Throughout history, wedding favours have become an important part of marriage celebrations around the world. The tradition of wedding favours dates back several centuries and symbolises the appreciation of the newly united couple to their wedding guests for sharing with them such a special occasion in their lives.
Wedding favours around the world are as diverse as the cultures surrounding them. The type of wedding favours that have been used in weddings depends a great deal on the culture of the families of the bride and groom. For example, in Switzerland, traditional wedding favours are red handkerchiefs while in Malaysia, the favours are decorated hard-boiled eggs. In Japan, wedding guests are highly respected and it is not uncommon for the bride and groom to offer their guests expensive “hikidemono” or parting gifts. Less expensive are the kohaku manjyu, round steamed buns with bean paste filling, which are often presented in pairs to guests, one red bun and one white bun.
In China, tea is an integral part of an engagement and traditional wedding ceremony. To honour their elders, the bride and groom offer cups of tea as a gesture of respect. The contemporary bride and groom may choose to incorporate this ageless ritual during the ceremony by serving tea to the parents and the new in-laws. Couples can also offer tea to guests in the form of unique wedding favours that celebrate this tradition.
Without a doubt, there are some similarities amongst many of the traditions. For instance, it is quite common for several cultures such as French, Italian and Greek to provide each guest with a wedding favour that contains five Jordan or the Sicilian Avola sugared almonds. Each almond represents one of the five traditional wedding wishes: health, wealth, happiness, fertility, and longevity. The almond has a bitter taste and the sugar coating is sweet representing the bitterness and sweetness of life. The sugar coating is added to ensure that the newly weds life is more sweet than bitter. Whether the favour holds five or more almonds is not important; the significance is the odd number of sugared almonds or chocolates that is indivisible, so the newly weds should share everything and they too should remain undivided.
Today, gifts to wedding guests are shared in cultures worldwide. Wedding favours have become a part of wedding reception planning and they are diverse, ranging from the classic sugared almonds in tulle favours to contemporary, box or bag favours with the couple's names and the wedding date. Printed ribbon is a chic way of personalising wedding favours.
While wedding favours are not as crucial as say, the wedding cake, they are a wonderful way to thank the wedding guests and give them a lasting memory of the wedding. A couple should definitely think about giving favours if their budget allows for them. Favours do not need to be extravagant or expensive…it really is just the thought that counts.
www.frenchfavors.com French Favors specialises in the online sale of wedding, baptism and communion products: boxes dragees, tulles, bags, ribbons, printed napkins, sugared almonds, chocolates and wedding accessories (rose petals, feathers, butterflies)
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