Why do brides throw their bouquet?
There are so many old (and, some say, odd!) traditions around getting married:
But the throwing of the bride’s bouquet seems one of the most difficult to understand. After all the time and effort spent finding the perfect flowers (not to mention the expense), why wouldn’t a bride just keep them?
Of course, while many modern couples do choose to keep the flowers, the majority still follow the tradition of throwing the bouquet to their friends. Traditionally, this would be their single friends and, as we all know, the idea is that whoever catches them will be the next to get married.
Quite often nowadays, the flowers will be thrown to a group made up of anyone who wishes take part - married, engaged or single - and the lucky person who catches them is said to have good fortune for the year ahead, and if that good fortune includes getting married, then hooray!
But, where did the idea of throwing the bouquet come from, in the first place?
Well, hundreds of years ago, it was thought that touching a bride would bring good luck to unmarried women, and help in their search for a husband of their own. In practice, this meant that brides could be surrounded by guests who were all trying to touch her, and her dress would often be ripped in the process.
So, brides found that throwing their bouquet acted as a distraction, saved their dress from being ruined, and their guests seemed just as happy to chase after the flowers.
Strange to think that such a well-known wedding tradition (not to mention a great photo opportunity, of course!) doesn’t come from the romantic notion of finding the next to be married, after all, but was just a means of self-preservation for the bride!
#wedding #ceremony #weddingtradition #weddingceremony #gettingmarried #IndependentCelebrant #UKCelebrant #SussexCelebrant