Bands of gold

Tomorrow, B and I are going shopping for 2 critical elements for our wedding--our wedding rings.

One of the justices of the peace we met asked if we wanted to do ring exchanges during the ceremony. We both hesitated before responding because we weren't sure if there was some other ring element (besides the obvious one) to the ceremony that we didn't know about. But no, she was talking about the traditional ring exchange, as if it is an optional component. (It isn't.)

I looked at www.bluenile.com to get an idea of what different size platinum bands cost, but there is a sizable difference in price between "regular" bands and "comfort fit" bands. The bands look almost identical, but the comfort fit rings have a smoother curve between the metal that touches your finger and the metal that is on display to the rest of the world. But surely there must be more of a difference to justify the large price difference. (Or is it yet another unnecessarily large wedding price mark-up? You never know...)

We won't be buying from bluenile, though--we're going to a jeweler. One reason to buy jewelry from a jeweler rather than an online source is the option to "upgrade" at a later date. When B bought my enagement ring, he was told that he could upgrade it at any time. I am opposed to the idea of an engagement ring upgrade, but I am ok with the idea of a wedding band upgrade, and I'm not sure why one upgrade is reasonable in my mind and the other seems out of the question. Maybe because I will be picking out (and paying for) my wedding band myself? I'm not sure.

Anyway, I am open to the idea of upgrading our rings at some point in the future (maybe our fifth wedding anniversary), but when I mentioned it to my friend LS, she couldn't imagine wanting to do such a thing. Is it weird to "upgrade" your wedding band? Does trading in your symbolic commitment to each other for a newer, shinier model say something about your level of commitment? Or is it simply a sign that you've reached a point where you're ready to get the bling-bling ring that wasn't a smart decision when there were so many other items to be purchased?

I think what will probably happen is we'll love our rings so much that we won't want to change them. Then again, the lure of diamonds is a powerful force... :)