Wedding garters are known to be a traditional wedding accessory. They are designed with a piece of elastic, which is used to hold a stocking or stock. They have a traditional significance and yet many modern brides wear them on the day of their wedding. You can find skillfully crafted garters with nice designs and high quality.
These days, the tradition of tossing a wedding garter out into a crowd of single men at a wedding is a fun activity and a lighthearted custom at many contemporary weddings. However, this tradition is centuries old, and was once somewhat of a brutal and even dangerous practice for the bride. In the past, superstitions were widespread and were commonly believed by people of all classes. Back then life was harder, so any tiny bit of luck was considered to be a precious and valuable commodity that was aggressively pursued. One of these superstitions was regarding the newly married bride.
Brides, in those olden days, were considered to be pure, since they were known to have a "virgin status" and also represented a symbol of fertility. This is because shortly after most marriages, were the births of new babies. Brides were looked upon as being very lucky since they had found a mate and would soon change from being a virgin to a woman and then eventually a mother. As a result, everyone wanted a portion of this luck and so it became common practice for the wedding guests to tear off pieces of the wedding dress as token of receiving good luck.
Wedding garters were also linked to and associated with virginity and fertility. The act of a groom removing the chastity belt from a bride represented a transition from girl to woman or from child to wife. It was considered to be such good luck to hold these wedding garters, that wedding guests would many times attack brides so that they could possess this great luck. As a result, brides were often trampled during these attacks of drunken wedding guests. This is why the tradition changed into one where the groom removes the wedding garter first and then throws it into the crowd before they get out of control.
Single men wanted the wedding garters because they believed it would bring them good luck in finding their own bride. The lucky guy who caught the wedding garter would put it in his hat and wear it until he found a woman he wanted to marry. The he would give it to her to show her his intentions. Other times the man who caught the wedding garter would place the garter on the leg of a girl he was interested in right at the wedding.
However, the female guests at weddings also wanted some luck and soon the tradition arose where the bride would throw her wedding bouquet into a crowd of single women. It was believed that the girl who would catch the bridal bouquet would be the next one to find a husband. Other cultures believed that the girl who caught the bouquet and the man who caught the wedding garter would end up marrying each other. And so, maybe another wedding would soon follow!
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