In today’s beehive:
- kanipark wants to know which leg you put the garter on, whether you put on both the toss garter and regular garter, and what the meaning is behind the whole garter toss.
- lily is looking for affordable but nice bridal shower gifts and prizes.
- Jasmine is going back to her wedding venue to take more pictures. She borrowed her friend’s Thomas Knoell tiara that day and can’t find anything as nice. Any suggestions on where she might purchase an equally beautiful tiara?
- FYI wants to know about your experience insuring your engagement ring. Who did you use and what was the approximate cost?
To add your question to the beehive, leave a comment below and we’ll update this post to include your question. See all past beehives here.
Related Posts
19 Responses to “Beehive”
question to ask: what leg do you put the garter belt on? does it matter? oh… and do you put on both the toss & keeper or just one until the reception?!? i have had many brides ask me… i know in the end it’s the brides choice but is their a tradition or meaning behind the whole garter toss?
Found this somewhere … DOn’t know how accurate it is ..
Today most brides keep the garter toss tradition. A garter is worn on the right leg just above the knee and is removed by the groom while the bride sits in a chair. The groom then tosses it to the single men at the reception. It is said that whomever catches it will be the next to marry. Some brides choose to wear two garters: one to toss and one to keep as a keepsake. The one to keep is later removed in private during the honeymoon night.
The tradition of the garter toss stems back to the 14th century when it was thought that having a piece of the bride’s clothing brought good luck. Unfortunately, this custom got out of hand, and brides were in danger of having their wedding clothes ripped off in pieces by seekers of good luck. So, brides began to throw various items to the guests, the garter being one of those items. This also began to cause problems, as drunken guests would try to take the garter off ahead of time. So the tradition was modified again by having the groom remove the garter and throw it to the male guests.
The lesson learned from this tradition is to limit the alcohol consumption of guests to ensure a wedding day that is pleasant and enjoyable for everyone! Because of the sordid history of the garter toss tradition, many brides choose not to throw the garter. Rather, choosing to wear the garter as a keepsake to be removed by the groom in private. Others choose to wear the garter below the knee to preclude any humiliation or embarrassment when the garter is removed at the reception.
Way back when, so to speak, it was believed the bride was lucky. As the bride and groom would leave the ceremony to go back home, the townspeople would tear a piece of the bride’s dress off as a lucky token. After enough people nearly attacking the bride for a piece of her dress, she was nearly naked by the time the bride and groom made it home. This highly upset the groom since well she was now “his property” and other people were undressing her bit by bit. So instead couples decided to toss something to give away a token of luck to people. The bouquet. And the garter became what the men threw to the crowd. (from what I’ve read about the traditions over the internet)
thanks janie & ashes 
Could you ask your readers b/c I have a question for the Beehive:
Any suggestions on affordable but nice bridal shower gifts and prizes?
Mrs Bee I have a question! My husband and I are doing a reshoot at our picture taking location because it was beyond gorgeous and I felt there were so many pictures I still wanted to take but since it was the wedding day and we were rushing around I didnt get to take. I borrowed my beautiful Thomas Knoell tiara from a friend and she is doing bridals that day so I am in need of a new tiara for this shoot but nothing seems to compare to her tiara. Any suggestions where I can find something equally as lovely for my reshoot? Do you know of any dress places have a headpiece sale or anything? Thanks so much!
lily - I have been to showers where the hostesses got prizes from Ikea and Target. They have been things like candles, small kitchen gadgets, soaps and lotions, etc.
lily - ikea is a great idea. i’ve purchased wine glasses from there and given them as gifts. you could fill them with things like candy in the bride’s color scheme. i always love to give bath and body works antibacterial hand soaps as well - everyone loves them and they’re colorful and pretty to photograph.
good luck!
lily- my girlfriend did a martini theme. she bought plastic martini glasses from http://www.orientaltrading.com and filled them with bath salts. Then packaged them together with lotions and body sprays. (after a few drinks, you’ll be glad you bought plastic!)
Has anyone had experience insuring your engagement ring? If so who did you use and what was your approx cost?
lily - also check out loccintane, they have travel size lotions and soaps that i love. they are a bit pricier, but if you buy the travel sized products, it’s not too bad. also check out etsy.com.. what better gifts to give than unique and homemade items.. =)
FYI - we just got my e ring insured. i feel so much safer now. we bought our ring from bluenile.com and they use chubb, and we’re paying $375 a year.
How soon do you send out Save The Date cards? What about the actual invitations themselves? (1 Year to wedding) Thanks.
for my friend’s bridal shower, we incorporated a game into the gift. we bought thongs from victoria’s secret and hung them on a clothesline. we asked each guest to go up and pick a panty; inside was a number that corresponded to a question about the bride. if the guest got it correct, she got to keep the thong. if the guest got it wrong, the bride keeps the thong. in the end, it turned out to be a lot of fun, visually entertaining, and everyone walked away with at least one thong. =)
oh.. me and the other bridesmaids also purchased customized stickers, and small tins that we filled with chocolate covered espresso beans. then we wrapped the tins in pink ribbon and handed those out at little favors as well.
Question: I’m trying to figure out the best way/timeline to incorporate a church ceremony, a (korean) church reception immediately following the ceremony (mostly for the older korean folk ie the hundreds of friends that our parents will invite due to it being a church reception), and then an “americanized” dinner reception for me and my fi’s friends at another venue. We plan on having your typical cocktail hour, followed by dinner and full open bar at the second venue, however I don’t know how far apart the two receptions should be, timewise. I still want our families and possibly our parents’ close friends to be in attendance at the second dinner reception. Am I trying to do too much in a small span of time? Should I just cut out the church reception?
FYI - I insured my ring through USAA and I pay $236 a year.
thanks everyone!!
I would love to hear any input on Jasmine’s question. I am not usally an amireer of tiaras, however, when I saw Thomas Knoell Designs I just fell in love with them. I am on a very low wedding budget and his tiaras are beyond my price range. I know it would add to perfect touch to my special day as a bride. Thank you.
Beehive
Feature Launched: Aug 31, 2006
About: A forum for readers to post questions and get feedback from the hive, aka the weddingbee community.
I just wanted to know what ever happened to Mrs Rose? She hadnt posted anything in while!