It’s great fun to have the traditional bouquet and garter toss as part of your wedding reception. The bouquet toss is a way to include single women in the reception. Whoever catches the bouquet is said to be the next woman to marry. The bride may opt to use a separate bouquet that has been purchased specifically for this event, rather than tossing her own bridal bouquet. Some brides may prefer to purchase a tossing bouquet that is made of silk or paper flowers since these can be bought ahead of time. The traditional garter toss is done with the groom removing the garter from his bride’s leg as everyone watches. Then, he tosses the garter to all the available single men at the reception.
The DJ should be the emcee for both the bouquet toss and garter toss. He should try to get interest in the event and ask all the single people to step up and participate. Then, he will play a song while each of the toss events occurs. You can choose the songs that you want played for each of the events. Pick songs that are upbeat and fun for the single crowd. For example, some brides like to choose “Single Ladies” by Beyonce to be played during the bouquet toss. If you have a favourite party song you may want to choose it. Make sure that the DJ has the appropriate songs prepared for this part of the reception.
If there aren’t going to be a lot of single women at your wedding, consider an alternative plan. One fun suggestion is to toss many single blooms and attach a fortune to each one of them. Then you can have all the women – not just the single ones – participate. This makes for an enjoyable and unique way to toss the bouquet. To create this option you can use silk or paper flowers to prepare them in advance. Then, simply print or hand write the fortunes and tie them onto each stem. When tossing them, hold them together, like a bouquet, and then throw them behind you – they should all separate and fly separately giving everyone a chance to get one.
Some brides prefer not to have the traditional bouquet toss and garter toss events. If you like you can start your own tradition. You may choose to simply present the bouquet and garter to single people of your choice. You can do this as part of a toast if you like. This eliminates the need to go through the whole toss event later. Whatever you decide, remember that you can create the event that you want by being imaginative.