Wedding Favours
With weddings, it's the little details that count and the right wedding favour is the perfect way to say 'thank-you' to your guests for taking the time, effort and expense attending. Some brides feel that their wedding would not complete without favours gracing the reception tables.
The tradition of giving wedding favours goes back many centuries. It is believed that the upper class families in Europe handed out the first wedding favours, known then as 'bomboniere'- a cube of sugar placed inside a small trinket box made of porcelain or crystal and often decorated with precious stones that made a keepsake for the guests. Overtime, other social classes took on the tradition of giving wedding favours to guests. Eventually the 'bomboniere' was replaced with almonds given to guests to signify good wishes for the couple's new life together. People believed that the five almonds represented health, wealth, happiness, fertility and long life. Today, almonds are still a strong contender in the wedding favour stakes.
Nowadays, there are a multitude of suppliers offering a huge range of traditional and novel wedding favours. I would recommend taking your time to look around and find something that reflects your personality and style of the day. From the weddings I have had the pleasure of assisting with, the wedding favours ranged from lottery tickets, miniature chocolates scattered on tables, personalised candles, tins of mints, to bookmarks, chocolate casino coins and embroidered handkerchiefs. One bride even went to the effort of making and decanting her own strawberry lip balm for the women! It went down a storm and the bride was chuffed with her personal involvement and cost cutting exercise.
Your budget is a significant factor to consider when selecting your wedding favours. Favours need not be expensive or elaborate. I find the best are often simple gifts, imaginatively wrapped and presented. If you would rather spend the pounds on other areas of the wedding then that is fine. Whilst it is nice to receive and give a gift, favours are not essential. I have planned weddings where the couples decided not to 'favour' and to be honest the guests didn't even notice because they were too busy enjoying themselves.
Other ideas for wedding favours include:
Favour Boxes - these can be filled with any variety of sweets (chocolates, dolly mixtures, jellybeans, love-hearts) and decorated with ribbons, feathers and flowers to fit with your wedding colour theme.
Candles - seem to be getting more popular and can double up as part favour and part table décor! There are all sorts of candles available.
Alcohol Miniatures- always a popular choice. Miniature bottles of whisky, vodka, port, wine or if you are feeling particularly generous mini bottles of bubbly. There are companies who offer personalised labels that can look stunning.
Toiletries - little soaps, bath bombs, mini bottles of perfume/aftershave all look gorgeous wrapped and ribboned and can be left in baskets on the reception tables.
Flowers - something simple as placing an individual rose or other flower at each place setting or plants potted up in little terracotta pots tied with raffia or ribbon can make for a special favour. Seeds can be repackaged in smart luxurious envelopes and will bring results to be enjoyed long after the wedding.
Biscuits -of any shape, flavour, iced and wrapped in cellophane or just decorated with ribbon make tasty favours. They could also double up as place markings by having the guest's names iced onto on them.
CD's - make up a wedding hits CD for each guest/couple. You could include your favourite songs and music played during the ceremony and first dance tune.
As you can see, with favours, anything goes. The only limits are your imagination and your budget. Wedding favours are a great way to add your style and personality to the wedding day and with so much choice, you are bound to find something that suits.
Celebrity Wedding Favours
Liza Minelli and David Gest - gave their guests heart shaped cookies with the couples names on top
John Stamos and Rebecca Romijn - Stomis created kitschy air-fresheners printed with a 70's style photo of themselves and the words 'our love will last forever'; then had the valets hang them in the guests car
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban gave out the most glamorous wedding favours. They treated their guests to silver Tiffany clocks, engraved with the motto 'A moment in time, June 25 2006 - Nicole and Keith'
Amanda Holden and Chris Hughes -the wedding favours chosen by the bride were a combination of bracelets and silk knickers favours for the girls.
Coleen and Wayne Rooney - it is believed that each guest was given a handmade box tied with ribbon containing a butterfly, which they set free
Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise - instead of favours offered destination upmarket SWAG bags and included everything from monogrammed towels to sunglasses and packed with treats to sweeten the ceremony for the A List guests.
