Wedding favors are as ancient a tradition as weddings themselves. As simple as candies or as elaborate as miniature golden carriages filled with rose petals, these token gifts for those who attend a wedding have become a big industry. These gifts, gestures, really, of appreciation to the guests from the marrying couple, are such a small detail, but can make such a large impact on those who receive them. In the past wedding favors were, on the whole, simpler objects, but as our cultures changed, so did all the things that comprise our culture...down to the details of wedding favors. Nowadays, there is an ever-growing range of wedding favors available for couples to give their guests, and it’s not just an American phenomenon: From country to country, wedding favors have become big business.


The concept of wedding favors has long been there in the human civilization and changes have occurred as times changed. The wedding favors in the older times were far simpler but they did have that unique touch to them which made the favor a special thing for the guests who attended the weddings. The wedding favors are a gesture of gratitude towards the guests, friends, and relatives who attend the wedding ceremonies and grace the occasion. Today there is a wide range of wedding favors available for couples to give to their guests and the sheer demand for them has given birth to the wedding favor industry in the world. Although the wedding favors vary from culture to culture, the idea behind it is common across all cultures.

The Tradition of Wedding Favors

The tradition of wedding favors dates at least as far back as the aristocracy of the Europeans in medieval times. These rich Europeans aristocrats lavished their guests with fancy wedding favors called bonbonnieres. Bonbonniere is a French word that means a bauble or a small box with attractive ornamentations on it, and this little box was generally made of porcelain, crystal, or even precious stones.  The aristocracy would then place little gifts within these ornate boxes, often sugar cubes or other such confections.

Since sugar was a rare and expensive item in those times it symbolized the status of aristocracy.  By giving a gift of sugar to their guests, the message was clear: We are well-off, look at what we can give away. Of course, as sugar become a common household commodity, it lost favor amongst the aristocrats, who then began favoring almonds and other expensive nuts. Later, confetti became popular. It’s interesting to note that modern weddings often make a nod to their aristocratic past by giving sugared almonds as a wedding favor.

If there’s one key difference between past and present wedding favors, it’s one of personalization. The aristocrats’ goal was to impress people with their wealth. The trend among modern couples, however, is the custom creation of gifts that bear the personal touch of the families and the couples. What better way to truly say thank you for thinking of us, than to give out thoughtful, meaningful gifts. It makes all the difference.

Personalized Wedding Favors

The centuries old tradition of the wedding favor has now been transformed into personalized, custom-made wedding favors. Although these personalized favors can be expensive, it’s not done to impress, but simply to show gratitude through personalization. First and foremost, these personalized wedding favors come with the name of the happy couple, often engraved somewhere. The date is also included, along with a short phrase summarizing the love of the couple, and their feelings for the guests. Inevitably, the gifts themselves are structured around a photo of themselves. Interesting to note, too, how many couples include their pets in the photo. A personal touch indeed!

These personalized wedding favors can reflect the wedding themes, for example the beach, or spring, as well as reflect the colors of the wedding itself. Couples can have wedding favors personalized for their beach wedding with products called Adirondack chairs, which feature tealite candles or a personalized heart-shaped bottles decorated with sand and seashells. Couples can also personalize their summer or spring wedding with favors that feature wild daisy flowers or cute flower hearts. Couples can also give edible wedding favors. Tiny bags of coffee or even chocolate bars can be personalized, now, as wedding favors. How about a wine bottle with personalized label? In that vein, glass wedding favors, or customized champagne chutes have also become a mainstay in personalized wedding favors.

Yes, personalizing one’s wedding favors can become an expensive ordeal, but when done right, the gifts can be a treasured memento.

Why Give Wedding Favors to Guests

Although the aristocrats gave wedding favors merely as symbols of their wealth and power, that isn’t to say that wedding favors today still can’t carry with them some symbolism. They do.   There is, of course, the inherent symbol of gratitude that all gifts carry. But beyond that, wedding favors such as the giving of five Jordan almonds are symbolic of things like health, wealth, long life, fertility, and happiness which are the most important things in a happy marriage. Giving sugared almonds can be construed as recognizing that in marriage there can be bitterness and sweetness.

Beyond the purely symbolic level, wedding favors often have practicality to them. Whether its a bottle of wine, or a box of candles, these gifts are to be used, not just admired. Though there certainly are wedding favors which are purely decorational. Still, that’s a function, isn’t it? Couples have given beautiful framed pictures of the beach where they had their first date, or a vase from the glass-blower at the county fair where they first met. Wedding favors are ultimately about the memories.

Wedding favors are also a great ice-breaker. Often there are guests at a wedding who know only a few or even just one of the other guests. But a creative wedding favor can open people up, and have guests mingling. Imagine giving, say, five different photos to each person at the wedding. People would then approach one another excitedly, “Let me see the ones you got!” Or how about giving different candied nuts to the guests. People will mingle and share.

Truly the bottom line in wedding favors is to give a thoughtful Thank You to all the guests who took the trouble to attend your wedding. Give a touch of symbolism, a dash of practicality, a touch of personality and love, and your guests will remember your wedding for a lifetime.

Many different wedding traditions have developed over the years in the Christian church.

There’s the tossing of the bride’s bouquet and the removal of the bridal garter. There’s also the tradition of the wedding cake and of course, the tradition of the wedding ceremony itself.

Most of these traditions have been around in some form for many centuries. However, few traditions that are held during Christian weddings today have developed in popularity as quickly as the lighting of personalized unity candles.

What Are Personalized Unity Candles?

Personalized unity candles are the candles used during the unity portion of the wedding ceremony. At that point in the ceremony, the bride and groom light a unity candle together to signify the melting of their lives into one being.

The unity candle ceremony itself is comprised of two long taper candles and the bigger unity candle. The mothers of the bride and groom will both light one of the taper candles before the ceremony begins. Then the bride and groom will each take the taper candle that their own mother lit and light the middle unity candle.

After the unity candle is lit, the bride and groom either blow out their candles to signify that they are completely one now, or they can place them side-by-side with the unity candle to show that they are one, but still retain their individuality.

Personalized unity candles have increased in popularity as the wedding industry continues to boom. Personalized unity candles are unity candles that have some sort of personalization added to them by the marrying couple. Personalized unity candles can have anything from their names to a favorite quote inscribed into the candle. The couple can then save this as a reminder of the most important day of their lives.

What is the History Behind Personalized Unity Candles

The personalized unity candles have really come into popularity within the past thirty years, unlike other wedding traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. It is not known if unity candle ceremonies were originally created by Christians. However, Christians are the religion now known for this ceremony.

Unity candle ceremonies were further popularized by a popular daytime soap opera in the early 1980’s. After the unity candle ceremony was performed on the show, many newlyweds-to-be expressed an interest in this ceremony and its popularity continues to grow to this day.

Make Your Wedding About You

Ask any wedding planner, and she will tell you to make your wedding about you and your future spouse, not anyone else. You can partake in tradition, or you can create your own. What is most important is that you let your wedding day go down in memory as the best day of your life. Don’t let someone else, like popular culture or your family, dictate what your wedding will be like.

If you are looking for an idea for baptism party favors, why not try personalized candy wrappers?

Personalized candy wrappers make great baptism party favors for several reasons. They are unique and can be personalized with the child's name and date of baptism. On the back of the candy wrapper, could be a thank you statement such as: "Thank you for sharing this special day with us." You could also put a popular christening poem or a cute "nutritional label" on the back.

Personalized candy wrappers also make great baptism party favors because they are inexpensive, but still very tasteful and impressive. They also make a fantastic keepsake of your special event. Also, lets face it, everyone loves chocolate and your guests will love receiving them. They can save the wrapper, but eat the chocolate!

Usually these baptism party favors can be purchased as fully wrapped candy bars or you can purchase just the candy wrappers themselves, then purchase the candy bars and wrap them yourself. The best option depends on how much you want to spend and how much time you have. You will obviously pay more for the fully wrapped candy bars and you will also pay more in shipping costs as your package will weigh more. Make sure that you check the shipping policy of the company that you order from and know what your shipping charges are going to be up front.

Another thing that you will want to be sure of is that you are getting foil sheets or envelopes with your purchase. The new style packaging of most of the popular brands of candy bars do not have the foil ends anymore. Therefore, you have to recreate the classic look by wrapping the candy bar in foil first, then putting the personalized candy wrapper over the foil. Otherwise, the plastic ends of the packaging will stick out and it will not look as nice. It is important to note that the foil is placed over top of the existing packaging so the actual chocolate itself is not handled.

Another consideration if you want to order fully wrapped candy bars is to check to make sure you are getting the brand of chocolate that you want. Make sure the company does not use an off-brand that may not taste as good!

If you want to have memorable baptism party favors for this very special occasion, then personalized candy wrappers make a wonderful choice.

You can personalize your wedding ceremony with your own wedding vows. The freedom of creating your own vows comes at a price; you have to work at it. Although writing your own personalized wedding vows can be a difficult and rewarding, there are many things you can do to make the process easier.

First of all, you should make sure that you and your groom are in agreement on having personalized vows. Then, you have to discuss it with your wedding officiant. Most officiants should have no objections to the idea. The wording should be in line with the style of the ceremony, and it is going to be different for a traditional ceremony than a modern ceremony. If you elected to have a religious ceremony, you may be required to include certain phrases. You and your groom may write the same vows or work on different vows on your own.

Remember from your term paper writing days? Brainstorming may be the best approach to start? Write down the words and thoughts you must have in your vows. If you encounter writer's block, you may read several traditional vows to look for ideas. You can start by swapping out some of the words with words you feel more comfortable with. Write down what kind of commitment marriage means to you. Try to put your thoughts into words. Don’t worry about grammar and spelling at this point. The goal is to try to be creative. Some of the questions you could ask yourself in the process are: What are my expectations of my partner? What are the qualities that are important to me? What it means to be committed to one another? What does marriage mean to me?

After you have a first draft, you should consult your wedding officiant. Your friends and your family may be able to help you fine tune it too. Then, be prepared to rewrite. Some of the best writers are famous for writing and rewriting their best work dozens of times. Rewriting is not a sign of failure; it is a sign of perfection.

Remember that your wedding ceremony is also a performance, so you must practice your vows with your groom. Once you hear it, you may have a different opinion on the words you have used. Practicing provides you with an opportunity to make final adjustments.

So it`s over now those famous words have been spoken ending the perfect wedding service - I now pronounce you husband and wife. Then we have the perfect wedding dress on the bride as the solo photo shoot takes place while the perfect groom looks on with pride. Perfection ends with a perfectly organised Wedding Venue. If all your plans were carried out accordingly to your specific requirements of having the best of everything then there is no need to worry.

The Wedding Venue where your reception is to take place is just as important as any other part of your wedding plans. The rave begins on the night of the wedding where guests party into the night and dance till dawn (depending on the venue) Gatherings can be large or small depending on your guest list so therefore the size of the Perfect Wedding Venue has to be carefully thought through.

Ask friends and family for advice on local venue halls as they may have attended parties in the past which puts them in a position to answer your questions in general - like the size - seating capacity if any and what rules and regulations have to be adhered too.
Case the joint so as to speak if you go to view - your perfect wedding venue will have a feel about it that you are either happy with or not - go back a second time if need be.

Don`t rush matters and take your time before making any decision. A wedding is a very important occasion so let us get it right from the beginning. Plans to find your Perfect Wedding Venue can take time so advanced planning is a necessary step. Twelve months before the marriage is to take place is when the search should begin. What you have to remember is there maybe other events going on at the same time as your wedding who may also be interested in the same building or hall that you have your eye on. So bear in mind the early bird catches the worm.

Very important is the size so it is wise to consult the guest list before making any reservations. Your wedding venue will not be perfect if to small and if to big then that may incur unnecessary costs which could be put to another good use like more spending money for the honeymoon.  It is understandable that precise numbers can not be given at the time of booking due to the fact that some guests may not be able to attend on the night - but it is best to go off approximates so that you don`t lose the venue though hesitation of uncertainty.

If a live band is to play the music at your wedding venue then please do yourself a favour and check out the dance floor and stage size. Also it is vital to check the clubs rules on the music.
See if the venue you have booked can accommodate your guests with allotted parking areas. Your guests maybe travelling from out of town to attend the event. As with any venture when booking a hall for whatever the occasion - be sure to ask as many questions as possible. There maybe restrictions regarding music and closure times for particular areas where your perfect wedding venue is being held.

Before sprucing up the hall with decorations highlighting the occasion remember to ask permission, check if the wedding hall will allow you to personalize the room by bringing along your own caterer, florist.  

There have been many upsets at weddings where the supposedly perfect wedding venue turned out not so perfect after all. But there you go not all of us are perfect when it comes to making the right decision so if in doubt get out and find someone who is more clued up on how to house hundreds of guest while they have a ball.