General Information:

• Customary Lore (the throwing), Material Lore (the bouquet)
• Language: English
• Region of Origin: England
• Informant: Kathryn Conway
• Date Collected: 5/22/19

Informant:
Kathryn Conway is a 62 year old woman brought up in a Scottish, roman catholic household. She was married in a traditionally catholic wedding in 1986. She worked as a mechanical engineer before retiring in 1997 and she has lived in the northeast of America all her life.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context: Like many other wedding tradition this brings people together for a humerus and fun activity. Typically all adult, unmarried women participate and it occurs at the end of the reception. The event requires very little planning and can be spur of the moment.
• Cultural Context: This tradition shows clear elements of contagion magic. The bride is handing off an item closely linked to her good fortune and married status to unmarried women, in the hope that they too will be lucky. It also brings the bride together with other unmarried women in a group for the last time and separates her from the group she was recently a part of.

Item:

At the end of the reception the bride gathers all the unmarried women and turns her back. She then throws her wedding bouquet behind her and who ever catches it is said to be the next one to be married. Ms Conway did not personally participate in this at her wedding as her bouquet was not real flowers and she wanted to keep it. However she saw it done at many friends weddings and participated. The mood during this is generally jovial and the participants do not take it too seriously.

Collector: Rebecca Conway

Note: this photo is not Ms Conway’s and is a stock photograph.