Why do Brides throw their bouquet, and Grooms toss the Bridal garter?

Castle Along the Rhine River

Here again, we are transported by to ancient times.  Brides were considered to have much good luck.  As such, during and after the wedding, those in attendance, tried to get a piece of the bride’s clothes, bouquet, veil, whatever they could grab.

The tradition of “tossing the bouquet” came about because of trying to protect the bride from all the well-wishers who wanted to get a piece of her ensemble as a talisman of good luck.   Instead, the development of “tossing the bouquet”.  This protected the bride and still allowed those present to get a “piece of the brides good luck”.

While the tradition has evolved that the bride tosses the bouquet for all the eligible single women present. It has also come to symbolize that the person who catches the bouquet will be “the next one to get lucky” and the next person to get married.

The men, not to be outdone, vie for the bride’s garter thrown by the groom. As with the bouquet toss, all the eligible men come forward to vie for catching the garter.  As with the bride’s bouquet, the person catching the garter is “the next person to get lucky” and will be the next person getting married.

Side Note:

Often times brides like to keep the garter as a keepsake memento of their wedding day.  Solution – get two garter’s a nice one as a keepsake and a simpler one for tossing.