Is the ring exchange a must in a Catholic marriage ceremony?

What if we don't want rings?Is the ring exchange a must in a Catholic marriage ceremony?
Talk to the priest, but I believe you will find that the only absolutely essential element of a Roman rite wedding ceremony is that the parties agree to take each other as husband and wife. According to Roman Catholic theology, the priest does not confer the sacrament of matrimony. The couple, by the exchange of mutual consent, confers it on themselves, and the priest is merely acting as official witness to the event, so that a proper record can be made. In light of all that, the exchange of rings, while an important and traditional part of the ceremony for many people, is not essential, and can be omitted. The key element is the exchange of mutual consent by the couple. Talk to the priest.Is the ring exchange a must in a Catholic marriage ceremony?
I'm Catholic and I've been researching Catholic Weddings. I was just on a website that was describing at typical Catholic Wedding Mass. It said that when you exchange rings, the priests blesses them ';as symbols of your love and fidelity.';





I'm no expert. But, since the priests blesses the rings for a specific reason, I would say they are probably required as part of the traditional Catholic Wedding Vows.





I would take to your priest. But, based on just my reading. The blessing of the rings is major part of the ceremony and vows.





Here's the article:


http://www.brides.com/planning/ceremonie鈥?/a>
What you want in your wedding is what you should have. Because it is going to be a ';catholic'; wedding doesn't mean you have to do ALL the symbolic catholic traditions. Because that is what it is...tradition, and symbolism. Even during the ceremony the priest will say at the ring exchange give him/her this ring as a symbol of your love and affection to one another. Should not be mandatory, but ask the priest that is going to marry you. Some are more lenient than others... Good luck and congrats!
As others have said, the priest is the best one to answer. I will guess that rings are not absolutely necessary. The custom (in the US anyway) of men wearing wedding rings is fairly new. Men did not start wearing wedding rings until the 1950's when the US became more prosperous after WWII. Some old, or old-fashioned, people still think that it is unmanly and flashy for a man to wear a ring, any ring.
All the websites I've looked at include the blessing and exchange of rings in the Catholic wedding ceremony. I haven't found one without it yet.





I would assume it's a requirement. I have a wedding booklet given to us by our Church to help pick prayers, readings, etc.. It includes the ring exchange. It doesn't say anything about possibly leaving it out.





Talk to your priest to be sure. Great question by the way!
Have you considered the simple expedient of just not wearing the rings after the wedding?





In any case, this is something you should ask when you meet with the priest to make arrangements for the wedding. He'll not only have the ';best answer';, it will be the one that matters.
You have to have the rings if you're wanting to have a Catholic wedding. The exchanging of the ring is a part of the Catholic ceremony.
i actually think it would depend largely on the priest.


more traditional ones might refuse to hold the ceremony if you aren't going to follow tradition.


i would talk about it with the priest you have in mind.
You can get decent looking steel rings from Walmart for like $10 a piece. Toss them after the ceremony or keep them with your album.