Wedding Ring Trend – Dolphins
More than ever before couples are choosing to get married by the sea. Be it the lure of the tranquil seas, the hope of a beautiful sunset for the perfect wedding photo or perhaps some northerners are just really cold and want to get hitched in the heat of the southern sun. Whatever the reasoning may be, like birds flying south for the winter, betrothed couples are flocking to shores all around the country to get married.
Beach weddings are fun to plan because they already have a built in theme…the beach. There is no sitting around a living room with parents, in-laws and bridesmaids trying to figure out a color scheme that will suit everyone’s skin tone and body size. At the beach, everyone’s tan (unless you get burnt, in which case you look totally stupid, so make sure to wear at least some sunscreen pre-wedding), everyone’s relaxed and the colors are most likely going to be some kind of variation of blue or tan.
Another popular way to commemorate the beach wedding and also maybe the couple’s love for all things aquatic, is to incorporate specific ocean inspired items on their rings such as shells, stones reminiscent of the sea and of course, dolphins. Before I pass judgment on America’s favorite ocean creature, here is a little research I did while trying to understand this fascination with dolphins.
Dolphins are not fish. Dolphins are in fact mammals therefore they share many traits with humans, who are also mammals…in case you didn’t know. They have a specific courtship ritual and actually “date” before they mate, which is similar to our mating, without being too graphic. Dolphins, however, are not always monogamous, uh-oh.
Dolphins are social creatures. Dolphins live and travel in groups ranging from 2-40 dolphins. While there is not evidence supporting a strong bond between male and female dolphins in particular, social relationships between dolphins are long lasting and if one dolphin hasn’t seen another in a long time there is a specific greeting ritual conducted that suggests they miss one another after an extended absence.
Dolphins flirt. Dolphins have constant close body contact with each other and are often found rubbing or hitting each other, even swimming fin on top of fin. They perform their own equivalent of “shaking hands” and even have a specific whistle for each individual dolphin.
Perhaps it is their playfulness, their devotion to other individual dolphins, or merely the way dolphins make us feel that make them so popular. The way a dolphin breaches in the ocean is a beautiful sight to behold, especially to us land dwellers. They invoke in many a sense of freedom to live and play that many of us aspire to achieve.
After having weighed the facts, the truth is that it doesn’t matter what I think…it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks, except for you and your spouse. If dolphins mean something to you then by all means, put it on your ring! Honestly, the more personal your ring is the more it will mean to you as a couple as the truest token of your love and the life you hope to build together.
