Are Wedding Favors A Modern Tradition?
A wedding is a special time in the lives of the happy couple and their friends and relatives. The planning involves a lot of excitement with choosing the wedding outfits, transport, flowers and reception places that the bride usually needs some extra help from her friends and family to get everything done. Friends and relatives will be happy to help you.
There are extra duties for the members of the wedding party – matron of honor, bridesmaids, best man and groomsmen. Their duties include assisting the bride and groom attend to all the details that go together to make the whole day special. They are also responsible for helping the bride and groom and seeing that the proceedings all run smoothly.
Wedding favors, which are really just small gifts of appreciation for wedding guests and attendants, originated in early European times when wealthy aristicrats would present each other with gists of sweets to celebrate special occasions like marriages. These were known as bomboniere, which means, quite literally, small box of sweets. The early bomboniere boxes were designed using gold, crystal and gems and jewels. Sugar was an expensive luxury item in these early days, and so only the wealthy aristocrats could afford to give such gifts.
During the 13th century, the tradition of giving sugar-coated almonds developed as sugar became more affordable. Traditionally, the number of almonds is symbolic – the five almonds represent health, fertility, happiness, longevity and wealth. The combination of sweet outer coating and more bitter taste of the almond is significant because it represents the bitter-sweet nature of marriage.
This tradition gradually changed to the five almonds being prepared for the wedding guests, and the guests’ gifts to the bride and groom became more varied and expensive. During the past brides-to-be made family trips lengthy ranges in order to purchase wedding cake. This bomboniere tradition still exists, but may be known as wedding favors or guests gifts. The tradition of the five almonds bomboniere is still laive today in many countries; they are presented in small boxes or net bags which are decorated with lace and ribbons.
The gifts given to guests these days tend to be more elaborate than the traditional five almonds. Popular amongst modern brides and grooms are champagne glasses, pens, scented candles or small picture frames with the couple’s photo. An old bridesmaid would be a excellent lady to ask for advice about bachelorette Party Ideas or bridal shower gifts. These can be personalized with the names of the couple and the date of their wedding. the gifts are given as a token of appreciation for the person’s involvement in the wedding and are often intended as a reminder of the occasion also.
There are lots of ideas that can be used for these gifts of appreciation and they don’t have to be very expensive. A search on the interent will yield pages of results for website specializing in wedding favors and bomboniere in different price ranges. Whether you buy them online or just get some ideas from these websites, you will be inspired by what you can find.
Some brides also make their own wedding favors. Go online to a stationary supplier and you will find different designs of little boxes. You can decorate the outside of the box with a symbol of your wedding and put some chocolates inside. To finish off your beautiful wedding favors, add a gift tag with each guest’s name, and then tie it up with ribbon that co-ordinates with your theme for the perfect bomboniere. You might even decide to make the chocolates yourself, if you are that way inclined.