Wedding Favours

Traditionally bomboniere were small bags containing five sugared almonds symbolising health, wealth, happiness, success, and fertility. Today they come in a wide variety of materials and colours. Sugared almonds - health, wealth, happiness, success and fertility

Often favours are personalised with the bride and groom's first names and wedding date, you could also slip in an extra gift or token, a wedding joke or quote for guests to share, or a short personal note thanking your guest for coming and helping make the day special.

Consider co-ordinating the colours with your wedding theme, for example if it's white and blue, you could put alyssum and lobelia into a small pot ... or use white and blue ribbons, tulle, organza or cellophane for wrapping.

Depending on what you choose your favour can be a memento for your guests to take home and keep, be an important part of your table decoration or theme, add to the fun, and serve as place-cards for a seated meal.

Favours are normally given to the guests at the wedding reception, either one for each guest or one for each couple.

You can buy favours for your wedding or, if you're feeling really keen, you can make them yourself. Think twice about making your own though - after the first few the fun can go out of it!

Ideas for favours

Growing things

• A small plant in a pot

• A personalised packet of seeds with growing instructions

• For a winter wedding, a spring flower bulb (if you were feeling keen you could add a growing container and medium)

Goodies to eat and drink

• A small cellophane bag of home-made heart-shaped biscuits (you could ice initials or messages onto them)

• A few home-made chocolates or after-dinner sweet treats - make a cone or bag from light card to hold them

• A tiny individual wedding cake

• A piece of wedding cake in a little box or wrapped in cellophane

• A small bar of chocolate or roll of mints with 'your' label

• A small jar of home-made preserves

• Fortune cookies

• Traditional sugared almonds gathered up in tulle 

• A thank you card with a chocolate attached to the front or inside

• A miniature bottle of liqueur or port

Others

• A framed photo of you and your partner

• An organza bag of pot pourri to perfume drawers or wardrobes

• Candles

• A small tile with their name painted onto it

• A tiny hand-made or bought soap

For children

• A few (washable) felt pens or crayons and a plain page book with a lollipop or a small packet of lollies or dried fruit and they'll love you.

Mottos for the accompanying cards

For plants and seeds

• "Growing together ."

For sweet treats

• "Sweet beginnings ."

For candles

• "The light of love ."

General

• "Just married ."

• "Thank you for sharing our day ."

• "Just begun ..."