I am one of those people that loves to hear how traditions originate. Weddings are steeped in tradition and sometimes we follow these and we don’t even know why we do them.
Bride throwing her Bouquet
Throwing the bouquet is a curious tradition. We spend all this money and time designing the bridal bouquet and then we just toss it when we are finished with it. Granted recently, brides have been ordering special toss bouquets, so that they can save the one they walked down the aisle with.
The tossing of the bouquet originated in ancient England. After the wedding ceremony occurred, guests would try and rip off pieces of the bride's dress or bridal bouquet as these were thought to bestow good luck and fortune to those who got one. Prior to the 1800s, it was considered good luck to simply touch the bride on her wedding day. Hopeful single girls would often rush the bride—crowding her, touching her—in the hopes that a little bit of the bride’s wedding day good fortune would rub off on them and they would soon be married.
Some single women would even go as far as to try and take home keepsakes of the bride’s wedding dress as she was walking by. To escape, the bride would often toss the bouquet and run.
Bride holding her Bouquet
Why does a Bride carry a Bouquet?
The practice of brides carrying bouquets dates to antiquity, Ancient Greeks and Romans, even Egyptians, carried fragrant herbs and spices to ward off bad luck during weddings. The flowers symbolized a new beginning and brought hopes of fertility, happiness, and fidelity.
Another thought isn’t so pleasant. Dating back into the 15th century, people didn’t bath as often as we do now. Sometimes people only took annual baths in May and many weddings took place in June, so brides started carrying fragrant flowers to cover the not so fresh smell.
During Roman times, bouquets were not bouquets at all. Instead, they were garlands which signified new life and fertility. The bouquet evolved over time back toward a bouquet, edible aphrodisiacs like dill (pulling double-duty) and marigold were added to incite lust.
dill
This Victorian-born reason for the bridal bouquet is probably closest to our modern logic behind carrying a bridal bouquet because they mean something special. During Victorian times, in fact, they meant something particularly special — it was during this time florigraphy, or the language of flowers, came to be, whereby specific flowers took on specific, significant meanings. If a groom wanted to send his bride a sweet, coded message, he would choose a bouquet using flowers that conveyed his message of love. Similarly, brides would choose flowers to relay their feelings to their future husbands as well.
Chart of floral language
What is so wonderful in current times, is that, brides can do pretty much what they want. They are not limited to the tradition floral bouquet.
Some opt for a floral hoop
Floral hoop
some brides prefer just greenery
What about a floral Garland ?
Bridal Floral Garland
They are so many different possibilities. The options are endless. Hopefully we have given you some food for thought and you will come up with the perfect bouquet that means something special to you.