History

• The origin of tossing the bouquet is not terribly romantic. In 14th century France, brides were considered lucky -- so much so that wedding guests hoped to acquire a symbolic piece of them. Toward this goal, wedding guests would try to rip pieces of the bride's dress as she and her groom dashed off to their honeymoon. Needless to say, the bride was motivated to come up with a distraction so that her guests might refrain from this type of behavior. Out of this desire to create a diversion, the bouquet toss was born.
  
  

The Ritual

• At modern weddings, the bouquet toss usually takes place at the reception. The bride stands on an elevated level, such as a staircase or a platform. Then, with her back to the single ladies in attendance, she tosses her bouquet (or more likely, a duplicate of her wedding bouquet made specifically for tossing) over her shoulder. A scramble ensues, and one lucky lady catches the bouquet and emerges as the victor. What does she win? Tradition says that the woman who catches the bouquet will be the next to get married.
  
  

Garter Toss

• A complementary ritual to the bouquet toss is the garter toss. This tradition is for the groom and the gentleman in attendance. The groom removes a garter from his bride's leg, and tosses it into a crowd of eager single gentleman usually with some showy theatrics. As with the bouquet toss, the legend goes that the man who catches the garter will be the next to get married. At some weddings, the gentleman who catches the garter then places it on the leg of the woman who caught the bouquet.
  
  

Alternatives

• There are good reasons to skip the bouquet toss ritual entirely. At some weddings, particularly for older couples, many attendees may already be married. Some brides and their female guests may find the idea of desperately scrambling for a bouquet in order to be the next to win a husband is a little old-fashioned. But for those who find the bouquet toss charming, there are modern twists that can be added. A recent development is the "fortune bouquet," a bouquet that breaks into four or five smaller ones, each with a prediction for the love life of the woman who catches it. Or, a Finnish version of the bouquet toss has the bride blindfolded while the single ladies walk around her in a circle as music plays. The music stops, and the bride walks to one of the ladies and hands her the bouquet.