I know at least 2 couples that had a quicky in the limo on the way to the reception, just in case this happened.

Hee!

Even worse than the garter toss itself -- when he who catches the garter has to put it on she who catches the bouquet. IOW, follow up "The groom is removing the bride's underwear," which at least has the feeble justification that they're married to each other, with "And now a man is putting underwear on a woman who may be a complete stranger."

Though I did see one wedding where it was handled -- well, not tastefully, because that's not possible -- but not as bad as it could have been. The girlfriend of the bride's brother caught the bouquet. Only two other men got on the floor for the garter throw, and for all the competition brother got, groom might as well just have handed him the garter.

When my grandpa came over from Sweden back in 1921, he decided to keep the spelling of the last name Astrom (except for taking away the two dots above the "o"), but changed the pronunciation to something he thought would be easier for Americans to say ("AH-strohm"). He didn't figure on the first syllable being mangled ("ASS-struhm") because he thought that A=AH in English as well as Romance languages. His uncle (who came over a few years earlier) knew differently, so he changed his spelling and pronounciation to Ostrom.

I'm thinking that their hometown was on a riverbank, because "strom" (with the two dots over the o) means "swift-running water," so when last names were acquired in the 19th century, their family apparently decided to use the river/stream for their name.

I just dislike how it smacks of "Catch the bouquet and YOU WIN!!! Your grand prize for elbowing the other single women in the face to catch the flowers? A HUSBAND!!!!"

I was at a wedding once where the bride did the bouquet toss. A space wide enough to drive a humvee through opened along its trajectory. One of the guys swore he could hear, "Not until I finish grad school!" going through every woman's mind at that moment.

Yeah, usually when I've seen the whole garter thing, it was all a total setup for the next couple actually planning to get married.

I think the key might be to drink early (if you drink at all), then switch to soda.

Yup. This is key. At the afterparty at one wedding I went to, the bride walked up to me at the bar, said "I don't feel so good," and then passed out. I managed to catch her before she hit the floor, and then waved the groom over to haul her away to their room at the hotel. He tucked her in, and then came back to the party.

In all the weddings I've been to where my friends get way too far into the spirit of sharing, I've only known of one case in which the option to just sleep a lot was not taken. That one? they watched a game they'd missed due to the whole wedding thing.

About the only time I caught the bouquet, a little kid caught the garter. Someone explained to him what he'd have to do with it, and he shoved it post haste into the hands of the nearest guy.

Who was my cousin, and the brother of the bride.

His sister insisted he put it on me, and mentioned that every inch above my knee counted as a year of happiness for the new couple.

He couldn't make eye contact with me the whole time, and stopped when the bride freaked out.

I thought the whole thing was hysterical, and it didn't bother me in the least.

::makes note of the limo-quicky idea::

I was maid of honor for a friend, and at her reception she all but turned and chucked the bouquet at my head.

The garter was caught by a 12 year old boy. Imagine his surprise when he found out there was more to the game than "catch the thing!" He barely got it over my shoe before he scurried away.

And now I realize I have a lot of wedding stories. And who would have thought one of them would be an x-post with ita?

I swear I just posted here about cheese. Did it like, end up in Technology or something?