Throwing of Garters and Bouquets

The story behind throwing the garter and bouquet goes back as far as the 1300’s when people were particularly superstitious. It was believed that taking a piece of the bride’s clothing would grant the guests good luck. As you can imagine, through the excitement created at the wedding festivities, many guests would become driven to literally tear cloth from the bride’s dress. In an attempt to stave off greedy luck-seekers, many brides began to throw items to guests that could be easily removed from her person. This included her garter. Eventually, grooms began to remove the garter from their new bride, and tossing it to the men. This was done to prevent tipsy male guests from becoming impatient and trying to do the deed themselves. In an effort to help the women feel included, it eventually became customary for the bride to throw her bouquet at the female guests.