Bouquet Toss
 

I have never been to a wedding where the bride hasn't had to plead and beg for her single girl friends to line up for the bouquet toss. Seems like this tradition is outdated. And then the garter being put on the toss winner-- painful to watch.

Thoughts?

A new thing I have been seeing is in lieu of the bouquet toss, there is a couples dance where one by one, you are asked to sit down depending on how long you have been together-- the couple who has been together the longest (usually the grandparents!) is left dancing and the woman is handed a bouquet.

Re: Bouquet Toss
 

I really like the couple dance and think it's a very nice alternative to a bouquet toss. :)

We did the bouquet toss at my wedding, but not the whole "garter being put on the toss winner" bit. The month before our wedding, we attended the wedding of one of DH's best friends. He threw the garter directly to DH since he knew our wedding was less than a month away, and the bride's sister caught the bouquet. DH had to put the garter on her leg, and the girl wasn't wearing any underwear! He got a view that he hadn't planned on getting. :eek: :eek: After that, we decided to forego the garter part at our own reception. ;)

I always see the garter land on the floor because no one wants it.

When I was little I caught the bouquet 5 or 6 times. There was always some woman who looked pissy because a kid caught it instead of her. :rolleyes:

These days, I'll paricipate but in it, but I don't ever try to catch it. I don't think it's stupid.... I just don't really care one way or the other.

I would have to disagree with it being the dumbest thing ever.... I think that prize goes to those weird people in the costumes with the big heads over in the dollar dance thread. :eek:

I wouldn't mind the bouquet toss as much if it wasn't for the garter toss. My parents, and the people at my table (all older) at a wedding I was at this summer tortured me for not going up. But when it came time for the put the garter on the leg thing, I simply said THAT'S why I don't want to do this.

I'm not a big fan of embarassing people, particularly guests, so I wouldn't subject anyone to that at my wedding.

At that wedding they also did the couples dance thing mentioned above, that was really nice.

At my sister's wedding, she aimed the bouquet my way, it was coming, and--my aunt pushed my arm down and grabbed the bouquet!:eek: (AGDAlum can guess which aunt.) And no one would believe she'd done it --they hadn't seen it and who would think an aunt would do that to her niece?

So the pictures came out and sure enough, there she was--shoving my arm down!:eek: LOL, vindicated!

I have a foolproof way to not catch the bouquet (my friends always make me go up there.) Just stand at the back of the group and then take one half step back. The only way u will catch it is if the bride has a super pitch. :D
I am a bridesmaid in one of my best friends weddings and I hope to once again get away with not catching the bouquet!

At the weddings I've been to (including my own), the bride usually aims for someone in particular. I made sure the little 6-year-old in the front row caught mine (and I think all my sorority sisters/cousins/etc... who participated were relieved).

Same for the groom--he aimed for his cousin. I'd never heard of the person who caught the garter putting it in the person who caught the bouquet.

At another sorority sister's wedding, a girl from my pledge class literally dove for the bouquet (knocking down a little cousin of the bride in the process).

We did the anniversary dance as well, but it wasn't connected with the bouquet/garter toss. It is a nice way to honor that couple, though.

We tossed the bouquet and garter, but didn't make them do the putting the garter on her leg thing. If a couple had caught both, we would have let them, but since two people who didn't know each other (and had significant others right there) caught them, we told the coordinator not to even think about it.

I've only been to one wedding where they did the bouquet toss. A five year old girl caught it. They didn't do the garter thing though. About a year or two ago, I read in a magazine that some brides are getting bouquets made out of glass flowers so that they don't have to toss them, and they can preserve their wedding bouquets forever.

Same here. I've never been to a wedding where they've done that. The garter toos, works exactly the same way. I don't think it's stupid. if it's some that's normal for your neck of the woods, then who cares.

This summer when I went to a wedding in Sudbury, they have this think called a sock dance. Apparently, it's where the oldest single girl dances around a pair of socks or something like that. I'd never heard of it, and I didn't quite get it, but it's a tradition up north.

Maybe I'm weird, but I kind of like the bouquet toss! I'm looking forward to getting married some day (hopefully within the next few years) and would probably have a more traditional (but westernized) ceremony and reception.

Hey guess what? I think the bouquet and garter tosses are both tacky, LOL. I'm sure that comes as a surprise to nobody.

I think almost all of the hoopla at wedding receptions is tacky -- receiving line, 900 scripted dances, introductions, making a big production out of cutting cake and especially shoving cake in faces (I've never seen that in person, but THE HORROR), tossing anything, having a head table, most toasts -- it's all lame.

I cross my fingers that one day when I get married that we can elope. All my girlfriends think it is weird... but hey I respect their decision to have big fancy weddings. No bouquets for me!!
I don't think its tacky to do those tradition... I do think it can embarrassing for the single person on the end of the tradition... but just like the cake in the face it is all in good fun!

I have the feeling that valkyrie will like this one:

When I planning my wedding, and COMPLETELY stressed out, my florist happened to mention a bride in Long Island (I don't know which part) who had warned her fiance NOT to shove the cake in her face. Well, you know men - tell them not to do something, and they consider it a dare.

Anyhow, the idiot groom shoved the cake in the bride's face, and she picked up the cake knife, stabbed and killed him! :eek: So, I turned to my then-fiance and said, "And let that be a lesson to you!"

In our wedding pictures, in the photos of the cake cutting, you could see me with a death grip on one of the cake knives - because I meant business!!

I've also been at bouquet tosses where:
-women have fought so hard for the bouquet that they ended up rolling under the head table;
-women needed stitches from scratching each other on the bouquet;
-one man had a black eye from trying to catch the garter.

It's one tradition that I can do without!!