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Wedding Favors

Everything you wanted to know about wedding favors including history, etiquette, trends, types and cost.

The Complete Guide to Wedding Favors

History of Wedding Favors

Historically, very little is documented about the history of wedding favors. We know that giving a token of appreciation was popular among European aristocrats, who distributed bonbonnieres to their guests. Traditionally, a bonbonniere was a small trinket box crafted from crystal or porcelain and often decorated with precious stones. The contents inside the box were usually sugar cubes or sugar confections, which at the time symbolized wealth and royalty. As the price of sugar decreased over the course of the decades, sugar confections were able to be afforded by the lower classes and bonbonniers were replaced with sugar covered almonds.

These sugar coated almonds are known across the world and have various names: drage, confetti, leb'es, koufeta, or the more well known term, Jordan Almonds. We find the earliest mention of these sugar coated sweets in 1487, as it is documented that over two hundred pounds of this treat was consumed during the wedding of Lucrezia Borgi and Alfonso D'Este. son of Ercole I, Duke of Ferrara. However, it was not until the 18th and 19th centuries that this treat became widespread among Europeans.

Traditionally, Jordan Almonds are distributed as wedding favors in odd numbers. It was believed that because odd numbers were indivisible, the marriage would be undivided. Five almonds would be given out to each guest to signify the following: health, wealth, happiness, fertility, and longevity for the couple. Superstition further dictates that because almonds have a bittersweet taste, by coating the almond in sugar, the wish is for the marriage to be more sweet than bitter.

Picture of Jordan Almonds

Wedding Favor Etiquette

Emily Post, a leading authority of etiquette puts wedding favors into perspective, "wedding favors are a charming custom but are in no way required or expected." Wedding favors are exactly that, a wedding custom or tradition, much the same as tossing the bouquet or wearing "something blue". Although it is a delightful custom, they are not required such as a wedding invitation is.

However, many couples choose to distribute wedding favors as their token of their gratitude. In today's modern society, couples send out their wedding thank you notes months after their nuptials, due to waiting to include their wallet sized thank you photos. Proper etiquette dictates than thank you notes should be sent out no later than four weeks after the event. By distributing wedding favors, you are essentially thanking your guests for attending without having them wait for a thank you. However, wedding favors should not replace the proper thank you notes, but should be an addition to them.

The Wedding Favor Industry Market

The wedding favor market is continually changing and evolving. Just like wedding fashion, what is popular one year, may not be popular the next. Based on this, many popular manufacturers of wedding favors introduce new wedding favors to the market often several times per year. Manufacturers release wedding favors based on seasonal demand, new items for the year, redesigned items of previous years' best sellers, and new favors based on wedding trends.

For modern and trendy couples, this ever changing marketplace is a trendsetters delight. No longer do brides have to worry about giving the same gift as other newlyweds did in their circle of friends. All a bride needs do is check out any number of wedding favor websites for new items to find the latest and greatest favors for today.

When to Purchase Wedding Favors

A couple should purchase their wedding favors when they have a good idea of what their head count is for their wedding. Usually, this number will be around a month before their wedding date. It is recommended that couples purchase their wedding favors no later than three weeks before their event date to ensure the favors are received and inspected. This allows for adequate lead time, in transit shipping time and time to replace any damages or irregularities received.

In the case of edible favors and food products, couples should purchase these items about one month before the event to ensure maximum freshness.

Personalized Love Notes, Notebook Favors

Where to Purchase Wedding Favors

Wedding favor and accessory physical retail shops are not as widespread as believed. Although you may find a few retail locations in your area, they more than likely will not carry the extent of wedding favors which are available online. Online vendors typically carry more items in their online storefronts than could ever be possible in a retail store. However, the only drawback is you will not be able to see, feel or touch the items beforehand.

Dress Sachet in Boutique Designer Window Box

The Cost of Wedding Favors

Wedding favors need not cost a fortune. The cost of the wedding favor may be quite inexpensive, with small favors starting at about fifty cents and more expensive favors costing several dollars apiece. The couple should choose their wedding favors based on what they can reasonably afford, and based on what they would like to give.

The average wedding favor purchase is in the one to three dollar range, and the average couple spends one hundred to two hundred dollars on their wedding favors. Remember, if you are having one hundred guests, with forty couples and ten single guests, you only need to purchase fifty favors and therefore may be able to afford to purchase something more expensive.

The cost of wedding favors varies from product to product and from manufacturer to manufacturer. If quality is essential to you, remember, quality is reflective of the retail price. Most retailers are price their products appropriately and the quality of the wedding favor will reflect such.

Types of Wedding Favors

Couples in today's market have a plethora of wedding favors they can choose from. The wedding favor should reflect the formality of the wedding and the personality of the couple. Some couples choose "themed" wedding favors, which would reflect the theme of their wedding, such as a beach themed gift. Some couples choose a wedding favor to match the colors of their wedding. Other couples may choose to give a practical gift such as a keychain, whereas other couples may want to give something personalized to commemorate their day.

Types of wedding favors include:

Bath or Soap favors

Candles

Silver bells

Personalized beverages such as coffee, tea, hot chocolate and cocktail mixes.

Crystal items

Edible gifts such as chocolates, truffles, cookies, candy and Jordan almonds.

Personalized favors such as mint tins, glassware, playing cards and pens.

Photo frames or photo holders, which also double as place card frames and holders for the wedding seating assignments.

Practical wedding favors such as kitchen gadgets, key chains, bookmarks, luggage tags and coasters

Wine and barware items such as bottle stoppers, bottle openers and wine charms

Personalized Candy Jar Wedding Favors

Popular Wedding Favor Trends

Each year brings new and exciting trends to the wedding favor marketplace. Since 2007, the most popular wedding trend is personalization. In 2007, we saw an increase in couples wanting to place wedding favor tags, labels or ribbons with their names and date on their favors. In 2008, this trend developed to couples creating their own unique monogram design to placing their new monogram on items. The personalization trend continues today, with personalized items and personalized attachments such as tags, being as popular as it was when it first began last year

Another increasingly popular trend is eco-chic weddings and eco-friendly wedding favors. More couples today are mindful of harming the earth's natural resources and are choosing wedding favors which make a minimal impact. All natural items, earth friendly gifts and recycled products are a fashionable and instyle. Manufacturers are just picking up on this trend and we predict that this will be the trend to follow for weddings in 2009 and beyond.