 |
Wedding Favours;
|
An old cultural tradition has now become standard practice at most weddings these days, and that is the giving of small gifts or wedding favours. These favours or bonbonniere are given by the married couple to wedding guests as a thank you for attending their wedding celebration.
A brief history lesson:
In early times, refined sugar was expensive and was considered a luxury. Wealthy Europeans could afford to give sugary confections to wedding guests as favours or treats. The early Roman aristocracy could also afford to give expensive gifts of fruit and nuts in containers of precious metals to their wedding guests, and they did. These days, the tradition of giving continues, but the expensive part is not mandatory, thank goodness.
Sometimes wedding favours have a note or tag attached to them with the married couple's name, the date of the wedding and maybe even a short thank you message.
These favours should in no way act as a thank you card for gifts that guests have brought for the couple. A personal thank you note should still be sent after the wedding.
What to give your guests as favours is totally up to you.
Making sure you keep within the limits of your budget, there is a wealth of possibilities from which you can choose, starting in price from under a dollar per favour and going up - sometimes way up - from there.
Always have a few extra favours on hand in case of breakage, or in case you discover other people you'd like to give favours to. (I remember one wedding where the photographer made a big fuss about how lovely the favours were and there was an extra one there to give to her as a thank you.)
In my experience, it's nice when the wedding favours have meaning to the bride and groom and their guests.
Here are fourteen ideas (yes, I keep adding new ones) to keep in mind when looking for suitable, meaningful wedding favours:
1) You could choose a favour that is in keeping with what else is happening at your wedding. For example, if you are having a theme wedding, let's say a Green or Eco-Wedding, you might want to consider giving your guests plants or tree seedlings complete with planting instructions, which would be in keeping with the theme. (Keep in mind when purchasing plants or seedlings that some of your guests might live in an apartment where a tree could not be planted. An alternative for these guests - plants in a container for the balcony - would be appropriate.) If you're having a destination wedding, something from that country, like a bottle of vanilla in a basket of sea shells from the Dominican Republic, would be a fun choice.
2) You could choose a favour that is in keeping with the season.
For a fall wedding, how about a small wicker basket with a couple of apples, a cinnamon scented candle and a recipe for apple crisp? A winter wedding could have crocheted snowflake decorations or a snowdome as favours. Gift baskets with seed packets would work for a spring wedding and coasters with summer scenes could be used for a summer wedding.
3) Keep your favours small and/or consumable or practical or something that will be a simple memento of the day.
Again, this takes your guests into consideration. Not too many people want "clutter" as a gift and everybody has different tastes. Something that takes up a lot of room in one's house and is not to your guests' taste may end up at garage sales.
Consumable favours, like chocolate or candy, and favours that can be used up, like candles, don't have memento value, but will be just as appreciated as favours that will serve as a reminder of the day, like picture frames or glasses. You could combine consumable, practical and a memento, like giving small vases with flowers in them, or "Mark and Sarah's favourite cookies" on a cookie plate.
Wedding favour continues right here.
From wedding favours back to home page.
To Top
