The Garter Meeting: George Stoll
George is part of the furniture at this neighborhood outdoor cafe, so we met him at his home away from home. We all got right into the discussion springing off of our mutual distaste of the ritual of the groom taking the garter off of the bride's leg (sometimes with teeth).
Wikipedia:
It is the groom's privilege to remove the newlywed bride’s garter and toss it to the male guests. The symbolism to deflowering is unambiguous. Historically, this tradition also relates to the belief that taking an article of the bride's clothing would bring good luck. As this often resulted in the destruction of the bride's dress, the tradition arose for the bride to toss articles of clothing to the guests, including the garter.
and from thegartergirl.com:
The wedding garter is said to be one of the oldest wedding traditions, dating back to the Dark Ages. After the wedding festivities, guests would accompany the bride and groom up to their bedroom to ensure that they arrived safely and to wish them well. It was considered good luck for a guest to take home a little piece of the bride’s clothing. Over time, this ritual evolved into a wild wedding night romp where guests would tackle the bride, ripping her clothes off hoping for a piece of her attire. (It is also said that wedding guests did this to “help” the new couple along)
Over time, this ritual evolved into a wild wedding night romp where guests would tackle the bride, ripping her clothes off hoping for a piece of her attire. (It is also said that wedding guests did this to “help” the new couple along.)
Liz was especially resistant to the idea of having anything taken off of her leg and anything that resembled this ritual. George brought up an interesting way of thinking of the approach. To point out a ritual's ridiculousness could be most powerful if you were to exaggerate the content of the ritual. He suggests making it bolder, obvious and more sexual - amp it up. Zippers, ribbons and pearls were materials in the discussion. His ideas will brew and the conversation will be an interesting road to the eventual piece.
