Bouquet toss

[ckret01]

My wedding is coming up in 3 months. I do not want to do the traditional bouquet/garter toss.....But have no idea what to do in its place. (we don't have enough single people to catch the bouquet/garter.

Any ideas/comments/suggestions welcome! Thanks so much

 

[Tazicket]

What if you give your bouquet (or a long stemmed rose) to the couple who's been married the longest?

 

[lovemygoofy]

I was at one wedding that was small, intimate and only had about 5 single women. The bride knew this in advance and when it was time to throw the bouquet she threw 5 small and I mean small bouquets so each lady received one.

At another wedding I've seen the bouquet given to whomever had been married the longest or the woman that was oldest in the room.

We didn't do a garter toss but did the whole ceremony with the groom taking it off because Matt really wanted to do that And he put it in his pocket afer making a big deal saying he wasn't giving away something that had been placed on my leg specifically for him.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

You don't have to do anything to replace it.

 

[Chattyaholic]

Why not have your bouquet preserved? There are some florists who can do that, and then have it placed in an acrylic box for display.

 

[ziggystardust]

I don't think I've ever been to a wedding that actually had the bouquet toss, def. never one that had the garter toss. They always seemed to cut that out. (I was a very disappointed 14 yr old when I couldn't catch a bouquet)

 

[mickeyboat]

I have seen weddings where they have done a boquet toss to for all the women who wanted a chance to catch it, not just the single ones.

I like the idea of presenting something to the couple who have been married the longest. Have you seen the dance where the couples dance, and are eliminated based on the shortness of their marriage? The last couple standing is the winner, the one who has been married the longest.

Denae

 

[ducklite]

I love the idea of presenting the bouquet to the couple married the longest as a good luck charm for many more happy years together.

I had a similar problem, ony three unmarried females at my wedding, and instead I gave my bouquet to my great aunt who had never married--very long, very sad story as to why. I know that more than anything she would have loved to have married her boyfriend of 50 years who had passed away only a few months before my wedding, and she really appreciated the gesture.

Anne

 

[salmoneous]

First, congratulations - both for the wedding and for being strong enough to ditch a tradition you don't want to include just because it's traditional.

Why the need to replace it with anything? If you don’t like it, just skip it.

 

[VirtuallyMe]

I like Mickeyboat's idea- sounds like a neat tradition to start...

At my wedding I had a separate bouquet (it was actually my cake topper) to throw- no way I was throwing my real bouquet.

We did the garter thing too- but dh and I were the first of our friends to marry so lots and lots of singles out there...

 

[MareQ]

You don't have to do anything to replace it. At our wedding though we asked the DJ to get as many married couples on the dance floor as possible. Then he stopped the song and said "anybody married less than a day leave the dance floor" (Us - LMAO) More dancing - stop anybody married less than 5 years, less than 10 years etc. They went all the way up to 50 years then had to go by years and months to get the last couple - my grandparents - who then got the Bouquet and a gift Certificate to their favorite restaurant. (We obviously knew ahead of time that they would be the last couple standing) Then DH and I went back on the dance floor and I danced with my grandfather and DH danced with my grandmother to finish out the song

 

[dcgrumpy]

My sister got married last year and they gave the throw away bouquest to the couple who had been married the longest. The DJ called all married couples onto the dance flooor. Then he said anyone married longer than 5 years stay, then 10 years...until there was only one couple left.

 

[rubinlar]

We didn't do these at our reception either. I had a small bouquet that I quietly presented to a very special aunt. Don't feel you have to do anything...it's your day! Congrats!

Lisa

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

We did not do either of these at my wedding 10 years ago. In the 40 plus weddings since then, I have only seen ONE garter ceremony and about 20 bouquet tosses. The garter thing is considered totally tacky around here.

 

[mking624]

We did the bouquet toss (not MY bouquet...we had a small one reserved just for this) and we also did a garter toss (chicagodisneyfan, I'm originally from Chicago...got married in Chicago, I've never heard of the garter toss being considered "tacky" up there, unnless individual people think it is...but then, I've been married almost 7 years now, so maybe things have changed since then). But I love the alternative ideas. One idea I heard was the bride presented the bouquet to her grandmother because they had a very special relationship.

I'm Hispanic and I've never been to a Hispanic wedding in which a dollar dance did not take place (people line up to dance with you a few seconds...but they must pin cash on you). We chose not to do the dollar dance, but my family told me that my now late grandfather was so excited about the dollar dance that he purchased a whole box of pins for it. I was extremely close to him so I arranged to have a special dance just with him (no one else on the floor). After the dance, I let him pin whatever he wanted onto my dress. So in the end, I had my own dollar dance with him. And I'm so glad I did...he passed away a few years later and one of the pictures he wanted actually on his bed during his final days were of me and him dancing that "dollar dance." Wow, it's making me cry even thinking about it.

I bring that up because I just want to point out that just because it's tradition, doesn't mean you have to follow it...or that you can't do some sort of spin on it. This is YOUR day, YOUR memories, and you want to look back on it completely happy with what you chose.

 

[lulugirl]

You don't have to do anything to replace it.

I agree, just skip it.
We didn't do the whole garter/bouquet toss at our wedding, I find it tacky. Our friends were grateful!
Congratulations!

 

[BeNJeNWaFFLe]

You don't have to do anything to replace it. At our wedding though we asked the DJ to get as many married couples on the dance floor as possible. Then he stopped the song and said "anybody married less than a day leave the dance floor" (Us - LMAO) More dancing - stop anybody married less than 5 years, less than 10 years etc.

This is what they did at the last wedding I went to. I forgot how long the last couple was married for but I believe something like 63 years! And the second to last couple on the floor was married for only one year less! Then the DJ asked them if they had any advice for the newlyweds. The man said "There are only two words you have to remember...Yes Dear!" It was funny, then of course they gave some real advice.