There are a LOT of wedding traditions that we all know and love, even if we don’t know the history behind them.
Traditions such as, say, wearing a white dress to symbolise purity of the soul.
Or having the bridesmaids all don the same colour, in a bid to confuse any evil spirits who fancy gatecrashing the wedding.
Or, you know, cutting the wedding cake. Which apparently symbolises (wait for it) the breaking of the bride’s hymen, and the groom’s subsequent dominance over her.
Ew.
It’s all a bit dark when you get down to it, isn’t it?
So you can’t blame us for wondering what the story behind that iconic bouquet toss is.
Well, we did a little digging and, as it happens, the tradition is an old English one.
Basically, in the old days, guests believed that grabbing a piece of the bride would bring them luck.
Which was all well and good, save for the fact that many of them started physically trying to rip off pieces of the bride's dress, pulling at her hair, or grabbing greedily at the flowers in her hands.
Unsurprisingly, brides didn’t appreciate THAT slice of extra attention on their big day.
So, in desperation, they sat down to dream up a way to stop their outfit being torn to shreds by her friends and family.
The solution?
Tossing the bouquet.
Yup, by chucking those flowers, brides managed to put some serious distance between them and those ravaging hoards.
Nowadays we just do it to see who will be the next woman to tie the knot - but it’s worth remembering that a bouquet toss is a good distraction technique if anyone gets a little grabby around that designer gown, eh?
Are you surprised by this wedding tradition?
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