Tossing the bouquet, cutting the cake, removing the garter, bouquets, wedding parties, something blue…..where do these traditions come from and why do we do them?
So for today’s blog post, we will look at the bouquet and garter toss. You spend quite a lot of money on your flowers and garter, only to throw them away as the evening winds down. Why do we do this?
The bridal bouquet dates back to Ancient Greece, where the blushing bride would carry spices and herbs to ward off evil spirits. The aromatic “bouquet” was thought to have magical powers of protection. As time marched on that herb buffet became the more traditional flowers.
Fast forward through history slightly to the Dark Ages, where the wedding garter tradition started. In medieval England, having a piece of the bride’s wedding dress was considered good luck. Crowds of guests would often follow the couple to their marital bed, ripping at their clothes. The bride and groom started tossing the bouquet and garters to distract the crowd as they raced away to relative safety.
We’ve seen some pretty hilarious garter tosses in our day, but if that is something that causes you anxiety then just skip it – remember, this is your day and no one is going to rip at your clothes in today’s more genteel times!