Tossing The Garter, Bouquet and All That Awkward Jazz… | Wedding Traditions | Elite Entertainment

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The tossing of the bouquet and removing garter section always intrigues me when reviewing with couples. It seems to be a tradition that is slowly dying. Very rarely have I seen couples go the full mile for this after cake tradition.  My wife Melissa and I skipped it at our wedding 3 years ago.  We cut the cake then got right back to partying  

If you’re unsure about tossing the bouquet or removing the garter, here are some things to consider:

The Pros:

1) Tradition.  It’s something the guests (the singles) may look forward to.

2) Your expectations.  Some brides have always wanted to throw the bouquet.  For some it’s part of the overall experience of the wedding day.

3) It’s kind of fun to watch your friends squirm throughout it, especially when we tell the bride and groom they choose when to stop the garter from going up the leg.

The Cons:

1) Awkward. Something about going under my wife’s beautiful dress in front of my 92 year old grandmother made me a bit uncomfortable.

2) Caught in the wrong hands. Once I had a wedding where a 10 year old boy caught the garter, we wound up skipping the next step obviously.

3) Time killer. That 10-15 minutes is potentially 5 more requested songs for the dancing portion of your party. Plus it usually happens in the last 90  minutes of the reception which is prime dancing time.

Improvise the tradition! 

– If you’re on the fence about this wedding tradition, modify it. Some couples only do the bouquet toss (because who wouldn’t want to throw some flowers around) and others stop at the groom throwing the garter (to avoid two strangers having that much contact.)

– We once went to a wedding where we were the next couple to marry, so our friends gave us the bouquet as a passing of the torch.

– We can throw the focus on the married couples instead with an anniversary dance.

Remember it’s your big day.  Stick to tradition, improvise or modify, or skip everything and just keep partying.   We’ll do whatever you wish!

By Ryan McLaughlin, Published by Mike Walter, Elite Entertainment