The throw of the bride’s bouquet is a moment that often amuses the guests. But the story behind it is much less jovial!
Many traditions accompany marriages, as is the case with Launch of the bride’s bouquet. It is said that the person who catches him will be the next time to get married in the year. Enough to add additional pressure to couples who do not yet dare to take the plunge … Whatever we think of this tradition and its modern forms, few people can boast of what is its origin. If we are used to seeing this scene in most romantic comedies and attending there every year by being invited to a wedding, this custom would actually be much older than that.
According to the magazine Flangesit would have appeared in England in the 1800s! At that time, touching the bride on her wedding day was seen as a lucky charm: the women who did it were likely to find a good husband, as they said. It was therefore not uncommon to see many people hurried around the young bride, and it would seem that some did not stop in the fact of touching her, seeking to catch something that belonged to her, for example by tearing up pieces of her dress. It may seem extreme today, but we must not forget that, for a long time, marriage was the only way to change their social position for women, and families often hoped to marry their daughters as fast and although possible, in order to have a person with less. A situation that plunged more than one in despair if it was not married as quickly as desired …
Thus, when the brides were surrounded by people trying to tear them away or steal from their outfit, they launched their bouquet to divert their attention and be able to run away. “The tradition of the bouquet throw was created, in part, to bring guests luck without going to such extreme measures”explains to the magazine Le Wedding Planner Eddie Zaratsian.
Today, this custom tends to modernize more and more, both by inviting all women (even those already committed or too young to get married) as well as men, to try their luck. The bouquet thus becomes a beautiful memory of marriage to bring home rather than a lucky charm. Some brides even launch another bouquet to keep theirs! It also happens that they do not launch it, but that they find another way of offering it, for example by having a bouquet to share and giving a flower to the people who wish.
