- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee Blog
Picture it: Philadelphia, 1999.
I was twenty-four years old.
I was at the wedding of a coworker, sitting with some other coworkers. I was the only single female at the table. When it came time for the bouquet toss, they pressured me into going up with the rest of the single ladies. I tried to refuse, but one of the ladies got the attention of the DJ (I still haven’t forgiven her) and he called me over in front of everyone. Instead of making even more of a scene, I reluctantly shuffled over to stand with the small group of potential bouquet-catchers. I stood all the way in the back, off to the side, so that there was no chance of the bouquet coming anywhere near me.
My coworker’s new bride threw the bouquet wildly, and it hit me square in the chest. Crap.
Then, the single men lined up as my coworker took his bride’s garter off of her leg and threw it behind him. The garter was caught by the bride’s twelve year-old brother.
Let’s say it all together:
I had to sit on a chair while a pre-teen half my age touched my bare leg. Although he stopped at the knee, I was still horrified. And I’ve been mildly traumatized ever since.
And I decided at that moment that, whenever I got married, there would be no tossing of any bouquets or garters. And it’s true: our wedding will be a no-toss zone. And I couldn’t be happier about it.
Are you going to do a bouquet and garter toss? Why or why not?
Wow, yes that is extremely awkward! I’m not having a toss either, and it probably stems from the fact that I was knocked down at one. Yes, knocked to the ground. I was trying to move out of the way of the bouqet and a teenager jumped up, elbowed me in the head, and knocked me to the ground. To make matters worse, the videographer came over hysterically laughing and telling me that she was going to submit it to America’s Funniest Home Videos. Great, thanks. So yeah, no toss for me and I am a.o.k. with it. 
Oh gosh. Thankfully no weddings I’ve been to have made the man put the garter on the woman who caught the bouquet.
We’ll be doing the toss but won’t follow through with the tradition of the guy putting the garter on the girl. That’s just uncomfortable no matter what age of the 2 participants. We’ll just do a group picture with the lucky girl and guy. I was recently at this wedding where the whole “toss experience” was basically a lap dance. It was absolutely ridiculous. The guy did a little dance, got on top of the girl, put the garter on her leg, and then she got up and did the same thing to her! It was so trashy and ridiculous and I was embarrassed for the bride and groom. I don’t want to take any chances with ours.
i didn’t want one, but the hubs did, and I’m glad we did it. My bff and a good friend caught them, and we have some hysterical pictures of them because of it
We will be doing the tosses but will not have the man out the garter on the woman who caught the bouquet.
No, we didn’t do the bouquet toss or the garter toss. I didn’t want to single out all of my unmarried girlfriends (because I used to hate going up there) and I have never been a fan of the garter toss. We did an anniversary dance, and I gave my bouquet to the couple who had been married the longest. It was really sweet.
We only did a garter toss - I didn’t want the awkwardness of a bouquet toss. So the guy caught the garter . . . and gave it to his fiancee
Neither me nor the Mr. care for them, though a co-worker got me a garter as a gag gift as a part of our Secret Santa exchange, so I’m thinking maybe we’ll just do one of the gift-card-attached tosses so it’s open to everyone without the weird search under the dress. Or we might still just skip it alltogether.
Ewww, awkward! We’re doing it, but I’m just going to have all the ladies (single and otherwise) try for it, and we’ll have a $15 gift certificate attached to it or something. We might do a garter toss, but it won’t start out attached to my leg, and it’s definitely not going on anyone else’s, we would just do the gift certificate thing for all the guys, too.
I’ve also been hit square in the chest by a bouquet. Thankfully, there was another woman in the crowd who really wanted it and dove for it as it bounced off of me.
instead of a bouquet and garter, we’re throwing a “good luck” bouquet. Everyone is invited to come up, and we’re going to stuff a couple scratch offs in it.
My brother and SIL did the bouquet and garter toss at their wedding. I caught the bouquet then informed my guy that if he didn’t catch the garter, one of my brother’s drunk friends would be touching my leg. He got his butt up to the dance floor and caught the garter
I will say that I didn’t particularly enjoy seeing my brother’s head up my SIL’s dress, so I will be skipping the whole toss thing at my wedding.
My husband insisted on doing the bouquet/garter tosses at our wedding. I personally think it’s mean to call out all the singles and make my 30-year-old sister-in-law compete with my 8-year-old cousin to be the “next to get married”, but I was overruled. Fortunately it went off pretty smoothly, no one was singled out to try to catch it against their will, and all the catchers had to do was take a picture together. Relatively painless, as far as these things go.
Yes and No. We did toss the bouquet and garter… but the garter was not taken off my leg in front of my entire family and it was not then placed on the bouquet recipenet. That is just awkward. We just casually ‘had’ the garter and DH tossed it to his tons of single guys. We definitely did not make him put it on some girl’s leg. So Yes we tossed the items but with none of the awkward parts. I think it worked out for the best!
My husband really wanted and I think I secretly did. So we had one, but no putting of the garter on my friend who caught the bouquet. We just took a picture.
oh my. That is incredibly awkward! I don’t blame you for not wanting to do a toss of your own!
That sounds horrible. That’s reason enough for me not to do a toss!
I was a junior bridesmaid in my cousin’s wedding and no one decided to tell me what happens when you catch the bouquet. So yeah..I catch that damn bouquet. To make it worse, the guy who caught the garter said to me as he was putting the garter on my leg ‘don’t worry I’m a doctor.’ YUCK! Needless to say, we aren’t doing a toss either!
One time I was knocked down as I ran for it (I was young and a BM and felt like I needed to ‘fight’ for it) Luckily I ‘lost’ because the other BM who caught it, had to do the same ‘too young’ garter catcher situation as you. Then the other time– the bride tossed it, all the single ladies took a big giant step back and the bouquet fell at our feet where we all stared at it.
Yeah, after those two experiences, i decided not to do the toss.
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Ms. Sloth, Philadelphia Age and Occupation: 35, Account Manager and Fashion Blogger Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Design Admin Engagement Date: December 25, 2009 Wedding Date: May 2011 Venue: Bartram's Garden About Me: I'm an internet junkie and music snob with a good eye for a bargain. I couldn't live without thrift store shopping, cheeseburgers, sushi, Coke Zero, websites devoted to silly photos of baby animals, Photoshop, and Mr. Sloth. Speaking of which, he and I are a pair of goofball homebody nerds who love our beagle (the most ridiculously adorable dog EVER) to an embarrassing degree. We're planning a low-key and intimate yet festive and quirky outdoor wedding with DIY details and deeply personal touches, and it's all taking place in the city where we fell in love and call home: Philadelphia.
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | 30 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
Latest Gallery Pics