Garter Sets??? How do they work?

They come with two usually...a more full and prettier one that will be put first (thats the one you keep) and then a more plain coordinating one that you put on second. Thats the one that your FH will take off you and use in the garter toss

So the one I keep is more like a keepsake?

Yes.

Yep, just another thing to keep in a box. you can wear both, toss one on the bottom so he pulls it off for the crowd then youve got the other on for after the wedding. i'm doing one out of obligation as well. hahaha

This just reminded me that I'm going to have to remind FH (and hope he remembers) to only take off the bottom garter!

Maltese answered the question, but I have one for you: Just who did you let guilt you into doing this?!

It's a personal choice whether or not to do bouquet/garter toss, but for those of us who don't want to - and I presume that includes you - it seems like "Because I don't want to, that's why!" is supposed to not be a good enough, but it IS. Just not wanting to do it is absolutely good enough! If it was anyone other than FH, just forget it... don't mention it, tell the DJ you're not doing it, and then let it go... if someone mentions it at the event, just tell them you forgot, and move on

And if it's FH, then consider this: the 4 hours is going to flyyyy by. So think about whether you really want to spend 15 precious minutes of your event time doing this, when you could be hanging with friends, or dancing, or doing whatever instead of sitting on a chair under a spotlight having your FH reach up your dress to pull off a garter and toss it to his buddies. You will never regret not doing it, but you may regret not having more time with friends or family you don't see very often. That is good enough reason, truly!

If you are getting pressure from BMs or other women in the family, remind them that the whole thing is about superstitions, and you're not superstitious, so you're not doing it!

"The garter tradition originated back to the 14th century. In parts of Europe the guests of the bride and groom believed having a piece of the bride’s clothing was thought to bring good luck. They would actually destroy the brides dress by ripping off pieces of fabric.

Obviously, this tradition did not sit well with the bride, so she began throwing various items to the guests – the garter being one of them. It became customary for the bride to toss the garter to the men. But this also caused a great problem for the bride….sometimes the men would get drunk, become impatient and try to remove the garter ahead of time.

Therefore, the custom derived at having the groom remove and toss the garter to the men. With this change, the bride began to toss the bridal boutique to the unwed girls who were eligible for marriage.

Another interesting custom dated back to the ancient times where the wedding garter represented the virginal girdle. When the groom removed the garter from the bride, this represented the bride’s relinquishment of her virginity.

An Old English custom was while the bride and groom were in their bridal chamber, the wedding guests would sneak into the chamber picking up discarded stockings and throwing them at the couple. Whoever flung a stocking that hung on the bride or groom’s nose, would be the next to marry. http://www.wedalert.com/tale_tossing_of_the_garter/

DH took the second one off in our hotel room. Kinda a special, sexy moment.

He plans on hanging it from the garter of his pickup, like a teenage boy after prom.

So my husband is a police officer and we did this whole thing where i had both my garters on and he handcuffed me, frisked me (lol), found the garter and blah blah blah. and then he never even tossed the garter to anyone...i have no idea where it went but he didn't do anything with it after that lol!

I saw a cool idea on pinterest, that I think we are going to do. We don't have a lot of single guys coming to the wedding, but I'd still like to do this idea, so I found that instead of getting the garter/putting on the girl/they dance whatever have a gift - such as a bottle of liquor. This is a way to get more people involved and be able to do the garter/bouquet toss even if you don't have single people there to participate.

@KaylaP: That is sweet. I like that you guys made that a special moment and that he wants to hang it off his truck. Totally adorable.

The "keep" garter goes on first so that it's on top, therefore the toss garter is easier to pull off.

FH really likes the traditional fun behind it, i think he just wants to be cheered on as he sticks his head up my dress. for the typical worry of doing it in front of family, i have none so problem solved. but we plan to do the garter & bouquet toss at the same time for anyone that wants to get lucky tonight, since we don't have a lot of singles attending.

Wow, I never really knew all the details behind the garter toss. It's still in the air for me as to whether or not I'm going to do it. We don't have many single friends attending but if I do it, I would ask everyone to participate for fun!

We did both the garter & bouquet toss-not a huge deal. DH pulled the garter off (I had moved it to around my knee to make it easy/quick to find) and pointed at my sister's BF, then flung it. Simple & quick. The whole thing (both tosses) was over in under 5 minutes and for the record NO ONE was pressured by the dj or anyone else to participate. And we didn't have the garter put on the bouquet recipient, even though they are a couple. Pic taken and that was it.

Just who in the hell needs 15 min for the garter toss? If it ain't your thing, then don't bother but don't slam others that do keep to silly traditions. That's not playing nice either.

@rynney1979 no one is slamming those that do it. I just feel like I didn't want to make any of my guests uncomfortable to do it. I think it could be a fun idea but I want want everyone to participate without the fact of being next to marry. I want to look at it as a way of gaining to some the bride's luck!

Not aimed at you, OP! The attack dogs have been out in full force lately and it's often difficult to interpret the written word. There are a ton of folks on this site with VERY strong opinions on everything and lord help you if you want to engage in traditional behaviors.

For anyone-do (or don't do) what makes YOU and your FH/FW happy! The sun will still rise the day after your wedding whether you throw a garter, dance with a parent or don't take your intended's last name. But be kind to others who have different views-they're probably lovely people even if they have ideas that aren't what you think are the best.