Wedding Bands for Two Brides

Four rings on two hands

When two women marry, there are often four rings to plan: two engagement rings and two wedding bands. In The Knot and Q.Digital LGBTQ Weddings Study 2017, a survey of 821 people in the United States, 86% of women said they exchanged engagement rings at the proposal. So for many female couples, each bride needs a band that sits well next to her own engagement ring, and the two bands should still look like they belong to one couple.

In British Columbia, Statistics Canada counted 3,230 married couples of two women in the 2021 Census, out of 6,865 couples of two women in the province. Statistics Canada rounds these counts at random to a multiple of 5 or 10, as its note on random rounding explains, so treat them as close counts.

This page is about the bands. If you are still choosing engagement rings, start with our page on engagement rings for two women, which covers pairs of engagement rings, diamond shapes side by side and sizing two hands.

Three band shapes that sit next to an engagement ring

The shape of a wedding band decides how close it sits to the engagement ring. Look at your engagement ring from the side before you choose.

Straight band

A straight band has the same width all the way around and straight edges. Some people call it a flush band, because it can sit flush, with no space, against the engagement ring. This works when the setting on the engagement ring sits high enough for the band to slide under it. If the setting comes down low, a straight band will leave a small space between the two rings. Some brides like that space, because each ring stays easy to see.

Contoured band

A contoured band, also called a curved or shaped band, bends to follow the outline of the stone or setting on the engagement ring. It closes the space and makes the two rings look like one piece. It only fits the ring it was shaped for, so if you ever change your engagement ring, the band will not sit the same way.

Notched band

A notched band is a straight band with a small cut in one edge. The setting of the engagement ring rests in the cut, so the two rings sit close. A notch is smaller than a full curve and keeps the band looking straight when you wear it alone.

Bring your engagement ring when you choose a band, so the band can be checked against it. Our guides on matching a band to an engagement ring and band width and profile explain the details.

Eternity and half eternity bands

A full eternity band has stones set all the way around the ring. A half eternity band has stones across the top only, with plain metal underneath.

A full eternity band usually cannot be resized, because there is no plain metal to cut and join. If hands may change over the years, a half eternity band is the safer choice, since most solid gold and platinum rings can be resized up to two sizes either way. Our article Can a Ring Be Resized? explains the limits, and eternity vs anniversary bands compares the two styles.

Choose stones that can take daily wear. GIA says diamond is the hardest gemstone and gives corundum, the mineral of sapphire, a 9 on the Mohs hardness scale. GIA also says emerald, opal and tanzanite are not tough gems, and suggests wearing softer stones on special occasions. For a band worn every day, diamonds or sapphires make sense.

Should you solder your rings together?

Soldering means a jeweller joins the engagement ring and the band with metal, so they become one ring. The rings stay lined up and do not rub against each other. The downside is that you cannot wear the band alone, for example at work or at the gym, and any future resizing has to be done on both rings at once. You can wear the rings apart for a few months after the wedding and decide then. Our article on soldering two rings together covers the pros and cons in full.

Each bride can decide on her own: one wife can solder her rings while the other keeps hers separate.

One band design for two different engagement rings

Two brides may want matching wedding bands while their engagement rings are different. One ring may have a tall solitaire, and the other a low bezel setting or no centre stone at all.

The answer is to match what the eye sees first and change only what the hand needs. Keep these the same on both bands:

• The metal and its colour.
• The finish, such as high polish or brushed.
• The stone size and the way the stones are set, if your bands have stones.

Then let each band take the shape its engagement ring needs: a straight band for the bride whose setting sits high, and a contoured or notched band for the bride whose setting sits low. Seen together on two hands, the bands still look like a pair. At Vanhess every ring is made to order in any size and any width, so the two bands can also be made in two widths that suit two different hands. Our page on matching and coordinating sets shows more ways to pair bands.

Two metals in one couple

If your engagement rings are in different metals, each band can match its own engagement ring, so each bride's rings share one colour on her finger. To link two bands in two metals, keep the same profile, width and finish, or add a thin line of the other bride's metal to each band. Our guide to wedding band metals compares gold colours and platinum, and platinum vs white gold explains how those two differ over time.

When one bride has no engagement ring

Some brides choose no engagement ring at all. Maybe one of you proposed and did not want a ring for yourself, or you both decided to skip engagement rings. Our page Do Both Partners Get an Engagement Ring? talks through that choice.

If the band will be your only ring, it can have more design. Ideas that work well:

• A wider band, so the ring is easy to see on its own.
• A half eternity band, which gives the shine of stones without a raised setting.
• A band with one stone set flush into the metal, which does not catch on clothes or gloves.
• A band with a pattern or engraving on the outside.

Make the two bands share one detail, such as the metal or the pattern, so that your band and your wife's band still look like a pair even if hers sits next to an engagement ring and yours does not.

When to wear the bands

Traditionally, wedding bands are put on for the first time at the ceremony. In an Equally Wed advice column, Kirsten Palladino writes that wedding bands are traditionally exchanged during the vows and worn from then on, and that every couple is different. In a WeddingWire forum thread on same-sex marriage rings, women described different plans: one couple planned to stop wearing their proposal rings before the wedding and exchange them at the ceremony, another chose matching bands to wear once married, and a friend of one poster wore two bands each, one plain and one with diamonds.

A timeline for two brides

The Knot's 2017 survey found that women in same-sex couples were engaged for 13 months on average. That is plenty of time, but two custom bands need planning.

• Choose your bands once both engagement rings are on your hands, so each band can be checked against the ring it will sit beside.
• A custom ring at Vanhess takes 5 to 8 weeks from consultation to collection. Each ring is drawn on screen and quoted from the drawing before any metal is cast.
• Hand engraving takes a day once the ring is made and sized. Engraved pieces cannot be returned, so check spelling and dates twice.
• Leave time for a fitting after the bands are made, in case a size needs to change.

For engraving ideas, see engraving ideas for two brides and our wedding band engraving guide. We can also take fingerprint scans for engraving.

Wedding bands for two brides

Made to order in any size and width, so one design can be shaped for two different engagement rings.

Wedding Ring (0.3ct tw) - W3456WFrom $1,500 CADWedding Ring - W0215WFrom $2,100 CADWedding Ring (0.65ct tw) - E0746RFrom $2,220 CADWedding Ring (1c tw) - C5920RFrom $2,750 CADDiamond Ring (1.72ct.-tw.) - 01895From $8,500 CADWedding Ring (0.2ct tw) - CU2506From $1,500 CADDiamond Ring (4.64-ct.-tw.) - 03861From $2,850 CADDiamond Ring - 03154From $4,000 CAD

Sources

• The Knot Worldwide, Personalization Prevails and Traditions Get A Twist Among Same-Sex Weddings, According to The Knot & Q.Digital LGBTQ Weddings Study 2017, 2017-06-23, survey of 821 US respondents. Accessed 2026-10-18.
• Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0136-01, Gender diversity status of couple family, type of union and presence of children: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations, 2022-07-13. Accessed 2026-10-18.
• Statistics Canada, note on random rounding of census counts. Accessed 2026-10-18.
• GIA 4Cs, More than the Mohs Scale: Understanding Gem Durability, 2016-03-14. Accessed 2026-10-18.
• Equally Wed, Should Both Brides Wear Their Rings Before the Wedding Day? (Ask Kirsten, Kirsten Palladino). Accessed 2026-10-18.
• WeddingWire forums, Engagement/wedding rings - same sex marriage, thread started 2018-04-06. Accessed 2026-10-18.

Frequently Asked Questions