A Wedding Favors History
November 2, 2008 by gary
Filed under Wedding Products and Accessories
Wedding favors have been widely known for their purpose during a wedding. Each year, manufacturers create different varieties of styles and designs for favors to incorporate in today’s wedding fashion trend. But have you ever wondered where favors came from? I bet couples don’t give too much attention to this question, but anyway let’s just review the history of wedding favors.
Since ancient time, wedding favors have been a part of wedding tradition and etiquette and widely practiced worldwide. From different range of cultures, giving favors during weddings symbolizes good luck from the wedded couple. The practice is believed to have started when a couple gave away biscuits, fruits and nuts for their guests to eat while the ceremony is ongoing. This tradition was then adapted by early European upper society who are wealthy enough to give elegant gifts to their guests such as silks, scarves and incense.
Traditional wedding favors before are somewhat similar with wedding favors today. Keepsakes before come in many forms, shapes and sizes as well. Popular keepsakes they give are figurines, magnets, bottle openers and more. However, mostly the choices are with accordance to the couple’s desire. Some couples want simple gifts to give like candles or elaborate ones like small gift boxes. Gift boxes are called bomboniere by Italians while the French called it bonbonniere, these boxes are usually filled with confectionery delicacies like sugar cubes which are highly valued and quite expensive that time. These gift boxes were not made from ordinary boxes alone, rather they are mostly made from porcelain, crystals or covered with precious stones. Giving bonbonniere wasn’t strictly for wedding celebration alone. They can also be given during other occasions like birthdays, baptism and the like.
Why are wedding favors popular? Because these can make special gifts to give for family members, guests and wedding participants like bridesmaids, groomsmen and more. These may be distributed by the bride and groom during the rehearsal dinner or before the wedding, with sentiment of thanks for assistance they have provided to make the celebration a memorable day.
The tradition of providing gifts for guests is a gesture of gratitude for sharing the time where the couple will start to have their new life together. Today, the gifts given to wedding guests are popularly known as wedding favors and are very basic accessories in any type of wedding. A choice of wedding favors may vary according to the culture, wealth, theme and desires of the couple. Selection of today’s trend for wedding favors are abundant, from a simple place card holder to expensive vintage wine favors. And not to forget one of the hottest and favorite wedding trend nowadays, the personalized wedding favors.
Like the wedding favors given to all guests, there are immeasurable options for special gifts. Typically they may be made specialized to a higher dollar amount and may be engraved with names or monogram of wedding attendees at the party. For formal or traditional weddings, there are personalized wedding favors like personalized coaster wedding favors, candle wedding favors, wine favors etc., while non-formal gifts are ideal for unusual weddings like beach themed or destination weddings.
About the author: Author: Janet R. is an author for a variety of lifestyle issues and topics including weddings. If you’re looking for the perfect wedding gifts and wedding favors to make your wedding extra special! Click the ad for the knot.com to the left and browse their collection.




Shannon Brown on Tue, 16th Dec 2008 9:16 am
Great post on wedding favors. I think many couples have forgotten why they pass out these tokens of gratitude to their guests.
Of course there is a lot of fun favors out there that allow a couple to be creative and give a unique gift all without breaking a new budget that is just getting started out.