Garter Toss
Like a lot of you, I’m not really all that into the idea of the garter toss. I was planning from the start to leave it out of our wedding festivities, certain that no one would miss it. But I was wrong. And the one who swore up and down he would miss it the most? None other than my FH.
“How can we not do the garter toss?” he questioned.
“I’ve never been to a wedding that didn’t have it!” he insisted.
The man sees no reason for linens, menus, programs, heck even flowers, but don’t take away his garter toss! So I relented. And now I have this embarrassment to look forward to-
I’ve heard a lot of stories about how the garter toss tradition started and its awful symbolism. Here’s one of those versions of the story:
“Another interesting custom dated back to the ancient times where the wedding garter represented the virginal girdle. When the groom removed the garter from the bride, this represented the bride’s relinquishment of her virginity.”
No thanks.
Here’s the one I prefer to believe:
“The garter tradition originated back to the 14th century. In parts of Europe the guests of the bride and groom believed having a piece of the bride’s clothing was thought to bring good luck. They would actually destroy the brides dress by ripping off pieces of fabric. Obviously, this tradition did not sit well with the bride, so she began throwing various items to the guests – the garter being one of them. It became customary for the bride to toss the garter to the men. But this also caused a great problem for the bride….sometimes the men would get drunk, become impatient and try to remove the garter ahead of time. Therefore, the custom derived at having the groom remove and toss the garter to the men.”
Just an innocent piece of good luck- that is my story and I’m sticking to it.
So the big question is, are you doing the garter toss or not- and why?
“How can we not do the garter toss?” he questioned.
“I’ve never been to a wedding that didn’t have it!” he insisted.
The man sees no reason for linens, menus, programs, heck even flowers, but don’t take away his garter toss! So I relented. And now I have this embarrassment to look forward to-
I’ve heard a lot of stories about how the garter toss tradition started and its awful symbolism. Here’s one of those versions of the story:
“Another interesting custom dated back to the ancient times where the wedding garter represented the virginal girdle. When the groom removed the garter from the bride, this represented the bride’s relinquishment of her virginity.”
No thanks.
Here’s the one I prefer to believe:
“The garter tradition originated back to the 14th century. In parts of Europe the guests of the bride and groom believed having a piece of the bride’s clothing was thought to bring good luck. They would actually destroy the brides dress by ripping off pieces of fabric. Obviously, this tradition did not sit well with the bride, so she began throwing various items to the guests – the garter being one of them. It became customary for the bride to toss the garter to the men. But this also caused a great problem for the bride….sometimes the men would get drunk, become impatient and try to remove the garter ahead of time. Therefore, the custom derived at having the groom remove and toss the garter to the men.”
Just an innocent piece of good luck- that is my story and I’m sticking to it.
So the big question is, are you doing the garter toss or not- and why?
