The History of Throwing Bridal Bouquets

Every wedding is beautiful and so as the emotions attached. But, do you know what makes it even more beautiful? Well, it has to be the beautiful tradition and culture that had stepped years back in the history. There are so many traditions that contribute to the significance of a wedding. Carrying a bridal bouquet to taking off bride’s garter, exchanging wedding vows to raising the toast, the wedding traditions have been accentuating the aura of a wedding ceremony and it will always be.

In today’s article, we will learn what is the significance of throwing a bridal bouquet? When did it start and what was the purpose of this tradition? So, let’s get started.

In the Middle Ages, brides used to carry a bouquet of herbs and spices while walking down the aisle. There were a number of reasons behind this. One of them was to protect the bride from the evil spirits. According to folklore, if a bride carries a bunch of herbs and spices along with her, no evil spirit can attack her at any point in time in the entire wedding ceremony. Another reason for carrying bridal herbs was to keep the body odor away.  These were two reasons that were adopted by our ancestors and it continued till the Victorian times.

However, at the wedding of Queen Victoria, this trend saw a huge change when the queen decided to carry a bouquet of fresh flowers instead of herbs on her wedding day. She started this tradition which is still at its peak. Brides love to carry a bouquet of fresh flowers while walking down the aisle. While some brides love to experiment with the texture and the look of the bridal bouquets, some are happy with the basic and traditional white bridal bouquets.

The Significance of Throwing a Bridal Bouquet

Queen Victoria did start the tradition of carrying a floral bouquet on the wedding day but the tradition of throwing it among the bridesmaids when invented later. English brides used to throw bouquets of fragrant herbs, such as dill, to represent lust and it continued till date. The only difference is that the fragrant herbs have now been replaced by fragrant flowers.

Catching the Bouquet

Brides throw her bridal bouquet among her friends( mostly unmarried, who are willing to get married). According to traditions, the woman who catches the bridal bouquet is the next one to be wedded. Due to this fact of getting married, at some weddings, a separate line of unmarried ladies is made so that only the needy one catches the bouquet. However, at some weddings, this tradition is followed for the only fun purpose.

Final Words

Every tradition is beautiful and we must respect all of them. Believing or not believing in the significance of such traditions is truly a choice but we should at least incorporate them into our wedding day and stay blessed. Hope this works for you.Have any thoughts to share? Do let us know in the comment section. We would love to hear from you.