You might know of the infamous male equivalent of the bouquet toss called the garter toss. During the reception, the groom kneels in front of his new bride and removes the wedding garter by hand or with his mouth. The garter is then tossed to a waiting crowd of bachelors gathered around the groom.

As in the case of the bouquet toss, the bachelor who receives the garter is believed to be the next male to get hitched. In some ceremonies, the bachelor may even put the garter on the leg of the bachelorette who manages to catch the bouquet.

Aside from being a great way to get your groom off his chair during the reception, you can also use the wedding garter to incorporate something blue into your wedding outfit. With a blue wedding garter, you can satisfy the traditional wedding rhyme that goes: “something old and something new, something borrowed and something blue”.

Top Tips for Choosing a Wedding Garter

To help you pick out your wedding garter, we’ve come up with a short list of helpful tips designed to help you find the perfect garter for your wedding.

Tip 1: Remember, the wedding garter doesn’t have to be expensive. A wedding can be an incredibly pricey event. Why would you want to add hundreds of dollars to your expenses by buying a ridiculously expensive wedding garter that your groom will end up just throwing away during the reception?

Of course, in the end it’s really your choice if you want to buy a diamond-encrusted wedding garter, but for the sake of practicality, we’ll simply remind you that nobody will know or even care if your wedding garter costs a mere $10 or a hefty $1000.

Tip 2: Know where to find a great selection of wedding garters. You can look for your perfect wedding garter in a bridal boutique or you can save yourself time and effort by simply looking for a nice wedding garter online.

The perks of actually setting foot in a bridal boutique, high street store or designer wedding store is that you can carefully examine the wedding garters shown to you. The advantage of staying at home and simply browsing the Internet for great wedding garter deals is you won’t have to move a muscle. Simply go from one web page to another to view the different wedding garters offered by online stores.

Tip 3: If you’re feeling creative and inspired, you can create your own wedding garter. You’ll be surprised by the number of nice souls determined to teach future brides the art of creating their own wedding garter. You’ll find hundreds of instructions for how to create a lovely and simple wedding garter.

If you’re gifted when it comes to sewing and you have the time, then by all means sew away to create your perfect wedding garter.

Tip 4: Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be all blue. While most brides prefer pure blue wedding garters, remember that the entire garter need not be blue. A simple blue stone or ribbon is enough to follow that old wedding superstition. If you want a white garter, then go for a white wedding garter with blue accents. As long as there’s a hint of blue, you’re good to go.

If you’re not in the mood to follow tradition, then you can choose a wedding garter in whatever color or design you choose.

Tip 5: Get to know the different wedding garter designs before making your purchase. Wedding garters, just like regular garments, come in different colors, sizes and designs. Popular wedding garter designs include double wedding garters, lace wedding garters, satin wedding garters and silk wedding garters. The choice of garter design is ultimately yours.

You can even opt for cool and outrageous wedding garter designs like camouflage wedding garters, if this is what you like.

Tip 6: If the garter fits, wear it. You don’t want a wedding garter that constricts too much. Aside from the nasty marks a tight garter will leave, you’ll simply end up feeling extremely uncomfortable the whole time you’re wearing your small wedding garter. It would also do you a lot of good to stay away from garters that are more than just a little loose since you don’t want your wedding garter sliding down your leg while you make your way down the aisle.

Remember when choosing your wedding garter to pick one that’s not too loose and not too tight—in short, find one that’s just right.

Want more garter designs? Just watch the video below.