The bridal bouquet toss is a moment that often entertains the guests. But the story behind it is much less cheerful!
Many traditions accompany weddings, as is the case with bridal bouquet toss. It is said that the person who catches it will be the next to get married within the year. Enough to add additional pressure to couples who do not yet dare to take the plunge… Whatever one thinks of this tradition and its modern forms, few people can boast of knowing its origin. If we are used to seeing this scene in most romantic comedies and witnessing it every year as a guest at a wedding, this custom would actually be much older than that.
According to the magazine Flangesit appeared in England in the 1800s! At that time, touching the bride on her wedding day was seen as good luck: women who did it had a chance of finding a good husband, according to what was said. It was therefore not uncommon to see many people crowding around the young bride, and it seemed that some did not stop touching her, trying to grab something that belonged to her, for example by tearing off pieces of her dress. This may seem extreme today, but we must remember that, for a long time, marriage was the only way to change social position for women, and families often hoped to marry off their daughters as quickly and well as possible, in order to have one less dependent. A situation which plunged more than one into despair if she was not married as quickly as desired…
So, when brides were surrounded by people trying to snatch or steal pieces of their outfit, they would throw their bouquet to divert their attention and be able to escape. “The tradition of bouquet tossing was created, in part, to bring good luck to guests without going to such extreme measures”explains wedding planner Eddie Zaratsian to the magazine.
Today, this custom tends more and more to modernize, both by inviting all women (even those already engaged or too young to marry) as well as men, to try their luck. The bouquet thus becomes a beautiful wedding souvenir to take home rather than a good luck charm. Some brides even throw another bouquet to keep theirs! It also happens that they don’t throw it, but find another way to offer it, for example by having a bouquet to share and giving a flower to people who want it.
