2010-05-26 15:04:07 by SMARTBRIDE
Wedding season is here! Will you catch the Bouquet?
ok ladies, it's time to get to the bottom of this. Whether you're a bride, a bridesmaid or an enthusiastic guest - everyone wants to know what the deal is with the bouquet toss!
Let's start with why you want to catch the bouquet. Catching the bouquet traditionally meant that you were the next to get married - however, we couldn't manage to dig up any statistics on whether there is a proven correlation. We did, however, come across many personal accounts on the subject throughout our research. This anecdote from yahoo answers is one of our favorites.
"my friend has caught about 5 of the bouquets at weddings (she is 5'11 so towers over mostly everyone) and has been through tons of relationships and is no where close to getting married..."
Now, onto the how.
We came across this helpful little guide from Wired Magazine. (yeah, we were super surprised too, given that Wired is usually all about nerdy things and techy toys). Apparently, researchers from Brown University have found that outfielders in baseball actually adjust their own motion according to the relative velocity of the ball in order to be in the right place at the right time.
Transfer that research over to the bouquet toss, and you get Wired's ultimate advice to "keep loose, keep moving and keep your eye on the prize". The article (above) does manage to give some more specific advice - but here are the coles notes.
- Kick off your Louboutins for better traction.
- Move away from the crowd to increase your chances of picking up valuable visual cues.
- Keep your eyes on the flowers, but don't ignore the body language of the bride. Watch her movements to know whether to move forward or back depending on how much pepper she's putting on those petals.
- Go for the interception by standing off the side or behind and use your extra velocity to make the snag.
You'd be surprised how many wedding articles Wired.com has published, check out more articles including who's making money off of the JK Wedding Dance video (hint - it's not the couple).
And finally, you may have been to some weddings where the Bride decides not to toss. It is after all, her prerogative, right? Still others have lamented that they are worried that no one will participate in their toss. Here are a few trends and options for brides who don't want to stick to the norm:
- Just don't toss - keep your bouquet and prevent any unnecessary injuries while your guests duke it out
- Have your florist create a special bouquet just for the toss.
- Use a breakout bouquet - basically your bouquet will break into several smaller bouquets so more ladies get the prize
- Give an extra incentive. Award a prize to who ever catches the bouquet so it's less about "who's the next to marry" and more about "athletic prowess". We've heard of people putting a gift card in the bouquet, and even one lady who put her bouquet inside a Coach bag.
- Present the flowers as a gift to someone special at your wedding - maybe it's your Grandmother or mother - you may even want to give a little speech along with the presentation.
- Give the bouquet to the couple in attendance who's been married the longest
- Award the bouquet to the couple that dances the best together to encourage people to get out on the dance floor"
