The Bridal Bouquet Toss of 2007

Let's chat for a second about the bouquet toss at weddings. I am a true believer that bouquet toss recipients should be the single girls (meaning those not engaged or married). While I can't find that Emily Post ever documented that in the etiquette books, I think it's only fair to let the single ladies have a shot. After all, the girl who caught the bouquet was supposedly the next one to get married, right? And if you're already engaged, do you really need to steal that fun hope of marriage from a single girl? I think not. The engaged girl already has her wedding in motion.

I did not toss a bouquet at my own wedding because the majority of our friends/guests were married, and I didn't want to make anyone single uncomfortable. However, I always enjoyed participating in the bouquet toss at friends' weddings...at least until I became engaged myself.

I digress...let's return to November 2007. We are in Auburn at my friend Ruth's wedding. Hunter and I have been dating for over 3 years and dadgumit, I'm ready for that ring! That said, this bouquet toss was my shot. I was going to get the bouquet and then clearly engagement would be soon following...

My friend Ruth recently shared these pics from her wedding and I had to post. Those of you who know me well will laugh...you can see my wee-bit competitive side here. :)

Here Ruth has tossed her bouquet. I was positioned well and going for the gold. Shoes were off and my hands are out. I'm a shoe-in, right? Clearly the other girls were not as ambitious. Except for the girl on the left-hand side of the picture, Ruth's SIL-to-be. She thought the bouquet was hers. Notsomuch. Oh, and you guessed it, she was engaged and planning a wedding that would take place 6 months later. So not cool...

Well, that little weasel took a few steps forward and we both fell to the ground in the hot pursuit of those pretty white petals. I was fighting hard...

And I got all of it but one flower. You can see here below our friend Leslie helping me off the ground. You can see the flowers in MY hand. You can see the one measly rose bud in Kanthi's hand...and a few others lost to the dance floor.

Why do I post this, you ask? For giggles. I thought the pics were hilarious. And I'm sure at least one other girl out there can relate to the drama of an engaged girl attempting to beat her out of the rightful single-girls tradition.

Aside from the mortification my poor mother felt that her 26 year old daughter was full-out on the floor, my story finished happily--we were engaged less than 3 months later. You better believe that once that ring was on my finger I didn't stand in for one more bouquet toss. I had to pass the torch on to others. :)

Here is the bride sharing a few laughs with me following my tussle on the floor.