A few years ago you would never have heard of a man in the UK or the States receiving an engagement ring ahead of them tying the knot but it seems that times are changing and its something that more of us are thinking about. Interestingly its not an new idea in the Scandinavia where engagement rings for men have been around for a long time. In these countries its almost as common for the man to get such a ring as a woman.

If you are wondering how it works, it doesn't necessarily mean that the man will wear two rings on his finger. What sometimes happens is that he will wear the engagement ring on his ring finger until the wedding day when he will transfer it to another finger and put on the wedding band. Some men will thus have a ring on both hands, or cease to wear the engagement ring altogether. Another option is to give the ring at the time of the engagement and use that same one as the wedding band when the time comes to tie the knot. Part of the reason for this is the fact that it saves couples some money in these tough financial times.

The reason why this has been practiced in countries such as Norway and Sweden is not to do with some ancient tradition, it least not totally. There are other cultures in the world which have similar ideas about giving the man a token when he asks a women to marry him. In Spain women are known to give their future husband a gift of some sort to signify their forthcoming marriage. It could be something like a bracelet or watch, but could also be the ubiquitous ring. Often times this gift will be inscribed with a message or date as a sign of the commitment the couple is making.