Bouquet Toss / Garter Toss Alternatives

[lillypad]

After looking over our guest list I realized that if we do a bouquet toss I will be tossing to two people, my bridesmaids. One of them, who is just the most awesome bridesmaid ever, said she did not care if she was the only person their she would stand there and catch it so I can do my toss. It is sweet of her but something I would never actually do. The garter toss is a very similar story.

Our guest list is made of people a bit older than us, we are in are early twenties while our guest list is mostly people in their late fifties so we are having trouble coming up with things everyone will enjoy.

I was looking into different things that you could do and the most common seems to be to hand it off to the longest married couple or a good friend. That could work but honestly I want to throw something, not sure why but I am excited about chucking a bouquet up in the air.

I was considering the idea an where all woman get up and participate. My favorite one so far you attached a little note, like a quote or a fortune, to individual flowers in the bouquet. You do not actually tie the bouquet together so when you toss it the flowers go everyone and several people get little notes. Do you think that would go over well? Or just confuse people?

I have no clue about the garter toss.

[WebLady]

I was considering the idea an where all woman get up and participate. My favorite one so far you attached a little note, like a quote or a fortune, to individual flowers in the bouquet. You do not actually tie the bouquet together so when you toss it the flowers go everyone and several people get little notes. Do you think that would go over well? Or just confuse people?I think this would work; you could have the DJ make an annoucement for all the ladies to join in and maybe say that it is just good luck for who catches it.

Here are some more ideas I found online -

Here are six alternatives to the traditional bridal bouquet toss that will make everyone happy:

Wish Come True Bouquet Toss -- Invite all the women onto the dance
floor, married and single. Ask them all to make a wish right as the bouquet is
tossed and whoever catches it will get their wish.

Fortune Bouquet Toss -- Invite everyone onto the dance floor and
have a bouquet that consists of several small bunches of flowers are simply held together in your hand. On each bunch, have a handwritten “fortune” attached to it that you made up. When you throw the flower bunches in the air, they break apart so several people will get a “fortune” bouquet. Before throwing a break apart bouquet make sure they are easily separated and not entwined together so they really do break apart in the air.

Longest Married Bouquet Toss -- Invite all married couples onto the
dance floor and have the DJ announce that everyone married less than 5 years to leave, then less than 10 years to leave and so on until the couple married the longest is left dancing and they are awarded with the bouquet. Keep in mind that this may not be the right bouquet toss for you, especially if you have a recently deceased grandparent that would have been married the longest if they were still living. This also focuses on married people and leaves out the single folks.

Special Honors Bouquet Toss -- Split up the bouquet into halves and
give one half to your mother and one to your mother-in-law. The bridal bouquet could also be presented to grandparents, split apart for all the women in the bridal party, presented to your maid of honor, your sisters, a friend who is engaged, etc. Think of someone you’d like to honor and give it to them as a “good luck” bouquet.

Favors Toss -- Instead of tossing flowers, toss the wedding favors!
Much like candy being tossed in a parade you can toss small or soft favors to the guests. Children can help in the fun, and everybody has a chance to get something. Candy, small stuffed animals, silly toys and gift cards are good choices.

Gift Cards & Money Bouquet Toss -- Rather than have fortunes
attached to a break away bouquet, why not attach gift cards (from coffee shops, record stores, etc) to your bridal bouquet! Rolled up $1-$20 bills is also fun for everyone. You can invite everyone onto the dance floor, men and women alike.

So rather than skip the bridal bouquet toss entirely, why not start your own
tradition? Unusual tosses can be explained by your DJ, an appointed person or written in your program. Choose a bridal bouquet toss that is meaningful to you and don’t be afraid to simply present it to someone you care about.

*Source (http://ezinearticles.com/?Six-Alternative-Bridal-Bouquet-Toss-Ideas&id=122526)

Maybe you could rework one of these ideas for the garter toss too.

Of if you and your BM's are up for some fun; you could have the best man blindfold the groom and put him in front of you bride and bridesmaids sitting in a row; maybe throw in one of the guys for fun too ;) The groom would have to figure out which leg is yours ... of course you would keep it I guess.

[Micah's bride]

I'm not big on the whole garter/bouquet toss, so instead of either I'm giving my "toss bouquet" to my Maid-of-Honor, who is marrying my Man-of-Honor next February.

[HisDelightfulFaerie]

I LOVE the Wish Bouquet toss. That's so cute.

[wannabeNurse2]

After going to my fiance's cousin's wedding last September and seeing literally only three very young girls trying to catch the bouquet I decided to avoid that tradtion altogether. We are also not doing the garter toss. We aren't replacing those traditions with anything.

[gwenshack]

After going to my fiance's cousin's wedding last September and seeing literally only three very young girls trying to catch the bouquet I decided to avoid that tradtion altogether. We are also not doing the garter toss. We aren't replacing those traditions with anything.

Yeah, I wasn't too keen on those traditions either and chose to skip them, but I think if you want to toss something then, as the bride, you should get to toss something! I think those suggestions Brandi gave you are great! :) Happy tossing!

[rockchalkchick]

I was iffy on doing a bouquet toss at all, since a) we're nearing 30, which means most of our friends are married and the ones who are single don't really wanna be singled out for it, and b) most tosses consist of a combination of 3 groups - single women who really don't wanna be out there, single women who LOOOVE the bouquet toss and practically get violent, and little girls who are seriously disappointed when they DON'T get it. None of which makes for a very fun experience. But my guy was kind of sold on doing the garter toss, and I heard several complaints when I talked about not doing a bouquet toss, so I did the untied-bouquet trick.

Here's immediately after the toss - you can see all the loose flowers up in the rafters:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3310/3522513486_bfd43bf538.jpg?v=0

And here's the "catch":
http://images2d.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp53688%3Enu%3D3343%3E272%3E739%3EWSNR CG%3D327282%3A58%3B337nu0mrj

It seemed to go over really well - every girl who wanted a flower got one, none of the little girls were disappointed, and a few of the grown women tucked them behind their ears and wore them the rest of the night, joking that they could advertise being single!

[The Proper Wedding]

I really like the idea of the lose flowers. However you decide to do it, if it's just the flowers alone, or if you attach something to them. It's a really cool idea! And you don't have to have just single people out there to catch them! Just do it for good luck! :)

[dodgercpkl]

I really like the wish bouquet toss!!! Great suggestion! :)