The Garter Meeting: George Stoll
George is part of the furniture at this neighborhood outdoor cafe. I do not think I'd be exaggerating to say he spends many hours here practically every day. We 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).
I will quote Wikipedia - since it is succinct with the definition:
A garter is often worn by newlywed brides. It is the groom's privilege to remove the 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. Another superstition that has circulated is the male equivalent of the bride throwing her bouquet to the unmarried ladies, i.e., the unmarried male wedding guest who successfully caught the garter was believed to be the next man to be headed to the altar from the group of single men at that wedding.
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 brides 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.)
Liz was especially resistant to the idea of having anything taken off of her leg and anything that resembled this ritual. We all agreed it is offensive and out-dated, but 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 - to amp it up, so to speak. Zippers, ribbons and pearls were materials in the discussion, but I won't give away specifics of his immediate ideas. They will brew and the conversation will be a fascinating road to the eventual piece. Again, I was filled with gratitude for the intelligent and thought-provoking talk, as well as the obvious chemistry amongst those at the table.
Here are a couple of pics from the meeting. I didn't record it for transcription, since it never would have been clear enough with the sounds of the street, but I do wish I could remember every word. Liz was sitting next to me, thus difficult to get a good shot of her... But, I make up for it with the capturing of these expressions:
