General Information about Item:
- Customary Lore (Tossing the garter), Material Lore (physical garter)
- Language: English, Romanian
- Region of Origin: European
- Informant: Morgan Fourdrigniez
- Date Collected: 5-14-2019
Informant Data:
- Morgan Fourdrigniez is 26 years old and originally from Nice, France. He was a part of a traditional Romanian wedding that took place in the countryside near Giurgiu, Romania. Morgan had minimal exposure to Romania or its culture and customs prior to the wedding, which also presented him with his first opportunity to travel to the country. The groom and him are close friends and business partners, jointly running an investment fund together. Morgan was gracious enough to provide the digital records and media documenting the folklore.
Contextual Data:
- Social context: The garter toss is a custom practiced in European and in American weddings. For this one, Theodora (the bride) stood on a chair with bridesmaids supporting her in order for Tudor to dip under her long wedding gown to grab the garter with his teeth. The wedding garter is considered the male equivalent to the bridal bouquet toss, where the man who catches the tossed garter is considered to be the next in line to be married. Most European wedding ceremonies (according to Morgan’s experience with French, Spanish, and Italian weddings that he has recently attended) still incorporate the garter toss, although it is slightly going out of style in American weddings.
- Cultural context: Historically, an important portion of the wedding ceremony revolved around proof of consummation and virginity of the bride, thereby reinforcing traditional conventions of the bride’s worth being measured in her ability to bear children. The garter was at first ripped by guests as a souvenir as the couple passed into the marriage bedroom. Later on, the garter evolved to being what the groom would throw out the bedroom immediately after the deed was done.
Item:
Garter Toss
Collector: Michelle Wang