Catching the bouquet at a wedding is supposed to come with one fairly harmless consequence: everyone joking that you’ll be the next person to get married. For one 15-year-old, it came with a considerably more uncomfortable wedding tradition.

Years ago, she attended a small-town Pennsylvania church wedding with her grandparents, who had helped make the entire celebration possible. The bride and groom were relatively new to the congregation, and church members had generously pitched in with money, decorations and planning to give the couple a proper wedding.

At the reception, the teenager was perfectly content sitting beside her grandmother when the bouquet toss began. Grandma wanted her nowhere near it, but after some encouragement from the pastor’s wife and the bride, she eventually allowed her granddaughter to participate—with strict instructions to stand in the very back.

The teen had no intention of actually catching anything.

Unfortunately, the bride apparently had quite an arm. The bouquet sailed directly into the girl’s chest, leaving her little choice but to grab it.

And that’s when Grandma realized catching some flowers was about to become the least awkward part of the tradition.

the one and only time i ever caught a bouqet

For a bit of background information as to how I knew these people; I grew up with my grandparents who were regular attendees of the Methodist Church in a very small town in rural PA.

One day, a young couple randomly appear at the churches door steps and ask to not only have the wedding at our church; but also pay for it. Now the to-be Bride and Groom were both drunks so the church was wary that they were being taken advantage of.

My grandparents were ready to jump at the idea with full go power and help them out; so as a compromise the pastor said we would do it, if they could commit themselves to being a part of our Fellowship.

Fiar enough.

After two months of attendance, the wedding plans were finally under way. I remember the church and my grandparents graciously dipping into their own personal wallets just to decorate and throw together this wedding for these two newbies.

The church had been struggling for Fellowship since it’s really rural PA so they were super excited to have new Members join our church.

On the day of the wedding, two pews up, I notice the strong odor of skunk. It’s emiating off of a guy who looks rough for wear, jumping around in his seat anxiously or excitedly.

Uh oh…

Every few minutes he would return back outside by leaving the wedding and come back smelling stronger of skunk and seemingly more calm a bit. I recognized the signs of addiction and paid him no mind.

After the wedding in the fellowship hall for the reception, the Bride was getting ready to toss the bouquet – per tradition.

“Cmon, minuscule (my real name obviously being censored)! Cmon!” The pastors wife beckoned for me to join in on the catching of the bouquet. “No. You stay right here.” My grandma demanded that I stay sat right next to her, because again, I was 15 and she didn’t want me participating in that.

Well, she has a point.

The Bride caught wind of what was happening between me, my grandma, and the pastors wife; so she said “cmon, Miniscule, it’ll be fun.” My grandma caved to the peer pressure and said “fine but you stand in the way back, far away from everyone else.”

Despite us being in an indoor, small fellowship hall, the Bride tossed the bouqet with what felt like the force of God himself.

I dare didn’t move or attempt to catch it because my grandma would’ve accused me of “doing too much and being too involved”.

Good for you.

However the bouqet landed, smack dab in the center of my chest, I had no other option but to grasp my hands around it. Everyone cheered, and I was happy to just have a pretty bouquet.

Then the Bride took off her garner and the Groom tossed it to a crowd of men. Out of everyone in attendance who could’ve caught it, the jumpy skunk man (who may have been on other harder stuff) caught the garner.

Now I know this next part is controversial, and not everyone does it, but apparently they did it!

Oh no they didn’t.

I went from admiring my acquired bouquet to suddenly being beckoned to the center of the reception hall to sit on a chair. My grandmother is anxiously jumping out of her seat at this point, she knows what’s going to happen.

The crowd starts cheering, laughing and clapping rhythmically, they play a song my anxiety tunes out because I am so nervous, and mr. skunk man presents himself at my feet.

He’s going to put the garner on my leg.

Oh. My. Goodness.

He starts to work his way over my feet with the garner, I cover my face of pure embarassment and shyness. Now, even to this day, people don’t believe I am 24. I am always told I look a bit older or they expected me to be older when I reveal my age — ouch.

Needless to say, minus my grandparents, and a few of the church members still in attendance at the reception, no one else really knew I was 15. Not the Brides family, not the Grooms family, not the Bridal party and certainly not the photographer who was happily snapping away pictures as I dug my hands into my face for what felt like forever.

“She’s jailbait!” I hear my grandmother anxiously screaming at Mr. Skunk, warning him not to go too far because she definitely will lay him out and expose him infront of everyone.

HAHA.

Bride and Groom had a rough marriage and ended up divorcing. Needless to say, I have a photo of me and the Bride at her wedding, but I don’t have a photo of this — anymore, luckily. It did exist.

All I have as far as concrete proof that this happened is just my grandmas word until she passes away. But ever since I caught the bouquet, no. I wasnt the next one married. I’m not even engaged currently, but I am in a relationship.

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That’s the last time you’ll see me catch a bouqet at a wedding, I got reversal bad luck or something and must’ve shared that with the Bride and Groom.

There are wedding traditions that are probably better left in the past, and having the man who catches the garter put it on the woman who catches the bouquet certainly makes a strong case for the list.

The teenager hadn’t even wanted to participate in the bouquet toss, much less volunteer for whatever came afterward. More importantly, she was 15. Most of the people at the reception apparently didn’t know that, including the man who caught the garter, so it’s hard to blame him for initially going along with a tradition everyone around him was actively encouraging.

Still, the mental image of a mortified teenager sitting in a chair while a room full of adults claps along—and Grandma starts shouting that she’s “jailbait”—is enough to make anyone reconsider mandatory audience-participation wedding games.

Thankfully, the moment seems to have become more of an absurd family story than anything else. The photographic evidence is apparently long gone, although Grandma can still verify every horrifying detail.

And despite the bouquet’s supposed predictive powers, it didn’t exactly work. Nearly a decade later, its reluctant catcher still hasn’t made it down the aisle.

Considering how that reception went, maybe the flowers decided they’d already done enough.

This person just thinks these traditions stink.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman whose family says she’s selfish for not wanting strangers living in her trailer.

This person says this is both funny and chaotic.

And this person is, well, kind of embarrassed…

She caught the bouquet without even trying, and immediately learned why Grandma told her to stay in her seat.