A Brief History Of Wedding Favors

Small gifts, trinkets or tokens which are given by the newlyweds to their invited guests at the end of the ceremony or even during the reception, they are called wedding favors. Usually, they are tokens of appreciating for their presence during the special day of the couple.

The giving of wedding favors is a very old tradition. It is widely believed that the first ever practice of giving wedding favors was done by old European aristocrats, nobles, and members of the elite and upper class. At first they called a wedding favor a bonbonniere, which is Italian for favors.

Before, bonnbonniere were commonly placed in a tiny box, the size of a trinket or jewelry box that was created by porcelain, crystals, and with added expensive gems and stones, at times. Delicate confections such as sugar and sugar cubes filled these boxes oftentimes. These give the thought of being rich. The main reason why they choose this kind of craftsmanship is that before, sugar was very rare and costly. Basically, only wealthy, noble and the elite people could avail buying these. However, as time passes by and sugar became just an ordinary thing, people from the lower class were able to buy it for their own. In effect, the practice of giving wedding favors and other presents as a sign of gladness influenced people and even couples who belong to the middle class.

Soon bonbonneries were being replaced with almonds due to the prices of sugar decreased over the ages and became more affordable to everyone. For many centuries, it was common to distribute almonds as wedding favors amongst wedding guests to symbolize the prosperity of the new couple’s life together.

Sugar coated almonds known as confetti were soon introduced in the thirteenth century. Over time confetti then evolved into sugared almonds, and then became known as the modern day wedding favors that were distributed in weddings today. It was tradition to have five Jordan almonds to be presented in a confection box or to be wrapped in beautiful fabric. Each almond is meant to represent wealth, health, fertility, longevity, and happiness. One reason why almonds were used, aside from being a bit expensive, was that the bitterness of the almond and the sweet candy coating represent the bittersweet union of marriage.

In the present time, those things given during the wedding including tokens are known as wedding favors. These things mean that friends are wishing all the happiness of the newly wed.

In today’s world, part of the activities at the wedding reception is the giving of wedding favors and this is being practiced in United States and Canada. The size as well as the shapes of the gifts must blend with the theme and the motif of the wedding including the season. If you prefer to have the king of wedding favors as classic, then you can have sugared almonds, individual chocolates, mini cakes and candles. Recently, a lot of people have vast options for what to give guests like the giving of tokens with the picture of the couple and their wedding date engraved on it. There are still other means and ways of giving wedding favors, just choose the one that really suits to the couple.

Weddings are such joyous occasion that everyone participating in the wedding entourage are excited to experience its preparation. You can begin with wedding favors that will display a stunning effect on this big day. Or you may want to try baby shower favors.