When most people picture a modern wedding, the bouquet toss appears as a lighthearted, playful ritual. Single guests gather on the dance floor, the music swells, and the bride throws her flowers over her shoulder. Whoever catches the bouquet is playfully declared the next to marry. The moment is usually cheerful, choreographed, and carefully photographed. Yet this cheerful custom did not begin as a romantic game. Centuries ago it was a practical and sometimes frantic act of self-preservation.

In medieval Europe, especially during the fourteenth century, a bride was widely believed to carry extraordinary good luck and fertility. Guests wanted a physical piece of that fortune to take home. At the end of the celebration they would crowd around the newly married couple and literally tear at the bride’s gown, ripping off scraps of sleeve, veil, or skirt as keepsakes. In the worst cases the bride was shoved and bruised while her expensive dress was reduced to tatters. Faced with this recurring chaos, couples devised a clever distraction. The bride would hurl her bouquet into the surging crowd. While the guests scrambled and fought over the flowers, the groom would quickly guide his bride to safety. Once inside the bridal chamber he would open the door just wide enough to toss out her garter as a second lucky token, giving the couple a few precious moments of privacy.