Today's Wedding Favours

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The practice of the bride and groom giving small gifts or wedding favours to guests as a thank-you for attending their wedding is an old cultural tradition.

It used to be that these gifts were sweets, or bonbonniere, only. Bonbonniere are candied almonds coated with white sugar.

Long ago sugar was very hard to come by, was quite expensive, and was considered a luxury. Only the wealthiest wedding couple could afford to give sugary confections to their guests.

Roman aristocrats would give expensive gifts of nuts and fruit contained within vessels of precious metals, a mark of their financial success.

Today, the tradition of giving guests small gifts as remembrances continues, but the "expensive" part of the gifts is not mandatory, thank goodness, and the gifts need not be made of sugar.

Today's trend is for wedding favours with a tag attached that provides the guest with a written remembrance of the wedding date, the married couple's name, and maybe even a brief thank-you-for-attending message.

If you are one of those married couples that includes a thank you with your wedding favour, remember that this in no way removes the obligation to send a thank you card or note for each gift received, after your wedding.

These days, what do we give our guests as wedding favours?

You have to make sure that whatever gift you select stays within your financial budget. Avoid the tendency to over-gift , as grateful brides and grooms do as they seek to reward their guests for attending their wedding. That's not necessary, and it's certainly not expected.

There are many wedding favours available starting under one dollar per favour and going up...sometimes way up, from there.

Here are some ideas:

~ theme favours to match your wedding theme
~ seasonal favours to match the time of year
~ consumable favours like chocolates or traditional bonbonniere
~ mementoes important to the bride & groom
~ favours that reflect the bride & grooms country of origin
~ something homemade, if time permits
~ make the centerpieces the wedding favours
~ stained glass suncatchers

Whatever you select as your wedding favour do make sure that you have a few extra favours on hand at the reception in case of breakage or unexpected guests.

It's particularly nice when the wedding favours have special meaning to the bride and groom and their guests.

Good luck with your selection.

Sue is an early childhood educator, writer, mother, wife, stained glass artist and still finds time to prepare copy for her wedding planning website: http://www.wedding-rings-dresses-etc.com