Adding to My Anti-Toss List

Several months ago I shared my 4 reasons for not wanting a garter toss, and asked your opinions about chucking that tradition. I never posted an update, but I'll say this: I only have one bouquet (that I fully intend on taking home with me) and have not made arrangements for a garter (yet).

However, as the wedding gets closer, I anticipate receiving more questions about this (particularly which songs we'd use) and I definitely think we'll get a few questions after the fact. I fully intend to rely on my aforementioned list as my rebuttal, plus one. This one is being added to the list post haste.

Meet Reason #5: "If you knew where it came from, you wouldn't want to do it either."

It used to be that after the bride and groom said, “I do,” they were to go immediately into a nearby room and “close the deal” and consummate the marriage. Obviously, to really make it official, there would need to be witnesses, which basically led to hordes of wedding guests crowding around the bed, pushing and shoving to get a good view and hopefully to get their hands on a lucky piece of the bride’s dress as it was ripped from her body. Sometimes the greedy guests helped get the process going by grabbing at the bride’s dress as she walked by, hoping for a few threads of good fortune. In time, it seems, people realized that this was all a bit, well… creepy, and it was decided that for modesty’s sake the bride could toss her bouquet as a diversion as she made her getaway and the groom could simply remove an item of the bride’s undergarments and then toss it back outside to the waiting throngs to prove that he was about to, uh, get ‘er done.

- {excerpt taken from The Bizarre Origins of 8 Wedding Traditions by Jenn Thompson}

Bizarre is exactly right. As a civilization, allegedly we've come alot further than this. But every week I hear about some groom spending a little too much time under his bride's dress...with the entire reception watching! Sounds like the modern day interpretation, right?

All I can say is I'm glad I hit the scene in 1982 and not 1582.

♥