<p>I had a plan to throw it to my good friend from HS who was one of my bridesmaids. Someone else (I think it was a date of one of H’s friends) caught it. My friend ended up getting married a few months later after finding out that she was pregnant.</p>
<p>My supervising professor’s 7-year-old daughter caught it. There’s a great photo in our album of us both with HUGE smiles. I guess she’s 33 now!!! I don’t think I’ve seen her since the wedding.</p>
<p>I wasn’t a fan of the tradition and would have skipped it but it was “expected” and I would have been considered a party-pooper by H’s family if we didn’t do it. </p>
<p>My younger brother’s GF caught the bouquet (they had just graduated from hs). H’s younger brother got the garter - he and my brother practically wrestled on the floor for it. My brother and his GF broke up a few months later.</p>
<p>My SIL had her reception in a hotel ballroom. She threw her bouquet straight up in the air and shattered a crystal chandelier. I don’t think anyone caught it, they were all too busy diving for cover from the shattered glass raining down.</p>
<p>I was a friend’s bridesmaid 6 weeks before my wedding. I had never caught a bouquet and this was the last time I’d be eligible so we had it plotted that she would throw it straight to me. Alas, her 14 year old SIL dove in front of me and snagged it.</p>
<p>A single friend of mine caught the bouquet. She was well over 6 feet tall. She just reached out over everyone else and grabbed it. No one else stood a chance.</p>
<p>It was my cousin’s daughter, who was about 10 at the time. She got married about 17 years later–to a great guy. Looked at photos to see who caught the garter–garter is in mid air and only two guys even have their hands up–LOL–all the girls were jumping for the bouquet! (Maybe the guys were afraid they’d have to dance with that 10yo girl?) My brother caught the garter–now I remember that he he had it hanging from his rear-view mirror for a time (kinda creepy, considering it came off his sister’s leg. . .) He was the last in the family to get married–about 12 years later. </p>
<p>Thanks for the memories. . .We just celebrated our 25th anniversary and I didn’t even get out the photo album until now. Nice to see pictures of H when he was young, thin, and had lots of hair!</p>
<p>Another NON-fan of the bouquet tossing/garter removing thing – and that was 25 years ago. H and I wanted/had something a little more formal in terms of our wedding & reception.</p>
<p>Recently attended H’s nephew’s wedding, complete with bouquet & garter event. They obviously enjoyed it, which is all that matters. H & I agreed that we still don’t get/like the whole tradition, though. This was the first wedding that D (24) had been to, and she thought it was somewhat odd, too.</p>
<p>Yup another non-tosser…it will be 25 years ago in a week so thanks for causing the memories. In the face cake smashing and bouquet/garter tossing just isn’t H and I or our families. I’m sure the tossing part could be fun in certain settings, but didn’t “work” for us.</p>
<p>We weren’t even going to do the bouquet toss, but our best man was very by the book and he insisted. I refused to do the garter thing.</p>
<p>The reception was at my parent’s house, so I stood on the staircase and tossed it behind me, but there’s an overhang and it hit there then fell straight down. My sister, who of course knew the house, the staircase, and the overhang, positioned herself perfectly. It came right to her :)</p>
<p>EPTR, Your husband’s crazy cousin sounds like my crazy never-married aunt! Maybe they’re the same person and we’re related? Does the crazy cousin have auburn hair and sing very loudly in church, convinced that she has a wonderful voice? Was she furious when a young relative did a family tree and left her cats out?</p>
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<p>The bouquet tossing, in our case, was just for fun. I don’t think anyone really takes it all that serious.</p>
<p>No cake in the face for us. It was the only bite of food we were able to get during the whole reception, so we weren’t going to waste it. ;)</p>
<p>I hate the cake in the face thing. We didn’t do it. And if I had it to do over again, I might have tossed the bouquet but we’d skip the garter.</p>
<p>I’ve never liked the cake-in-the-face thing, or the garter thing, and we did neither at our 1980 wedding, but I like the bouquet tossing.</p>
<p>Kept my bouquet and my garter. My bouquet was so beautiful so I had plans to save it. Unfortunately my cat got a hold of it and ripped it to shreds! I also saved the top of my wedding cake in the freezer and we tried a bite a month later. It was nasty! I’m glad I didn’t save it for a whole year! I still have my garter 23 years later.</p>
<p>Our wedding cake was an Italian rum cake. It was delicious at the time, and my mom froze a few slices and sent them to us on our 1st Anniversary. We took one bite and threw them out - the cake had turned dry and crumbly, but the rum had INTENSIFIED. It was like eating sawdust soaked in cough syrup.</p>
<p>When and where did this “cake in the face” thing get started? I’ve heard of it, but never seen it. Sounds revolting.</p>
<p>^^^^^I’ve never seen it done in person, but I’ve seen it on TV. Seems like an expression of repressed anger to me. I don’t get it either.</p>
<p>I only saw it at one wedding. Which ended in a messy divorce a few years later.</p>
<p>The worst thing that I ever saw at a wedding was when a somewhat heavy girl caught the bouquet and a guy caught the garter. The band had it set up that she would put on the garter that the lucky guy caught and he would take it off with his teeth. When the (jerk) guy saw the girl he refused to do it as did most of the other single guys. The poor girl was left sitting embarrassed in the middle of the dance floor until my friend’s son saw the uncomfortable situation and performed the stupid act. I still feel for the girl.</p>