September 1, 2009

Hi Everyone, and welcome to September! Dare I say that the weather was a bit cooler today? I need to watch my words, we will probably get hit with another heat wave to make us want for the cooler days of August! Plus, Stan tells me that Erika has been named, and currently we here in the Low Country are in the feared "cone of destruction" according to the Weather Channel. We will pray that the storm weakens and doesn't do any damage anywhere.

So, I was thinking about all the little traditions and rituals that make up the weddings of today. The bride and groom feeding each other cake. The something old, new, borrowed and blue, and then there is the throwing of rice or birdseed, and the most famous I would think, the tossing of the bouquet. When I was younger and attended weddings, I thought this was the most exciting and fascinating part of the wedding reception. Though I was never in the running being a young gentleman, I always took great interest in the young ladies lining up to snag the flowers, hopefully insuring that they wouldn't end up old maids.

I have placed a pic above of the bouquet carried by Princess Diana, the ultimate and definitive bridal bouquet... in my opinion. The bouquet was designed and created by Mr. David Longman of Longman's Ltd. of London. David's father, Martin, designed and create the bouquet for Princess Elizabeth (Queen Elizabeth II) for her wedding to Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh in 1947. Now, I can't imagine the princess being able to lift this bouquet over her head, much less tossing it to a crowd of eager young ladies. Perhaps, the British, or the royals simply don't practice this wedding ritual.

Sometime in the '70's, I remember seeing a second bouquet or "tossing bouquet" or "throw away bouquet" used so that the bride could keep her bouquet for memories sake. I think that was a wonderful idea, being is that I and many of my family are really into keeping and cherishing mementos. When my mother tossed her bouquet away, it just so happened that her sister, my aunt caught it. (This fact is chronicled in the front of Mother's wedding album!) So, the bouquet found it's way back to my mother, then she kept it in the attic for many years. During my years as a floral designer I was asked to make literally hundreds of "tossing bouquets". Most of them were smaller versions of the real bouquet, and others, for budget sake were made of whatever flowers were left over once all of the wedding order had been completed.

It's a great tradition, and I like to still see it happen at weddings today. It gets a lot of the quests involved, and helps all of us remember that happiness will continue on to someone else. The bride gets to toss a little happiness on to someone else. So, the other picture is my Mother tossing her bouquet from behind the cake table in the social hall of Grace United Methodist Church in Savannah. This picture always made me laugh as it appears that the young lady on the end of the lineup, my cousin Merna, has about 10 arms... interesting picture.

Royal Wedding Tidbit of the day... You know the borrowed? Well, Princess Elisabeth's "borrowed" item was a diamond tiara that was on loan from her grandmother, Queen Mary, the wife and consort of King George V.