There’s a lot to unpack with this wedding tradition. Per The Knot, a bride’s garter has been a symbol of good luck since the Middle Ages, so it became customary to throw it to guests. However, since garters were traditionally worn to keep up stockings, they could also represent a bride losing her virginity.
Over time, the garter toss has become the male equivalent of the bouquet toss, but both have largely lost their appeal, with some couples now viewing the traditions as unnecessarily gendered, and even embarrassing.
“People don’t even usually bring it up as an option. They don’t even have any interest in doing it,” Taylor said.
“But if I have a client say they want to do a garter toss, I say, ‘OK, let’s make it happen,’ because it’s about them and what they want. If a client says, ‘Do I need to do a garter toss?’ I say, ‘Absolutely not. You absolutely do not need to do a garter toss. If you’d like to do one, I’m happy to facilitate that, but it’s totally not something anyone’s gonna miss, or you’re gonna think that you wish you should have done in 25 years,'” she added.
