“Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.” Every wedding has many traditions that we all cater to, but to how many of them do we know the origin?
One of the must-have wedding items is a bouquet for the bride and bridesmaids to carry. Did you know however that this tradition has an origin all the way back to 1600s where people would take their yearly bath in May, and get married in June. The bouquet was meant to cover any body odor that might have developed in that time. Another purpose of the bouquet was to ward off evil spirits, thus it would be crafted with dill, garlic, grains, and herbs. Over time the superstitions diminished and the bouquet was more flower based. Now what you put into your bouquet can also say a lot about yourself and or the event. Adding baby’s breath would symbolize festivity, a daisy innocence, ivy fidelity, lilac first love, orange blossom for fertility, and many more.
“Well that’s all interesting, but what about the bouquet toss?” Centuries ago the bride was considered to be quite lucky on her wedding day and so guests would often rush her and tear a piece of her clothing off as a good luck charm. Now this could even happen at the altar and brides could often be left crying because they were left in tatters after being rushed by guests. So to appease the guests the tradition began where she would toss her bouquet to guests, as well as a garter.
