Miller Photography Inc.: Wedding Photography, Richmond, VA -- The Tradition of the Garter

As I have been researching the traditions of weddings, I am amazed at how early some of the traditions we see at weddings began and still exist. The tradition of the bride's garter started around the 13th century in France.

Fortunately, the modern translation of this tradition is really tame compared to what the poor brides of past centuries had to go through. In the 13th century it was thought to be good luck for guests to have a piece of the bride's clothing. Guests would literally destory the bride's gown tearing off pieces. If you have ever been a bride and are wearing the gown of your dream, you can only imagine how it would make you feel if people are tearing your dream gown to pieces. Yesteryear's bride would start throwing things back at the guests, including the wedding garter.

Soon it became tradition for the bride to toss the garter to the men. The only problem was that some men at weddings would get really impatient and drink too much. They tried to get the garter off the bride before it was time to toss it. How do you think this made the bride and her groom feel? After awhile, in order to protect the bride, the groom started taking off the bride's garter and tossing to the men.

Some traditions have the garter being auctioned off instead of being tossed. The proceeds would go to the couple to cover their honeymoon expenses.

Modern North American garter tradition has the bride wearing two garters on her right leg--one for a keepsake and the other to toss. The groom removes the garter from the bride's leg and tosses it to all the single men.