5 Reasons To Skip The Bouquet & Garter At Your Charleston Wedding

It's YOUR wedding. You are free to have as much fun as you'd like at YOUR wedding. In recent years, I've noticed some of the fun traditions like the bouquet and garter toss fading away in their popularity. The bouquet and garter toss, once staples at most Charleston weddings has been a steadily dying tradition.  Why is it dying? Perhaps, there are just some weddings where it just doesn't fit into the personality of YOUR guests? It's always been an optional "fun" activity to inject into your wedding. It's also always been my recommendation to throw both of them in the minutes after the dance party portion of your reception has begun. I can't quite put a handle on the origin of how or why these traditions have faded in interest. Maybe couples are seeing them as a little campy or cheesy? As we wrap up 2017, I am prepared to say that 60% of brides and grooms are opting to scratch the bouquet and garter toss. Read on to explore some of the main reasons that you might not want to do the bouquet and garter toss at your wedding.

You Want To Keep Both Your Bouquet & Garter
Lets' face it. The bouquet is pretty expensive. It's pretty. The garter may not be as costly as a nicely designed bouquet, but it's personal and private and the bride might just want to share that with her new husband only. 

Do You Really Want Your Husband Up Your Dress?
The entire act of removing your garter while listening "Ignition" by R. Kelly or "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye or even "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins might sound fun, but step outside of the situation briefly and look at what is really happening here. The brides father and grandfather are watching her new husband go up her dress around 100 - 150 people. I guess it also may depend on how traditional or conservative you and your family are, but also keep in mind that children could also be there.
You Don't Want To "Single" Out The Singles
If you are a bride and groom who simply don't have a lot of single friends, it's tough to see only 2 or 3 single women or men out on the dance floor fighting over a bouquet or garter. It's much more fun when you have a larger group of singles to try and fight for the bouquet or garter. And perhaps if you do have a shortage of singles, those singles might be a little shy an don't want the spotlight on them. The decision to do the bouquet and garter toss is a wedding by wedding decision, and you should do whatever feels comfortable to you and your guests.
Maybe The Bride And Groom Are Both Shy?
Perhaps you are one of those couples who really don't like the spotlight on them? Of course the spotlight is on the bride as the groom goes up her dress. The best solution here would be for the groom to possibly remove the garter in private.
Doing The Bouquet & Garter Toss Can Kill The Flow Of The Night
Whenever I am assisting with the creation of a timeline for a wedding, I always try to plan the special events of the night so that they don't get in the way of the dancing. For instance, you could come out of your dinner with your toasts, then cut your cake, and then let the dance party begin. But where would you do a bouquet and garter toss? Usually within 30 minutes of the dance party beginning is a good time because people haven't quite gotten in their groove yet. If you wait too much longer, you run the risk of the bride possibly losing her bouquet and the dance spent finding it could be more time to devote to dancing the night away at your Charleston wedding.  Stopping to do it 1-2 hours into the dance party portion of your wedding reception would be a definite momentum killer.
A Safer Alternative And Less Cheesy?
I've read over some websites in preparation for putting this blog together and there might be a safer (more tasteful) alternative to bouquet and garter toss. You might try an anniversary dance. Basically what an anniversary dance entails is all "married" couples are called up to the dance floor, and then one by one each couple leaves the dance floor as the DJ calls out the most recent marriage. For instance, the couple that has been married the shortest time (the bride and groom) would leave the dance floor first. Then the DJ will proceed with the dance and announce those couples married for 5 year, 10 years, 15 years, 20 year etc to leave the dance floor. These announcements are made until only one couple remains on the dance floor.
If you Still Want To Do The Bouquet & Garter At Your Charleston wedding, here are the Top 10 songs of each that have been commonly requested in recent years.
BOUQUET TOSS
1. "Single Ladies (Put  A Ring On It)" (very cliche and not advised) - Beyonce
2. "Dear Future Husband" | Meghan Trainor
3. "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" | Cyndi Lauper
4. "Man! I Feel Like A Woman" | Shania Twain
5. "Where Them Girls At" | David Guetta / Flo-Rida / Nicki Minaj
6. "Wannabe" | Spice Girls
7. "Run The World (Girls)" | Beyonce
8. "Move B***H" | Ludacris Featuring Mystikal
9. "It's Raining Men" | The Weather Girls
10. "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" | Pat Benatar
GARTER TOSS
1. "Pony" | Ginuwine
2. "Another One Bites The Dust" | Queen
3. "Danger Zone" | Kenny Loggins
4. "Let's Get It On" | Marvin Gaye
5. "Hot In Herre" | Nelly
6. "Pour Some Sugar On Me" | Def Leepard
7. "Sexyback" | Justin Timberlake
8. "Sharp Dressed Man" | ZZ-Top
9. "Cherry Pie" | Warrant
10. "Foxey Lady" | Jimi Hendrix
Conclusion
 The most important thing to take from this post is you need to do what you feel comfortable doing. You should communicate these feelings to your wedding planner and DJ as you begin to lay out the timeline for your wedding day. If you are ready to begin laying out the music the music for your Charleston wedding, then let's talk soon. I love to talk to brides and grooms about music and I would love to DJ your wedding. Thanks for finding my website and blog and I look forward to meeting you in 2018. Click HERE to tell me a little more about your special day.