Wedding Favours – Bonbonerie

 

Wedding favours have evolved from a centuries-old tradition, it is believed wedding favours first originated amongst the French aristocracy and upper classes, who would gift porcelain or crystal trinket boxes filled with sugar or confectionery, named bonbonnieres, to their guests.

Evolving into sugar coated almonds, they are used as wedding favours for very specific reasons. Almonds come with a bittersweet taste, which is thought to signify life’s ups and downs. The sugar coating highlights the wish that the couples married life will be sweeter rather than bitter. If you want to be faithful to wedding traditions, there would be five sugar coated almonds of different colours representing each of the couple’s wishes: love, health, happiness, fertility, and long life together.

We can all remember receiving small keepsakes gift when attending weddings. Whether, the traditional sugar-coated almonds, or a unique/quirky item, wedding guests will take home their wedding favour after your big day is over as a memento or keepsake of the day. Wedding favours hold special value as they are a token of appreciation from the bride and groom saying “thank you” to your guests for being part of your special day. But often these quirky items fail to capture the attention of wedding guests and are often left on the tables at the end of the day. One way of ensuring that your wedding favours can attract your guests is to offer them unique wedding favours. Wedding favours usually go unnoticed in many weddings; this is because too little effort and time is devoted to this important part of the wedding day. If you want to include wedding favours on your as part of your big day and want to ensure that that they get noticed, make sure that you choose something that is completely different, really pops and gives value. Your choice of wedding favours is left open to your imagination. Generally, if the gift is one that you’d like yourself and would be sure to take home, then your family and friends will likely be of the same opinion. These can be created yourselves, or there are an unlimited number of companies to offer these services as party of their corporate gifting business.

How to get started….bride with cup of champagne in her hand

Firstly, decide upon a category to best reflect your style or values, such as Trinket, Edible, Organic, Natural. Once this decision has been made, then look to the corporate gifting world for further inspiration. From this point you will be equipped to set your budget and choose whether to go down this road or group together with the wedding party and friends to make your own. Making your own will certainly give you greater opportunities for creativity and uniqueness.

 

Consumables / Edibles

This category is unlimited. Select your consumable, choose suitable packaging, and decide upon any labelling. Labelling traditionally includes the bride and groom name with the wedding date.

Beyond, traditional sugar-coated almonds, trinket boxes of chocolates, these could include monogrammed chocolates or home make chocolates in shapes like love heart or X & O’s to representing hugs and kisses.

Other edible or consumable trinket box or jar ideas, honey, biscuits, tea, coffee, hot chocolate mix, popsicles, monogrammed lollies, Himalayan pink salt.

What’s in a bottle, Mini champagne bottles or beer bottles with personalised labels. Infused Olive oil or vinegar blends.

Keeping it Natural

This may be as simple as selecting organic produce for your edible or consumable wedding favours with a more organic style to packaging.

Some non- edible natural ideas: hand-made soaps, olive tree sapling or another potted plant. Using the plantable seeded paper or card for wrapping the wedding favours or for name cards or menus with a personal message from the bride and groom can serve as take home wedding favours.

Personalised Trinkets

This category is more closely related to the corporate gifting. There are countless companies offering an extraordinary number of possibilities.

You may select a gift which can be part of the table settling such as serviette rings, glassware, candles, drink coasters engraved or printed with the wedding details.  Some may select a mix of his and hers, like a handheld fan for her and a keyring bottle opener for him both with printed or engraved wedding details.

Printed T-shirts, tea towels, calico bags and labels for your gifts also offer personalisation and well as a natural element.

So, have some fun. Let your imagination free. Socially speaking, it’s highly likely your friends will share is your interests and values, stay with your personal likes and interests and you’ll create a winning wedding favour.

By Nicola Hazzell