest to take my ring off.
My ring is pretty simple and kind of an odd shape so I’m not having a wedding band to go with it (don’t want to pay $$$ to custom-make one!). It was also pretty cheap (it’s actually considered a promise ring) so if I lose it, I don’t feel completely devastated. That’s my biggest worry.
Another big “ring problem time” is not only summer but pregnancy!! I couldn’t wear either ring the last trimester because I was retaining so much water (or eating too much!). 🙁 And since I look so young, I was convinced people were thinking, “oh there’s another unwed teenage mother.” lol. 😀
@ Amy & Amanda, if/when I’m pregnant, I’m probably going to buy a cheap silver claddagh to wear. I bought one for my second trip to Europe just as some kind of “taken” sign. Not that men look. Without it, I’d probably feel self-conscious like Amanda.
Argh! I’ve got the opposite problem of constantly spinning rings. At this point, I’d rather have a snug ring than having to constantly feel for it whenever the AC comes on. I’m glad to hear from Melissa that resizing is common; I’ve already had the engagement band taken down twice and was afraid they’d boo me when I came in again. 🙂
I actually had to have my wedding ring (only ring I wear) cut off during a summer pregnancy. After I was back to more normal weight I had the ring resized (just a little bigger). The last couple of years I found it’s really tight and uncomfortable if I leave it on all the time, so I take it off every night.
An even better idea is to not buy an engagement ring. It was a tradition started by the diamond companies mid-20th century. Do you really want to demonstrate little reasoning power and fall for this scam? Not to mention that the diamond companies are some of the worst human rights abusers in the corporate world.
I’m sure this is falling on deaf ears, but someone needs to say it.
My problem is the opposite: My fingers shrink too much in the winter. I almost lost both my engagement ring and my wedding band this past winter, and after that frightening episode I had them soldered together and resized. It hasn’t been constricting my finger, but it won’t come off either. 🙂 (And I don’t mind that one bit.)
On the whole to buy or not to buy thing, my engagement ring is one of the most precious possessions I have. It’s not huge by any means and didn’t cost my husband any more than $700, but it means the world to me because he took the time to pick it out just for me and even schemed to surprise me with it. He was also clever and gave it to me on Christmas day, so it was all I got from him that year. (Two gifts in one.)
@Chad….actually, I did say a bit about it in the opening paragraph. But this is about the practical dealing with the ring(s) you have…which aren’t necessarily new or diamond. The other post is for another time.
I lost my engagement ring. My then fiance (now husband) took me with him to buy the ring. It was sized in the summer. I lost some weight and my finger shrank further in the winter and the ring flew off my hand when I was clapping and we never found it. My husband bought me a replacement. It’s loose, too, even when my wedding band is too tight. I think I’ll buy a ring guard.
Sorry, I was skimming and missed it.
Comments on this entry are closed.