Alternative to the traditional bouquet toss?

M&MJK

I will be close to 40 when I get married, and I hate the bouquet toss tradition.  It stopped being fun (and started being humiliating) shortly after college.  It just felt like one more way to make sigle gals like me feel out of place and under a microscope for not having a date at the event.  I refuse to follow the tradition of using the bouquet toss as a means to determine the next woman to get married.  I have found a more private tradition for the single ladies who want to take part.

When I told my FI this he kind of balked.  We are having the garter toss, but his reaction was that you can't have the garter and not the bouquet.  I am sure his will not be the only response of this sort.  So now I am looking for a twist to the traditional toss.  Perhaps I will throw the bouquet, but I need another tradition to attach to it. I would even be willing to say we had decided to start something new.  Something that doesn't single out the single ladies.  Because, let's face it, at this stage of the game it is no longer fun.  It's just embarrassing.

ericaandtom2012

You could always do an anniversary dance.  All of the married couples go out on the dance floor with the newlyweds and the dj calls out number of years married (1, 2, 5, 10, 15, etc) and couples leave the dance floor unless they have been married longer (you and your new H will stay the entire time).  The couple that has been married the longest receives the bouquet and shares advice with the new couple for a long marriage. 

DBean00

I skipped the bouquet toss as well.  No one likes it.  Usually its a bunch of girls forced to go out on the dance floor and they just let the bouquet hit the floor.  No thanks!  Although I really did want to play Beyonce "All the single ladies" if I did do it

We did an Anniversary dance insteadand I didn't even wear a garter.

CleverThought

I'm not doing a garter toss, nor a bouquet toss. We're doing the anniversary dance as aforementioned.

I've also heard of a "luck toss" where all women are invited and the one who catches the bouquet is said to have good luck for the following year.

Lisa50

Don't have the bouquet toss and skip alternatives.  No one will miss it.  I promise.

JaxInBlue

We also did the anniversary dance - no bouquet or garter toss.  But I like the idea of inviting everyone to the dance floor if you really want to do one.

Soon2BeMrsTing

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_customs-traditions_alternative-to-the-traditional-bouquet-toss?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:36Discussion:52f54630-6ed2-484e-ba1b-b8749b5d6a28Post:46c7ed45-5655-4e95-b14a-5b44d1a55648">Re: Alternative to the traditional bouquet toss?</a>:
[QUOTE]Don't have the bouquet toss and skip alternatives.  No one will miss it.  I promise.
Posted by Lisa50[/QUOTE]

This.  I was thanked for not tossing my bouquet. 

SpartanCat

You could give your bouquet to your mother, new mother in law or even grandmother as a thank you for bringing you up and so on. Or get one of the breakaway bouquets and give it to both your mom and MIL. I think I'm going to do something similar as I don't have many single friends.

Another person's suggestion that I thought sounded kind of fun was to have all the married men and women get on the dance floor and the bride and groom arrange them by order of years of marriage and see who can finish first. The woman who is married the longest gets the bouquet and gives a piece of marriage advice to the man who has been married the shortest who gets the garter. It sounds fun, I think, but then the single people still get left out as they aren't involved so I don't know if I'll do that.

Meghannsix

I saw something on here the other day, instead of single women, have all the married men out on the dance floor.  Whoever catches the bouquet has some nice flowers to give to his wife.  I thought this was a cute alternative!

mia888

These days, single ladies are not even interested in catching the bouquet. But one variation made to it is to throw away single stem roses/single flowers and whoever is left without any rose/flower in her hand gets the bouquet - and this will surely encourage *active participation.

But then in your case, I guess you can just give your bouquet to a dear friend or a woman you want to honor and skip the bouquet toss.

good2Bqueen13

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_customs-traditions_alternative-to-the-traditional-bouquet-toss?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:36Discussion:52f54630-6ed2-484e-ba1b-b8749b5d6a28Post:0da8e323-74c4-4aeb-8719-8bc92ca356e4">Re: Alternative to the traditional bouquet toss?</a>:
[QUOTE]I saw something on here the other day, instead of single women, have all the married men out on the dance floor.  Whoever catches the bouquet has some nice flowers to give to his wife.  I thought this was a cute alternative!
Posted by Meghannsix[/QUOTE]

<div>I think we'll probably do the Anniversary Dance at our reception, but I do like the "Married Men" idea because I would adore watching the "winner" give the bouquet to his lovely wife.</div>

DyeHardBride

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_customs-traditions_alternative-to-the-traditional-bouquet-toss?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:36Discussion:52f54630-6ed2-484e-ba1b-b8749b5d6a28Post:0da8e323-74c4-4aeb-8719-8bc92ca356e4">Re: Alternative to the traditional bouquet toss?</a>:
[QUOTE]I saw something on here the other day, instead of single women, have all the married men out on the dance floor.  Whoever catches the bouquet has some nice flowers to give to his wife.  I thought this was a cute alternative!
Posted by Meghannsix[/QUOTE]

<div>Totally inspired! Now we are going to have to choose between the anniversary dance and this one. I think the pictures of both would be incredible!</div>