Bouquet and Garter Toss Traditions

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It's always the best part of the wedding!  The rowdy best man fights to catch the garter  and the bridesmaid  who is never a bride conveniently catches the tossed bouquet.   Crowds gather around, laughing at the bridesmaid's blushing cheeks while the drunken bachelor tries to put the garter on her leg with his teeth.  Where did this tradition come from anyway?  And what does it even have to do with the newly-weds?  After a little bit of research, we tackled these questions and are here to bring you the essentials of the bouquet and garter toss traditions. 

How It All Started 

  • Bouquet Toss:  If you find this activity ridiculous, blame it on the French.  In 14th century France, women would attempt to rip off pieces of the bride's dress  at the end of the wedding, as she was a huge representation of good luck.  The wedding often ended in a scuffle, which surely made for some unhappy brides.  To appease these catty women, brides started throwing their stockings at the crowd in order to preserve their beautiful garments.  Since taking off the stockings  was looked at as very undignified, brides began to throw their bouquet  instead, bringing us to the tradition that we know today. 
    • The woman to catch the bride's bouquet receives all of the luck, and is supposedly the next to be married.
  • Garter Toss:  Looking back to the story of the bouquet toss, the throwing of the bride's garter  has a similar basis.  Since pieces of the bride's ensemble  were considered lucky, the bride would have thrown her garter (in addition to the stockings) to the crowd for luck.  Now that's risqué.  The tradition has morphed throughout the centuries and now the garter is only removed by the groom.   He will then toss it back to the unmarried men of the reception,  where they will battle to call it their own.  The man to catch it is the next to marry, which apparently is lucky. 
    • The lucky man to catch the garter can place it on the leg of the lady who catches the bouquet.  However, some couples choose to skip this ritual, as sometimes it can be awkward.  

Garters

Don't mess it up!   There are garter belts,  leg garters,  and corsets with garters.   For the wedding, you will want the wedding garter.   
  • The wedding garter  should be used for these wedding traditions.  It is worn on the female's right leg, just above the knee.  Brides can look for a blue garter,  to get their "something blue" covered.    
  • Garter belts  will be much more challenging here, as they are designed to hold pantihose in place.  Don't even attempt to take it off until the wedding is over. 

An Alternative

Since the bouquet and garter tossings can be awkward for some couples, an alternative to these traditions is the implementation of  "the bouquet dance."  In this activity, the DJ will ask all married couples up to the dance floor.   He will then ask all who have been together for less than a year to head back to their seats ; it will then follow by sending couples back to their seats who have been together for less than 5 years, less than 10 years, and so forth and so on.  The last couple standing (which we be the couple that has been married for the longest period of time) will be rewarded by receiving the bouquet,  which the bride will hand to these everlasting lovers. 

Related Guides

Use our guides to help you plan out all of the fine details that go along with these wedding traditions.  

Wedding Flowers

Wedding Bouquets

Wedding Etiquette

Bridal Lingerie and Hosiery

Wedding Reception Music

External Links

  • eHow.com: An article on finding alternative ideas to the bridal bouquet toss.  
  • WedAlert.com: Learn about tossing the garter at weddings, along with other wedding traditions. 
  • WeddingVendors.com: A listing of songs to play while the garter is coming off.
  • WorldWeddingTraditions.com: A directory of wedding customs and traditions found throughout the world.