ALT-1 Non Traditional Weddings Alternatives to the Bouquet Toss
Perhaps you don't like the idea of getting up in front of everyone to do something as undignified as the bouquet toss- we've all heard the legends, the bouquet breaking the chandelier in a nice hotel, or getting snagged irretrievably in the branches of a nearby tree. Perhaps everyone is married, and there would be no one to catch it- or perhaps everyone is terminally single, and you don't want anyone to feel left out. Or perhaps you just can't bear to part with that token of wedding-day bliss. Either way, there are options:
-If you're really uncomfortable with the whole idea, then dispense with the tradition altogether. It's fun, but not absolutely essential, and you can always fill that spot in your roster with something else.
-Tie multiple smaller bouquets into one large one to carry down the aisle. Surreptitiously untie it just before the toss, and when multiple bouquets come raining down, there can be more than one happy recipient!
-Carry a bouquet that is easy to disassemble- one of long stemmed roses loosely tied together, something like that- and out individual flowers to friends or family in a touching ceremony at the reception.
-Use a replacement bouquet to toss, keeping part or all of the original as keepsake material and throwing the rest in the usual manner.
-Have all the couples start dancing, and sit groups of them down according to how long they've been married, leaving the longest married couple dancing longest (which seems a little bit cruel to the old folks, but I can't come up with a good alternative) and present them with the bouquet.
-If there is someone at the wedding who is recently engaged, you could give them the bouquet as a congratulatory presentation- it could even be the way they announce their engagement, especially if they're family and you're feeling generous.
-Do something more like a game of Marco-Polo, if you would otherwise be endangering low-hanging light fixtures or the like- the single female are blindfolded, and whoever catches the bride gets the bouquet.
-Or you could take a page from Mardi-Gras, and hide a coin in the wedding cake- whoever finds it gets the bouquet, or a token from the bride, something like that.
-And you could always give the fragments of the bouquet to your long suffering bridal party, as a token of thanks for putting up with you.
