The Bouquet Toss

I have come across many weddings where bridesmaids' enthusiasm level contrasts markedly from that of the brides' when it comes to the traditional bouquet toss. It is believed that the girl who catches the bouquet will be the next in line to get married. Here's a brief history of how the tradition came about:

The bouquet toss originated way back in the day when brides needed an alternative to single female guests tearing their dress apart. Yes, you heard me right, their dress! It was said that since brides are lucky on their wedding day, if you had a memento from the bride, you would be lucky as well. This caused all the single ladies to try to take the closest article to the bride, which would be her dress. Since no bride wants to leave her reception naked, they started throwing their bouquet to get the women away from them. And now we have the formal bouquet toss! (Source: itsabrideslife.com)

Unfortunately, some girls are more shy than others and they just don't feel comfortable making "fools" of themselves in front of so many people. Of course, there are the crazy and sporting AND married ones who wrestle and jostle to get a piece of the action. However, thanks to Deborah (who had similar misgivings on the toss and thus did some research), I come to know about the "ribbon bouquet pull" (not sure about the conclusive name to call it). Basically, there are several ribbons tied to the bouquet and each girl holds one end of each ribbon. The bride will then cut each ribbon one by one and the girl whose ribbon is the last to be cut takes home the bouquet! Voila! An elegant, fun and less athletic roulette. It's a level playing field, I must say.