Wedding Garter Tradition: History of the Garter Toss

A wedding garter is a piece of fabric-covered elastic a bride wears on her thigh under her wedding dress on the wedding day. The bridal garter is part of a wedding tradition in which the bride tosses the band to a crowd of bachelors during the reception. A bride can also wear a garter as wedding night lingerie.

For the garter toss tradition, the groom removes the garter from the bride’s leg during the wedding reception on the dance floor. The groom usually goes under her dress to find the band, removing it with his hands or teeth. The groom then tosses the garter to a crowd of bachelors, and the person who catches the garter is said to be the next one to be married, making this tradition the male equivalent of the bridal bouquet toss. Sometimes, the man who catches the garter will put it on the bachelorette who caught the bridal bouquet.

Traditionally, garter belts held up stockings. With the invention of modern pantyhose, which stay up without garters, garters became known as a fashion statement and a piece of lingerie. Consider the following origin stories for wedding garters:

• Bedchamber: The wedding garter toss tradition came from the Middle Ages when garters kept up the bride’s stockings. The wedding guests would wait outside the bedchamber for the newly married couple to consummate their marriage. The groom would toss the bride’s garter to the crowd to confirm that the consummation was complete.
• Luck: The garter toss tradition also stems from the Medieval superstition that wedding guests taking a piece of the bride’s dress was good luck. A garter was a simple item a bride could give as a good luck charm instead of guests tearing apart the wedding attire.

A lace garter is a classic type of wedding garter, but garters can be made of any stretchable or ruched fabric, usually ribbon, tulle, lace, satin, or silk. Types of ready-made or custom garters include:

1. 1. Blue: A bride can wear a classic white garter with blue accents or a blue garter, which can be the “something blue” for the wedding. If it is a new piece of clothing, the garter can also count as “something new.” (A blue and a new item are traditionally good luck tokens.)
2. 2. Bold: Brides wear garters beneath the wedding dress, so they do not have to adhere to a wedding theme and can be an expression of the bride’s personality. For example, a bride can wear a garter featuring bright colors or animal prints.
3. 3. Classic white: A bride can wear a traditional white or ivory garter made of white lace, white satin, white ribbon, or other white materials.
4. 4. Embellishments: A garter can feature embellishments like rhinestones, ribbons, fashion jewelry, beading, bows, and appliqués.
5. 5. Lingerie: The wedding garter can be part of a garter set that matches the bride’s wedding night lingerie.

A wedding couple might revise or omit the garter toss tradition for the big day. Consider these alternatives:

1. 1. Make the bouquet toss coed. Instead of having a bouquet toss for bachelorettes and a garter toss for bachelors, a couple might choose to combine these events and invite all single wedding guests to participate in the bride’s bouquet toss.
2. 2. Skip the removal process. A bride can choose to have two garters: one to wear and keep as a keepsake and one to toss during the wedding reception. Having a second garter is a way to bypass having the groom remove the band in front of the wedding guests.
3. 3. Toss something else. The wedding couple might decide to skip the garter and toss another object, like a boutonniere or some candy.

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