Wedding Bands
How to Order a Bridal Set: Fit, Sizing and the Six Checks
The workshop view. New to bridal sets? Start with What Is a Bridal Set? first.
Written by the Mapple Gems workshop, Surat Β· Updated 17 August 2026
Short answer
When you order a bridal set, six things decide whether you are happy with it in ten years: the side profile, the total width on the finger, the metal and karat of each piece, the centre stone in millimetres, which band goes which side, and whether the band can ever be resized. Confirm all six in writing before the set is cast β after casting, the profile is fixed.
Most people discover the flush-fit problem after the proposal, when they take a finished engagement ring to a jeweller and ask for a band to go with it. What they get back is either a gap you can see daylight through, or a band that has been fought into shape. This guide is about ordering a set so that conversation never happens.
The flush-fit problem, explained properly
An engagement ring with a solitaire head sits on a shank that rises off the finger. Anything that projects downward β a cathedral shoulder, a low basket, a hidden halo β occupies the space where a straight band wants to sit.
You then have three options, and only one of them is good.
- Live with the gap. On a plain solitaire it can look deliberate. On a halo it usually does not.
- Contour the band afterwards. A curved or notched band cut to the profile of a ring that already exists. Doable, but it is fitting work, so it costs more and the match is only as good as the measurements.
- Make both together. The band is cut to the ringβs actual profile while the ring is still on the bench.
This is why the band decision has to happen before the engagement ring is finished, not after. Once a made-to-order ring is cast, its profile is fixed.
The workshop reason sets cost less. Not a marketing discount. A set is one wax, one casting run, one polishing setup, one quality check and one shipment. Ordering the ring in March and the band in September doubles every one of those steps. That is where the saving comes from, and it is also why a set arrives colour-matched β both rings come from the same batch of metal.
Sizing: the part that catches people out
A bridal set is cast to one finger size. That has consequences worth knowing before you order.
Finger size is not fixed. It moves with heat, salt, altitude, time of day and time of life β a difference of half a size between a cold morning and a hot evening is completely normal. If you are ordering months ahead of a wedding, measure at the end of the day at room temperature, not first thing on a winter morning.
And be aware that heavily set bands resize badly. A band with stones running all the way round cannot be cut and rejoined without disturbing the settings. A half-set band leaves plain metal at the back, which a jeweller can work with. If you have any doubt about the final size, choose a half band over a full eternity for the wedding ring.
Silver or gold for a set?
We make sets in 925 sterling silver and in solid 10K, 14K and 18K gold. There is no plated base metal in anything we sell.
Silver is the honest budget answer, and it is a real answer β it is a precious metal, not a compromise material. What it is not is hard. Silver is softer than gold alloys, so a fine silver shank worn every day for a decade will show more deformation, particularly if it is set with stones. If the set is going to be worn every single day for the rest of a life, 14K is the sensible floor. If it is going to be worn to things, silver is fine.
The six checks before you approve the design
- The side elevation. Ask for a render showing both rings together on the finger, from the side. This is where a gap shows and a top-down view hides it.
- The total width on the finger with both rings on. Two 2Β mm bands plus a 2Β mm shank is 6Β mm of metal, which is a lot on a small hand.
- The metal and karat of every piece in the set, individually. If a listing says βgoldβ without a karat, that is a question, not a description.
- The centre stone size in millimetres, not only in carats or DEW. Moissanite is about 15% less dense than diamond, so weight and size do not track the way people expect.
- Which band goes which side of the engagement ring, if they are not identical.
- Whether the band can be resized later. Decide about soldering now, but do not do it now. Wear the set unsoldered for the first year β rings in permanent contact wear each other where they meet, and you may want them apart later.
Keep reading
- What is a bridal set? β the definitions, if you are starting from scratch
- Matching a band to a ring you already own
- How to read a CAD render β what the side view tells you
- Shop bridal sets
Frequently asked questions
Why is there a gap between my engagement ring and wedding band?
Because something on the engagement ring projects into the space the band wants to occupy β usually a cathedral shoulder, a low basket or a hidden halo. A straight band cannot sit flush against it. The fixes are a contoured band cut to that ringβs profile, or ordering both rings together so the band is cut while the ring is still on the bench.
Can a bridal set be resized?
It depends on the band. A plain or half-set band has bare metal at the back that a jeweller can cut and rejoin. A full eternity band, or a band with pavΓ© running the whole way round, has no such section and generally cannot be resized without remaking it. Ask about this before you choose the band style, not after.
What ring size should I order a bridal set in?
Measure at the end of the day at room temperature, not first thing on a cold morning. Finger size moves with heat, salt, altitude and time of day, and half a size of daily variation is normal. Since a set is cast to one size, err toward the size the finger is most of the time rather than its smallest reading.
Should I solder my engagement ring and wedding band together?
Not in the first year. Soldering stops the rings spinning independently and is genuinely useful for some people, but it is effectively permanent, it makes future resizing harder, and rings in constant contact wear each other where they meet. Wear them loose first and decide once you know how you actually wear them.
Both rings, one runway.
We cut the band to the ringβs actual profile while the ring is still on the bench β so there is no gap to fix later.
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