Question from Rachael:
What is the essence of throwing a bouquet? Is it always compulsory for the bride to throw her bouquet? Thanks.
Answer from Bridal Expert Angela:
Hi Rachael. As with most wedding traditions, they are all about superstitions! In the old days (think medieval times), it was considered ‘lucky’ to touch the bride, and even luckier if you could get a piece of her dress, her veil, her hair, her flowers—-anything that she has on her. For brides who got really lucky in their choice of a good provider, the desire to ‘grab’ some luck was even stronger.
The tradition of the bridal bouquet being tossed away was to draw the women away from the bride as they scrabbled for the bouquet so that she could get away with her new husband and not be mobbed by the crowd.
I have seen a much more civilized variation of the bouquet toss. The bride sits on a chair in the centre of the room, her dress spread out around her. All the single women ‘give up’ one shoe to the groom, who places those shoes underneath the chair the bride is sitting on. Then as the music plays, one at a time, the groom pulls out a shoe, and whomever owns the pair sits down until only one single person is still standing. That person gets the bride’s bouquet.
At the wedding where I witnessed this version, the groom was very gallant and like the prince in the Cinderella story, placed the shoe on each woman’s foot as it came out from under the bride’s dress.
As with most traditions, the bouquet toss has survived the years. Today, whomever catches the bouquet will (supposedly) be the next to be married in the group.
Good luck, and feel free to email again if you need an answer.
Angela Fiebelkorn, Ask The Expert
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