What is the purpose of a bridal garter?

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"The best man at my own wedding told me that one and it worked - for 15 years anyway, before she left me for someone short, fat and balding, who happened to ..."

Women in general no longer wear stockings with their wedding gowns, thanks to nylons, so garters aren't actually needed. Instead, brides wear garters to celebrate a longstanding tradition dating back hundreds of years.

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1. Early Bridal Garters

   • According to a 2009 article for A Blissful Creation Custom Garters, early bridal garters were just used to hold up the bride's stockings. Sometimes these garters were decorated with delicate ribbons.

   Garter Customs

   • Today's bridal garter customs, such as tossing the garter, competing for the garter or auctioning off the garter, actually evolved from several garter customs, such as taking undergarments from the bridal chamber for luck and stocking flinging, that were popular a few hundred years ago, according to A Blissful Creation.

   Witnesses

   • In the 14th century in many European cultures, marriages needed to be consummated on the wedding night to be considered legal. According to HCC Designer Garters, friends and family of the couple would accompany them to the bridal chamber and retrieve a bridal garter as proof that the marriage was consummated.

   Luck

   • Anything worn by the bride is considered "lucky." According to A Blissful Creation, in the 14th and 15th centuries guests would often invade the bridal chamber to try to get a piece of the bride or groom's clothing, especially garters or stockings for good luck.

   Garter Tossing

   • Over time, customs changed and brides and grooms started giving away their undergarments rather than waiting for them to be removed from the bridal chamber. Eventually, grooms began tossing the garter out of the bridal chamber so no one would come in to get it, explains HCC Designer Garters.

   Stocking Flinging

   • Another tradition popular in the 1700s was to throw the bride and groom's stockings to wedding guests, according to A Blissful Creation. Then, unmarried women would try to fling the groom's stockings back to him, and men would do the same for the bride. If the stocking landed on the bride or groom's head, it was a sign of luck.

Source: www.ehow.com

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