The Importance of Bridal Garters

Weddings are a happy and joyous occasion where two lives join themselves in love, adoration and mutual respect and pledge themselves to remain faithful and loyal to each other for all of their lives. When people think about weddings many images immediately pop into their minds, wedding cakes, bridal garters, wedding dresses, rings and veils are a few of the most common images we think about for weddings.

Wedding Traditions

It is a tradition for the bride to wear a bridal garter on her wedding day. It has been said that in the dark ages guests thought that it was good luck to take home a piece of the bride’s clothes from her wedding. Garters, which were used to hold up a women’s stockings in those days, were considered to be especially lucky for a guest to get. The tradition of throwing the garter at the reception evolved from the belief that getting the bridal garters was lucky. Once elastic was invented and women began wearing nylons there was no longer any practical need for garters to be used for holding up stockings. Nonetheless the tradition of throwing the garter remains to this day and has become a popular event at the wedding reception.

Iconic Moment at the Reception

There are several iconic moments that happen during a wedding reception. The moment when the happy couple is announced at the reception hall. The cutting of the cake. The first dance as husband and wife. And that special moment when the groom takes the bridal garter off the leg of his bride. Everyone gathers around the bride, who is typically sitting in a chair in the middle of the dance floor, to watch as the groom begins reaching up her leg to find the garter. Cheers generally erupt from all the guests as the new husband victoriously produces the garter for all to see. After the bridal garter has been claimed from the bride’s leg the groom will then throw it into the crowd of bachelors and who ever catches it gets to put it on the lady who catches the bride’s bouquet.

Something New

Every bride has heard the phrase “something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue” The bride is supposed to have something with her on her wedding day that meets each of the requirements in the phrase for good luck. Many brides opt to have the bridal garters that they wear on their special day be the something new or something blue that is required in that phrase.

Bridal Garters are an important part of wedding traditions.