The Bouquet Toss: Should I or Shouldn’t I?

The toss of the bride’s bouquet has become the most anticipated activity of the wedding reception. For some single lady it is an opportunity to show off her figure in that hot dress with the hope that she would catch the eye of a single brother. For another it is the reminder that she still doesn’t have a ring on that finger and remains the anxious married chick

But why do brides toss their bouquets? As early as the 14th century it was believed that the Bride was the luckiest girl on the planet on her wedding day. Some guests would tear at her dress to get a souvenir piece of good luck to take home. The toss of the bouquet came out of the desire of the bride to give her guests good luck souvenirs as well as keep her dress intact! It has also been said that who ever catches the bouquet becomes the next bride

The decision to toss your bouquet as a bride is completely up to you. However as more and more people decide to wait longer to get married or even decide to stay single; singling out your single friends to catch the bouquet may not be so relevant.

The ritual of the toss of the bridal bouquets definitely has more pros than cons

Pros:1. Some people at the reception have been waiting for this moment, the bouquet toss are benchmarks for the older generation. When this ritual is observed their expectations are fulfilled 2. If there are plenty of singles at your party, the event generates suspense for your wedding guests. If you have well mannered but boisterous friends then you can expect to have a fabulous time. I have attended a lot of weddings in Lagos where the bride and her friends have a dance together and she tosses the bouquet. The excitement in the air was quite infectious.3. It is an opportunity for you to get fantastic pictures and wedding moments for your wedding album. You will definitely get pictures of your friends wearing spontaneous smiles ,it will capture their looks of laughter and embarrassment as they all struggle to catch the bouquet and be the next bride in waiting

Cons:1. Have you been to weddings where they literally have to drag ladies to catch the bouquet or the poor bride with the aid of the MC would start calling out the names of all her single friends. When they do participate they do it out of courtesy to the bride thereby making the ritual boring and unexciting for the bride and the other guests. 2. There might be weddings where no one wants to come out and there are some where fights break out over who actually caught the bouquet. And believe me I have seen some of those!!!

Depending on your friends and your guests, tossing your bridal bouquet can be a fun event however the decision to toss is up to you after all it is YOUR wedding reception!