Looking to honor your heritage or culture in your wedding? A great way to start is considering what options you have for wedding favors. Homemade wedding favors are a centuries old way for the uniting couple to show appreciation to their guests. Of course, at one time, all wedding favors were homemade as plastic and cheap goods hadn’t burst onto the scene just yet.
To pass on good luck, many brides would wrap almonds in delicate fabric as a wedding favor. Middle Eastern wedding favor custom provides one almond for these lifelong expectations: fertility, longevity, wealth, health and happiness. In Middle Eastern culture, wrapped candied Jordan almonds, once called “confetti” are a widespread tradition. Almonds are almost always a staple in wedding favors representing good luck.
For decades, fruit, nuts, and homemade candies were placed in crocheted sacks or stiffened boxes by European and American brides as wedding favors. Another early wedding favor is a bonbonniere which is an elaborate box made from crystal, porcelain, or gold. In these bonbonnieres, sugary treats were placed, as sugar was thought to have medicinal properties. Today, boxes with candy are still a common homemade wedding favor, and can be constructed from a variety of materials and filled with any sweet treat imaginable. Another spin on this homemade wedding favor is to use a plastic champagne glass instead of a box.
Though it is important to honor tradition and culture, keep in mind that for a large wedding, it will take a lot of work to create handmade wedding favors. There is nothing wrong with mass produced items, as they are often very cheap. Examples of cheap wedding favors are candles, photo frames, coasters, plastic bells, birdseed, or plastic cups.
Carved soaps are a nice-smelling homemade wedding favor that is practical and thoughtful. Small soaps purchased from the dollar store and then carved with a design such as a heart or bird make beautiful wedding favors. Another good smelling homemade wedding favor is the scented candle. You can purchase candle-making kits that will yield several beautiful candles for a small price.