Posted by
What can you do instead of a traditional bouquet and garter toss? Maybe you're looking for gender-inclusive ways to engage with your weddings guests? Or maybe the idea of flinging your undergarments at your Great Aunt just doesn't sit right. In any case, we've got plenty of thoughtful and inclusive alternatives to throwing your wedding bouquet and garter.
Over the years, our offbeat readers have surprised us with all sorts of creative and inclusive alternatives to the bouquet and garter toss. We absolutely love how these married folks found a new spin on this old wedding tradition, so of course we had to make a round-up of nontraditional garter and bouquet toss ideas!
Here are 9 inclusive bouquet tossing and garter tosssing alternatives. The last one might be our favorite…
1. Instead of having guests battle it out for a single bouquet, why not give everyone a flower?
I had all my bridesmaids stand with me, and all guests gather in front of us. I gave a little speech, along the lines of…
‘Hello! I had to do things differently, so thank you all for standing for the bouquet toss. Obviously I love marriage, otherwise none of us would be here today. However, I feel that marriage is only one expression of love, and so, my wish for all of you today is: may love come into your life.'
Then my bridesmaids and I all turned our backs to the guests. We had cut the ties on our bouquets in advance, so that when we all flung them above our shoulders, the flowers spread out and could be caught by many people.
Julia
2. Call EVERYONE to the dance floor!
We had our DJ gather EVERYONE on the dance floor (not just ladies) and then we threw three separate “bouquets.”
Suki
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The first “bouquet” was an XL t-shirt with our faces on it. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The second was my partner's boutonniere. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The third was my bouquet! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The three guests who caught these items had to have an epic dance off with each other, and the winner of that dance battle had to battle my partner and I on the dance floor!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
3. An inclusive alternative bouquet toss regardless of marital status!
Instead of throwing the bouquet, we decided to throw a plush cat.
It was announced that whoever caught the cat would be the next person to adopt a cat.
Brittany
4. Free booze makes a great garter toss alternative!
I was less inclined about the whole “garter strip” tradition, so we compromised with a new gimmick: we tied the garter around a caged bottle of booze and let the single dudes try keys to unlock it.
No hiking up the bride's dress, and the winner gets free booze outta the deal!
Diana
5. Throw something they'll actually like — and use!
My friend threw loofas and gave out gift baskets full of bath goodies. The two winners got to choose between a very girly basket and a more neutral-themed one. Another friend simply held a raffle and gave a barbecue gift set.
I was considering doing something similar to the loofa idea with a geek basket. I’d toss something like a plush dragon or baby mooshroom from Minecraft, and give out baskets full of geeky fun stuff like card games, polyhedral dice, lightsaber chopsticks, etc. Not a single one of my friends would be disappointed to get a gift like that.
Ashley
6. Bring attention to a cause you care about!
We’re planning on tossing a stuffed cat (him) and dog (me)!
We wanted to include everyone and we will be announcing that we will make a small donation in the name of whoever catches it to the nonprofit rescue where we got our cat
Kate
7. Make it a low-key activity so your introverted guests can participate too.
We came up with a different way to incorporate the throwing of the bridal bouquet. Because we already had a love lock theme going, we locked the bouquet in a birdcage and got a bunch of random keys. Each of the single ladies in attendance grabbed a key and attempted to unlock it!
Holly
8. Dedicate your bouquet instead.
I vetoed the bouquet toss. Instead, I dedicated it to my grandma who passed away two months before the wedding. That was fairly emotional and one of my favorite moments.
Melanie
9. Fake out your guests with a bouquet toss switch.
Did you have an alternative bouquet or garter toss at your wedding? Tell us about it below!
I love these alternatives! We had a “Get Lucky” toss. We threw a traditional bouquet and garter to “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk. We called everyone to the dance floor and threw the bouquet and garter at the same time to be more inclusive. The rule was whoever caught the bouquet and garter were the next to “get lucky.” (We didn’t have children or anyone under 21 present.) Our friends and chosen family loved it.
I like the cage and the chicken toss! In Germany, the word “Strauß” means both “bouquet” and “ostrich” so many brides now throw a plush ostrich instead of a bouquet 😀