The garter toss is an enduring wedding tradition. It's fun, it's funny and it's a bit bizarre, too. Grooms may think it's just "one of those things that you do", but their brides may have other ideas. Garter tossing is often paired with tossing the bouquet.

The garter toss, often paired with the bouquet toss, is a bit like T-Shirts fired into the crowd at a sporting event. At a sporting event, when the C02 blaster is fired, everybody in section 28 somewhat perilously clamors for the shirt, almost falling out their seats. People seem to forget that the shirt they're receiving is worth about $4.99. But hey, what are the chances of receiving a free shirt on any other occasion? And so the tradition endures.

At a wedding, the scene is a bit more organized, but the idea's the same. After the cake has been cut, the wedding MC calls upon all of the single guys to stand in front of a riser. Half of the guys just stare into their drinks, standing at the back of the room acting way too cool to participate. The other half is usually so intent on catching the garter that observers feel a twinge of embarrassment for them. See, tradition holds that he guy who catches the garter becomes the next guy to get married. (Totally scientific, surely.) With all of these bachelors aligned, the groom removes the garter from the leg of his bride (possibly with his teeth). He turns his back to the boys, tries in vain to make the feeble elastic stretch, and fires. A garter flies into the air, and the clamoring begins.

It's no wonder that brides aren't so into it any more... article continues...
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