Monday, February 22, 2010

And The Winner is... and History of the Garter


Congrats! In March, we will be doing an even better give away to make up for our missed February! 
In the mean time, Here is a little History of the Garter.


"Tossing the wedding garter is an old  time held tradition.  It is said that in the days gone past, the bride and groom had to  show proof of their wedding consummation.  In order for it to be proven, it was common tradition to have people like family and friends come into the room with the couple.  The "witnesses" would obtain the garter as "proof" of the consummation.   Also having any article of the under garments was considered to be good luck so sometimes things would get out of hand in the newly wed's bedroom as crazed onlookers snatched at clothing to get for good luck.  This was not appreciated much by the bride nor many grooms, hence the groom started tossing the garter out so that no one would need to obtain it themselves. 
( How barbaric this sounds! glad things have changed since then)  

 
 

Because of modesty, this tradition has been modified and moved from the bedroom to the reception.   Now today we have the traditional garter toss, which is meant to bring good luck to the man who catches it.  He is said to be the next one to marry.  In some cultures the men stand and wait for the garter to be tossed.  Other cultures they actually compete for it.  The men may compete for the garter in a foot race or by horse (this is a medieval practice).  At least it is better than having the men chase the bride and put her upside down to get the garter off... This is what used to happen!  In yet other places, they even auction the garter off.  As strange as these twists on the wedding garter tradition may sound, it's all just a tradition.  Take it or leave it. 
or should I say "Take it or Toss it! "


Are you participating in this tradition? Why or Why not? What was your deciding factor?
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Monday, February 1, 2010

Give A Day- Get a Day: GREAT HONEYMOON MONEY SAVER

I'm sure you have all seen the Muppet commercials where they are building a house with Jamie Denton from Desperate Housewives. Well these commercials have ignited a spark so I went to the website to see what it was all about. When I got there, I quickly realized there were 200+ volunteer opportunities in the Middle Tennessee area. WOW! As I begin looking through them one particular stands out to me. Project Linus is a nationwide charity that provides blankets to children in times of dismay. Some of the most noteworthy that PLN provides to are:

Monroe Caroll Jr Children's Hospital
Vandy NICU
TN Dept. Of Children's Services
Ronald McDonald House
Wilson County Fire and Rescue
and many more.

Now you're probably thinking what does this have to do with wedding planning.. WELL IT DOES!

You see James has never been to Disney World nor Florida and that is where we are honeymooning. Being a Budget bride myself, this is a GREAT way to not only give back to your community, but also get a FREE TICKET TO DISNEY which saves $45 each! That is $100 we can put towards something else!

So, what do I want other blogger brides to do with this information? I want you to check out the website, and find a way that you can volunteer.

2010 is the year to pay it forward and do something for others!

Happy Planning!

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