wedding almonds favors

Human beings are social animals and the wedding ceremony has, since historical times, been an occasion of great celebration and merrymaking among the various cultures. Every wedding ceremony is rooted to the various customs and rituals that are often dictated by their cultures or religion.

Wedding favors refer to the act of gifting the guests with beautiful souvenirs for their participation in the wedding ceremony and reception. They are handed over to guests the newlywed couple themselves. The popularity of wedding favors has led to the formation of a separate wedding favors industry where required articles are sold, day and night, and are beautifully designed and packaged.

The earliest specimen of distribution of wedding favors comes from the European aristocrats. This form of wedding favors were known as the 'bonbonniere'. The term 'bonbonniere' referred to tiny boxes made of porcelain or crystal and decorated quite richly. These boxes usually contained sugar cubes. The inclusion of sugar cubes have significance.

In the early times, sugar was an expensive commodity and therefore the incorporation of sugar stood for the prosperity and affluence of the aristocrats. With the progress of time, sugar was no longer a high priced commodity and instead, almonds were included within these boxes. It is necessary to remember in this case that the color of the sugar coated almonds used as favors in the wedding ceremony should be white. In fact, precisely, the bonbonniere contains a total of five almonds. This is because each had a special significance. Each stood for certain symbols. They represented joy, health, wealth, fertility and long life. Obviously, by gifting these favors to the wedding guests, the couple also achieved their blessings and ensured that they would have a happy and prosperous life together.

In Italy, there is also a newer innovation of the bonbonniere which is used often today. These are called favor cakes or Torta Bomboniera. These are available in innumerable designs and are beautiful to look at and are constructed with the help of small carton boxes which are filled with almonds and the necessary wedding details and information regarding the wedding ceremony.