When my wife and I were preparing for our wedding a couple of years back, one of the things that we needed to do was pick out our rings. As it stood, we didn’t have a ton of money to put into wedding bands and I personally had an aversion to rings. It wasn’t the idea of wearing a wedding band that put me off; I’m just not the kind of guy who wears rings. Time went by and our wedding day drew nearer. This was beginning to get serious. What the hell were we going to do?
After giving it some thought, I remembered a co-worker of mine who had gotten a tattoo on her ring finger in lieu of a wedding band. This seemed like a decent idea to me. I looked into it, talked to a few tattoo artist friends and began to seriously consider it. After all, there’s no threat of losing a tattoo down the drain or getting a tattoo hooked on a piece of machinery while you work (the latter wasn’t a risk for me anyway, as the closest in my life I’ve come to working with machinery is an electric can opener.) Nonetheless, it just made good sense to me.
In the end however, my wife and I gave the tattooed ring finger a pass. I got used to wearing a wedding band and as much sense as the idea of a tattooed ring finger made, we just opted for the traditional route of rings.
To be honest, I’m quite glad that we did. Not that I have anything against people who do have their ring fingers tattooed as a symbol of their unification with another person. No way. More power to you if that’s your thing. I’ve just been looking around online, doing google searches and what not and it seems that wedding band tattoos have become “trendy”. See for me, the word trendy doesn’t belong anywhere near the concept of tattoos and getting tattoos done. Knowing that I’m the only one who has something particular inked into my skin because it means something exclusively to me has always held a great appeal. Trendy, by definition is based in fashion and style. Fashion and style, as we all know, can change on a whim and is highly fickle. Tattoos are permanent and a certain degree of respect should be maintained for this concept.
In this New York Times article on tattoo wedding bands, Donald G McNeil delves into the trend and begins to feel a little uncomfortable over the fact that his idea of a different sort of wedding band is shared by everyone from Pamela Anderson to Bristol Palin’s main squeeze, Levi Johnson. Who else has one? Well, there’s actress Tea Leoni and actor David Duchovny, Kathy Griffin, Ashlee Simpson, Jenna Jameson and Howard Stern, to name a few. It does seem that a vicious trend has begun.
Maybe though, just maybe I’m being a little cynical. Pro basketballer Tony Parker has his and wife Eva Longoria’s wedding date tattooed on his ring finger in Roman numerals. Parker also wears a wedding band, but since he can’t keep his wedding band on while he plays basketball, having the tattoo there is a way for him to maintain that connection with his wife. Not to get too sappy on everyone, but that’s something more personal than any desire to follow a tattoo trend.
That’s what it all boils down to in the end, I guess: everyone has their own reasons for getting a tattoo. Whether it’s to keep up with a trend or a heartfelt expression of sincerity, people make their choices and stick to them. It wasn’t the right choice for my wife or myself, but apparently it is for a lot of other people out there.
Whatever works, I guess.