DO ME A FAVOUR
8 Wedding Favour Ideas
Wedding party favours have become such an established part of the occasion that they almost seem compulsory. The origin story is a little unclear.
Some records have favours dating back to the 16th century in England where bridal couples would give lacey ribbon “love knots” to their guests.
Some records indicate that the English can’t lay claim to the invention of favours but rather show that they stretch back even further than that to the 8th century in Italy when Victor Emanuel of Savoy married Elena of Montenegro and handed out favours of solid silver to their guests. In those early days, only the nobility participated in the practice. I mean, I doubt many peasants had a little silver laying around let alone enough for all the guests.
It wasn’t until the end of the 19th century that the practice made its way into common practise among all classes. The lower class who obviously couldn’t afford expensive gifts would hand out things like almonds in little boxes.
Of course, though they seem like a necessary tradition, it’s up to each couple whether or not they want to go to the hassle of preparing and presenting favours, but they are definitely a nice touch. Here are a few ideas.
HONEY POTS
I saw these at a recent Wedding Expo. What a sweet idea. You can label the jars with the couple’s names or use them as a place holder by individualising each one. Hive come to bee-lieve that this is a great idea.
CAKE IN A JAR
As above I also saw these on display at the same expo. A tasty and attractive favour that guests can eat on the ride home, as a midnight snack or as a hangover breakfast. Essentially, the guests will be taking home a piece of you! It will really cake their day.
AFTER DINNER MINTS
Dress up a roll of mints for guests to pop in their mouth after they’ve been consuming tuna tartare and garlic sticks. Let your guests feel that when you said thank you, you really mint it.
LOLLY BAGS
I have fond memories of going into the local dairy (corner shop for the non-Australasians,) as a kid and asking for 20 cents worth of lollies. The shop attendant would put a mix of gummies, liquorice allsorts, boiled sweets etc. into a small white paper bag. You could create a buffet styled lolly spread and guests could fill their own little bags to take home. This is probably one of the cheapest, but most fun and colourful suggestions on the list. There’s no sugar-coating how sweet a gesture this is.
STUBBY HOLDERS
When your guests have returned home and are relaxing on the couch with a beer or Pepsi Max in hand while watching the footy, they’ll be holding a memory of you and your big day. Nawww. I can hardly beer it.
TEA
Tea is classy. A good herbal tea blend can also provide a colourful favour. You can box the blend, jar it up or even, as is the case in this pic, squeeze them into a glass vial! It’s also a subtle way to tell your guests that it’s time to leaf.
BADGES
We did this for my granddad’s 100th. That was 3 years ago and though he’s now been gone a couple of years many of us still have a badge adorning a denim jacket, bucket hat, bag etc. Pin this idea into your brain bank so that your memory is pricked when the time comes to create favours.
SOAP
Think about it; a wedding goes for a few hours. There is often waiting around in the sun, mingling, dancing, sometimes a fair drive home… a nice warm shower at the end of it all is exactly what is called for. Now your guests can be thinking of you when they lather up! Umm… So yeah. You’ll be soaper-heroes.
This blog article with its dirt dry puns was written by Nate Hamon.
