ASK THE EXPERT: Should We Use The Real Thing?

Question: My five-year-old nephew is going to be the ring bearer in our wedding—and my mom keeps telling me that really young ring bearers usually just carry fake rings, for show. I think that’s silly! What could happen just on the way down the aisle? Is it really a bad idea to tie the real rings to the pillow?

Answer: “Sometimes mother really does know best,” says Beka Rendell, event planner and designer at Philadelphia’s Innove Events. She’s seen a number of tiny-tot ring bearers take one look at the crowd and bail on walking down the aisle. “Then you’re stuck with someone having to scramble to get the rings off the pillow and to the front of the church and that is not the kind of stress you want right before you walk down the aisle to get married,” she says. Her advice: “If he was a bit older I would say go for it, but because he is so young I would go ahead and give the rings to the best man and tie the fake ones to the pillow.”