Why Does a Groom Throw the Bride's Garter?

From Erik Michaels and June Hoffman of Megasound

We recently covered the bouquet toss tradition of weddings; today, we will cover the garter throw tradition. As we mentioned previously, during medieval times it was possible that guests might grab the bride's garter or the bride might toss the garter to prevent her guests from ripping her dress apart. Another variation on how the garter toss tradition originally began is in the fact that the whole point of many of these special traditions was to bless the bride and groom and their marriage and ward off evil spirits. One way to bless the couple and ward off evil spirits was to throw the bride's garter out a window of the inn the happy couple was staying in on their wedding night. The bride would hang her stockings or garter on the doorknob of the room they were in and the wedding party would then throw them out the window. Still yet another variation suggests that the wedding party would take the bridesmaids' garters and toss them into the bride's and groom's faces.

The garter throw was a chance for the single men to share in the good fortune of the groom. Just like how the girl who catches the bouquet is supposedly the next girl to get married, the man who catches the garter is supposedly the next guy who shall get married. In like manner, just like how some brides stage the bouquet toss so that one of her friends who is already engaged will catch it, some grooms stage their garter throw so that his friend who is engaged will catch the garter.

Nowadays with all the political correctness and such, some brides and grooms have decided to forego this ritual, claiming that it is sexist. Considering how this tradition actually began with women rather than men grabbing pieces of the bride's clothing, the so-called "sexist" portion of the tradition actually evolved to become the way that it is today. Regardless, it is still a fun way to celebrate with your guests during your reception!

At Megasound, we have all sorts of appropriate garter removal song suggestions for your reception. Contact us today to find out how to streamline your planning with song suggestions.