A Blissful Creation ~ Victoria Joanne: Does the Garter need to be saved?

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Does the Garter need to be saved?

Hmmm - What is it with the Garter tradition anyway?

Is it a dead tradition that needs to be saved? Does it need some sort of savior to bring it back from the grave? No Way! The garter tradition is alive & well, has been for years, decades & even centuries. But it has changed over this time. It's definitely not the same tradition as it was a hundred or more years ago. It's not even the same as it was 20 years ago. This past decade has seen a huge change in the tradition yet again. This is probably one of the big reasons that many wedding industry people seem to be obsessed with the wedding garter as of late.

I wanted to elaborate on the wedding garter tradition as it has changed over time. Hundreds of years ago, the garter was used as an undergarment on each leg to hold up the stockings. They were needed in the wedding attire - not just there to make a statement.

The reason it became a tradition to toss it - was because of some strange practices of those times. The bride and groom had to "prove" that the marriage was consummated. At first there used to be witnesses actually IN the bridal suite (eww) who would take pieces of the brides clothing as proof that the marriage was consummated. This was what I call the "Garter Dark Ages". It was an awful invasion of privacy, so the grooms started taking the garter off instead of the onlookers. He would toss them to the people to save his bride from being accosted by anyone trying to get piece of her clothing as proof. This was one of the first changes that came in this tradition. The next change was to kick the "witnesses" out all together. I'm sure this made the brides (and grooms) sigh with relief.

Later over the years - this practice of "proving" became totally out-dated and unuseful, so there really was no need for any undergarment tossing. But for what ever reason, they chose to still do a symbolic toss of the garter at the wedding reception (just like other traditions don't make sense - but we do them anyway).

This removal & tossing of the garter was suppose to represent that the bride was now officially the grooms. She "gave herself to him". It was done modestly in many communities. However over these last few decades this tradition took on a more wild and crazy life. We all know how there are many different people who have many diverse personalities. Well some of them took it upon themselves to do wild things with the garter - this is where the whole "pulling it off with the teeth " thing came in play. It's a spin off from the more conservative tasteful removal. I guess this was exciting for some brides and grooms to be able to have a wild and crazy removal so this trend took off and many couples began doing it this way. (sort of like the whole cake in the face thing) It's a twist on the wedding cake cutting - but not one I would choose to keep. Stop the cake in the face - but don't get rid of the cake. :) In the same way - stop the tacky garter removals, but don't stop the garter wearing.

This crazy garter removals, bring us to the "Shadow ages" for the garter tradition. ;) It hasn't been quite as Dark as the "Garter Dark Ages" were, but it did start to gain a risky and somewhat raunchy reputation. While many brides and grooms were still doing the garter toss with class and keeping it as something worthy of respect, many were not. It became a widely debated subject on internet wedding forums. "To Toss or not to toss" THAT was the question. Lots of brides still wanted to participate, but were afraid. Other brides decided they wanted nothing to do with it. Most wanted to incorporate a garter into their wedding in a respectable manor. They opted to either do a conservative removal or just wear & save it for a keepsake without any removal at all.

All of these different feelings and opinions that were being discussed on the web lead us right to the present day. Here we are in the new millennium almost 2010! The wedding garter has seen many new twists & ruffles to it's tradition, but it has survived through it all. It has never died. It may have suffered through some "not so nice" times but, I'm here as living proof, (over 10,000 custom garters later) that it is alive and well !

Long live the Custom Wedding Garter!