has this ever happened to you at a wedding reception?
"calling all singles to the wedding reception dance floor. it is now time for the wedding garter toss."
tap. tap. "is this thing on?"
"i said, will all the desperately single people, please step away from the bar and make themselves known to the rest of the wedding guests."
next up in my wedding garter 101 advice here i'm going to talk about why i think the garter toss shouldn't be just about the single people and that we shouldn't use the garter toss as a chance to single out the single people. in this advice series, i'll go through lots of different questions about the wedding garter. i hope that you'll check it out!
Photo Credit: Lauren Werkheiser Photography
how many times have we witnessed this sad scenario at a wedding? it really is pathetic and so unnecessary. right here and now, i'm taking a stand to end the horrible tradition of forcing single people to come out and catch the wedding garter. (bridal bouquet tossers…don't think you are exempt here, same goes for you too!)
i think that having the wedding garter catching a singles only soiree is one of the factors that has contributed to the downfall of the wedding garter tradition as a whole. it is divisive and it breaks up a wedding reception. when your wedding guests are uncomfortable and insecure, it isn't fun for anyone, which defeats the purpose of doing the whole wedding garter toss in first place.
what is the point of parading single people out on to the reception dance floor and asking them to make fools of themselves? legend has it that the person who caught the tossed wedding garter received good luck in the form of the next person to be married. hence, the tradition evolving to include only single people. (i personally think this tradition was invented by some mother desperate to get her 45 year old bachelor of a son to settle down with the first nice girl he meets.)
however, i'd like to think that we've progressed beyond the dark ages when the wedding garter tradition originally started. as a modern society, can we all agree that the person who catches the wedding garter will not necessarily be the next person to be married? after all, if it was true, don't you think that match.com would have already capitalized on this?
i do think we should keep around the part about the wedding garter catcher getting the good luck for being the winner. who am i cancel fate? besides, we all can use a little extra boost now and again, right?!
so, this one goes out to all the wedding band leaders and the wedding djs…don't single the single people out for the garter toss. and, while i'm at it, let's not make it a male/female thing. let's just say that whoever wants to catch the wedding garter (and the bouquet) is welcome to come out to the dance floor and try their luck.
who is with me this?