The tradition of tying shoes to the back of the couple’s car stems from Tudor times. Back then, guests would throw shoes at the bride and groom. If they or their carriage were hit, it meant good luck was bestowed upon them. In Anglo Saxon times, to establish his authority the groom symbolically struck the bride with a shoe. Brides would then throw a shoe at the bridesmaids to see who would marry next. Makes you appreciate the bouquet toss, doesn’t it?
Throwing old shoes after the bride is a sign that authority is being transferred from the bride’s father to her new husband. A variation is for the bride’s father to throw her shoe after the groom as a token of his surrender of his daughter.
