If you are planning a wedding or a special event you may be wondering whether you should include guest favours. Are wedding favours still a thing these days? The answer to that is a resounding, YES! In fact, not only are wedding favours a special part of a wedding, they are now included at other special events such as milestone birthdays, anniversaries and corporate events. While favours are more popular than ever, the style of ‘favour’ has changed with time, as anyone who has been gifted one in the past few years will agree.
What is a wedding favour?
A wedding favour is a take home gift that is ideally personalised for your guests. It is a unique keepsake for your guests to remember your wedding day. It is also a small gesture of thanks to family & friends who have travelled near & far to celebrate the day with you.
Let’s go back to the beginning
It is believed that wedding favours first originated in the 16th century where couples would give love knots made with lace & ribbon to each of their guests to symbolise their bond of love.
The tradition soon evolved amongst the French aristocracy & upper classes in where they would gift small porcelain or crystal trinket boxes filled with sugar or confectionery to their guests. These were named bonbonniere and they weren’t exclusively a wedding staple since they were also given out at birthday parties and other celebratory occasions.
In Greece, wedding guests would be offered sugared almonds inspired by the tale of Demophon, the king of Athens whose wife died and was reincarnated as an almond tree. The bittersweet nature of almonds is thought to be symbolic of the bittersweet nature of life and love, and the ups and downs that can come with marriage. The sugar is to bring hope that life for the newly wedded couple will be more sweet than bitter.
Back in these days, a wedding was considered a particularly lucky occasion so by gifting bonbonnieres and other treats to guests, the couple were bestowing their good luck upon their guests.
The Most Popular Wedding Favours Today
Today the best wedding favours are ones that guests can take home with them or enjoyed at the event. They don’t have to be lavish like French aristocracy favours, just a memorable way to add a personalised touch.
One of the most popular wedding favours is a customised bottle of spirits. At Gintonica, we work with our customers to select their favourite Australian gins or whisky to use as personalised wedding favours.
Imagine how delighted your guests will be to see a small bottle of 100% Australian gin with your name and the event date on it. Will they celebrate and drink it on the night? Or will they take it home and save it for your anniversary? Either way, they will appreciate the gift and love the personalisation.
Gintonica has worked with many, many event organisers and can offer a simple budget friendly package up to a lavish package that can include a variety of gin & whisky wedding favours. That’s the beauty of working with Gintonica for your wedding favours as we work with you to customise your perfect favour or bonbonerie.
Once you have decided on what style of gin or whisky you would like for your wedding favour, we go to work on customising the label. We are happy to take your own artwork or work with you to make a custom label. We even have a label pre-made to make planning your special event a little easier. Most bride & grooms like to see their names and the date on the labels for their guests as a lovely personal touch which is what we love to do.
If you would like to have a chat to us about what favours we can create for your wedding, birthday or special event, pleases contact us via the below link and one of our friendly special event organisers will be in touch.