Kollade gurun Wikipedia angående detta (fanns noll info på svenska):
"There is a European wedding tradition for a bride to wear a garter to her wedding. As part of this European tradition, towards the end of the reception, the groom will remove his new wife's garter, which he tosses it to the unmarried male guests. The symbolism to deflowering is unambiguous. Historically, this tradition relates to the belief that taking an article of the bride's clothing would bring good luck. In the Middle Ages, the groom's men would rush at the new bride to take her garters off her as a prize. As this often resulted in the destruction of the bride's dress, the tradition arose for the bride to surrender articles of her clothing, which were tossed to the guests, including the garter. Nowadays, the privilege of removing the bride's garter is reserved to the groom, while the bride will toss her bouquet."
Så tydligen en europeisk tradition, dock inte uttalat svensk.