Wedding Garters
Tossing a wedding garter from the thigh of the newlywed
bride by the groom is a form of symbolism. It is a groom's privilege
to remove the wedding garter from his bride's thigh and throw it
to the pleasing crowd. It is the symbol of deflowering.
Historically, this wedding garter tradition also relates to the
belief that taking an article of the bride's clothing would bring
good luck.
As this often resulted in the destruction of the bride's dress,
the tradition arose for the bride to toss unattached articles of
clothing to the guests, including the wedding garter from the thigh
of her stockings.
This tossing of the wedding garter by the groom is also another
version of the bride's tossing of the bouquet
of flowers to the crowd. The idea is that anybody who is unmarried
catches the bouquet will be the next one to wed.
Thus, the unmarried male guest who successfully caught the wedding
garter was believed to be the next man to be headed to the altar
from the group of single men at that event. Traditionally, the man
who caught the wedding garter and the lady who caught the bouquet
will share the next dance.
About Garters
Garters are items of clothing usually worn by the ladies. They
serve the purpose of keeping the stocking up. The garter is normally
a few inches in width made of heavy cloth with elastic or sometimes-rubberized
quality to serves its flexibility. In the 18th to 20th centuries,
garters were adorned with small bells or ribbons and were tied just
below the knee where the leg was tapering in its skinniest part
to keep it from slipping down.
The advent of spandex and other elastic fabric has made the garter
obsolete from this functionality. However, garters still serve its
traditional purpose of adding color to any wedding ceremony in many
parts of the world. In addition, to the weddings, even at the prom
at some American high schools it is traditional for girls to wear
garters to their proms, and at the end of the evening her partner
removes the garter and keeps it as a souvenir. There are also cases
in which girls exchange garters for their partner's bow ties.
In Elizabethan fashions, men also wore garters with their hose,
and they are displayed colorfully. In Shakespeare's Twelfth night,
"crossed braced" garters are often an object of derision.
In some parts of the world garters still serve its traditional purpose,
and stop the socks from falling.
It's always your choice…
If the idea of having your wife removing and tossing the wedding
garter to the crowd is not desirable, it is always your choice to
avoid this tradition during the event. However, if you like the
idea of tossing the wedding garter but don't want it the old way,
you can always alter it according to your preferences that will
leave a lasting and beautiful memory of that blissful day.
One way is to prepare the wedding garter a bit lower than it's
usual place, say near the knee. Instead of it's former thigh high
position, on which the bride will have to raise her dress just to
roll down the wedding garter, place it just upon the knee so it
saves you from that little embarrassment of having to expose the
whole thigh.
Consider also a good location at which the groom will remove the
wedding garter. On a balcony or a terrace is a spot to consider,
and the distance and the height of the place is enough to limit
the view of the crowd waiting for the wedding garter toss.
And, when the toss eventually takes place, be sure to throw the
wedding garter high so that the attention and focus will be on the
garment up in the air and upon the thrill of anticipating in which
hand will it land. Also, wedding garters thrown high up will give
the photographers a chance to take a winning picture of those who
are competing to catch the symbolic garment.
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