Garter Toss! And other awesome Stuff!

So being a wedding photographer, I obviously get to see the many wedding "traditions" that we have known to come to love, and sometimes hate. From the first dance, bouquet toss, garter belt, and the cutting of the cake, I personally love each moment of a wedding. Understandably, not every bride caters to tradition. Some are a bit more formal than others, while some ditch some of the traditions all together. One tradition that seems to stir up a lot of controversy is the garter belt retrieval and the garter belt toss. Now, we all have seen it before. The bride sits in a chair, while her new groom goes under the layers of wedding dress and removes the garter belt with his hands, teeth, or whatever other method he can think of. Sometimes it's amusing when they pull out a pair of "granny panties", and we all get a good laugh. I was reading on another blog that the bride was not going to wear a garter due to her grandparents being at the wedding, and she didn't want them to see this act, and also why would she want a garter that has been attached to her leg all day being flung to a crowd of single guys?

Well that got me thinking, because I for one, love every element of a wedding day. And as a photographer, there are staples to each wedding day that I make sure I cover all angles of when I am photographing. The garter retrieval and toss being one of them. There is so much emotion and fun that is had during this tradition. See for yourself:

So I came up with an idea. Now, I personally have never seen this done at a wedding, but I figured it would still be fun and still allow for the bride and groom to have the garter toss and bouquet toss incorporated into the ceremony, even if they are more traditional. Basically it is "hide and seek" for the garter belt.

• Gather all of the single men into a circle on the dance floor.
• Have them face each other, in a huddle, and close their eyes.
• The groom then goes and hides the garter amongst the reception location, could be in obvious sight, but not too hard to find
• Have the single guys scurry around looking for it! The DJ can play a song or two to keep up the entertainment and energy

And the guy who finds the garter is the winner! Then you can proceed with the bouquet toss and whatnot. At least this way, the bride doesn't have to worry about older and family members being somewhat surprised at the shenanigans that typically happens during the garter retrieval. But it's all in good fun right?! You can do the same thing with the bouquet toss. Instead of having the bride throw the bouquet, have her hide it, and the single ladies have to search for it. I for one think that that is a very entertaining idea. And hopefully, no one gets hurt because they had an elbow thrown in their face while jumping for the bouquet.

Now, speaking of garter belts, I found another website on Etsy (if you don't know by now, I love Etsy), that has an awesome bridal collection, featuring garters. The seller is RoseBudLips on Etsy. The awesome thing about this shop is that every sale they make on Etsy, goes into helping women fight oppression, forced labor, and human trafficking, and bringing hope into their lives. Here are some items from their Bridal Collection:







I love handmade flowers! Not only are they economical, but they last forever! And the flower bouquet above is customizable in size and color! So you can coordinate it with your wedding.

Oh! Before I forget, I started a new discussion on my Facebook Fan Page. I want to hear all about your engagement stories. I even posted mine so you can see how "romantic" my husband is <3! So share your story!