Non Traditional Weddings Alternatives to the Bouquet Toss
It is traditional for a bride to toss her bouquet into the crowd of guests after getting married. It is thought that the person, generally another woman who is single, who catches the bouquet will be the next to marry.
For this reason, many single ladies who are keen to be wedded clamor to be the one to secure the catch.
As times have changed many brides seek to find an alternative to this tradition. It may be that they wish to include more than just one of their single friends to be bestowed with luck. Or it could be that they want to honor their friends or relatives who have been married for a long time.
The following are some different ideas to the usual bouquet toss that seek to fulfill the needs of the modern bride and groom.
1. The bouquet of Posies.
This idea comprises of the brides main bouquet being made up of smaller individual posies which are tied together with ribbon to make one larger poesy.
The bride carries the bouquet during the wedding as normal, but when it comes time to toss it she simply unties the ribbon and distributes the single posies amongst her non-married friends.
In this way she shares out the good fortune to be gained from her bouquet and makes everyone happy at the same time.
The 'combined' bouquet stems from a fourteenth century tradition where wedding guests used to try to get a piece of the brides dress for luck. It may seem like a wonderful idea but for the bride it was most unfortunate as the guests ripped at her dress in an uncontrolled frenzy!
The bouquet of posies is far more genteel and also assures that each lady receives her luck without having to attack the bride in the process!
2. Our next alternative to the bouquet toss is similar in nature to the combined poesy, only the flowers are made from individual delicate silk scarves which can be unraveled after the wedding and distributed amongst single lady guests.
This is a wonderful idea as the scarves are usable and can be worn by the ladies who receive them as good luck scarves long after the wedding.
3. It is becoming popular during wedding receptions for the guests who have been married the longest to be honored by the newly wedded couple.
All married couples amongst the guests are asked to dance and slowly are reseated until the couple who have been married the longest are left dancing together. This couple then receive the brides bouquet and the length of their marriage is announced and the guests clap and yelp in celebration of the length of the marriage.
I went to a wedding where this happened and the couple who were being honored, being of an older generation, had never heard of this fairly new practice and were absolutely surprised and delighted!
4. Another alternative to the bouquet toss is to hold a little dance competition during the evening celebrations which the bride is to judge and the winner is to receive the bouquet.
It can be particularly amusing to have the dance set to a fast and fun piece of music. My suggestions are, 'The Mash Potato', 'The Time Warp' or the 'Hippie Hippie shake', but any music which is popular will do just as well.
sources; http://www.hudsonvalleyweddings
