Wedding Traditions: The Tossings

The Bouquet. Traditionally, the bride tosses the bouquet and all the single women compete to catch it.  The winner is supposed to be the next girl who will be married.  Likewise, the groom removes the bride's garter and tosses it for all the single men to fight over; again, the winner will be the next to be married.  The kicker is when the winning bachelor then slides the prize garter onto the leg of the girl who caught the bouquet.

The Garter. What most people don't know is the symbolism of the garter.  It's supposed to be a symbol of the bride's virginity, and the groom's removal of it is a show of his claim on her sexually... basically, "This woman is mine to have sex with, so everyone else stay away."  Once again, it's all about ownership of the bride by the groom.  That's quite an expression of animal behavior!

We are, however, doing both the garter and the bouquet.  Our reason has nothing to do with tradition, and instead is very simple: it's fun! Elaine won't be carrying a bouquet during the ceremony, but will have one to toss.