The Sewing Place

The Emporia => A bit of a 'do' => Topic started by: Fiona M on April 22, 2017, 18:23:18 PM

Title: Wedding favours
Post by: Fiona M on April 22, 2017, 18:23:18 PM
Not technically 'sewing', so wasn't sure where to post this, but I've agreed to make the 'favours' for a wedding next year, and wondered if anyone has done them and have any tips or suggestions for making them especially lovely?
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Lilian on April 22, 2017, 18:48:25 PM
I did some searching and how about 'tulle sachets filled with potpourri' with a nice fancy ribbon to close it off.  :snip:
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Vegegrow on April 22, 2017, 18:49:27 PM
How traditional do they need to be the last wedding I went to they were little jars of homemade jam... I'm not fond of sugared almonds
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Efemera on April 22, 2017, 19:17:00 PM
Depends on the theme of the wedding...
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Fiona M on April 22, 2017, 21:03:35 PM
Thanks!  I will definitely be going down the 'traditional' route of 5 sugared almonds, its more how to 'wrap' them that I'm wondering about. As yet, no theme, colour scheme available (nor date set!), but I am expecting purple to feature heavily as I know it to be the bride's favourite colour.
I have seen them done in net, tulle, organza and even vintage hankies.  Just wondered if anyone had done them and had any tips?
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Francesca on April 22, 2017, 21:11:51 PM
I think food always makes the best favour and the least likely to be left behind. I'd do something like chocolate. Alternatively if it's going to be a big party, hangover kits  :devil:
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Lilian on April 22, 2017, 21:57:40 PM
I like the idea of the traditional 5 sugared almonds (yummy!) they would be in a nice little tulle bag.  At a wedding a few years ago in Eire, we all had a bag of jelly beans wrapped in a pointy clear bag with a fancy ribbon, they were delicious! 
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: BrendaP on April 22, 2017, 22:20:58 PM
Scrummy as it might be I wouldn't use chocolate - it might melt in a warm room!

I did some years ago for DD's wedding.  You can get little shallow plastic dishes, just big enough for 5 sugared almonds, from cake decorating shops.  Sit one of those in the middle of a circle or a square of tulle or organza or whatever, add the almonds and tie with the narrow ribbon you decorate parcels with and curl the ends of the ribbon by pulling along the blades of your scissors.
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Samantha on April 22, 2017, 22:29:57 PM
We had little bags of sweets from our childhood - flying sauces, love hearts and sweetie necklaces for the ladies and watches for the men
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: DementedFairy on April 22, 2017, 22:45:56 PM
We toyed with the idea of favours, then decided that a bloody sit down meal should be more than enough, so didn't bother. 

A good friend made lovely origami boxes from wrapping paper, and put jelly babies in them, which was a nice change.
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Efemera on April 23, 2017, 09:22:05 AM
I'm a papercrafter too so would make little decorated boxes...I have lots of box dies so it's easy to cut them.... I could cut you some if you wanted..
I have both these shapes
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: UttaRetch on April 23, 2017, 09:30:19 AM
If you didn't want to go to the bother of actually making the boxes, places such as Hobbycraft sell ready made ones that you could decorate yourself.
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Vegegrow on April 23, 2017, 10:15:28 AM
Thanks!  I will definitely be going down the 'traditional' route of 5 sugared almonds, its more how to 'wrap' them that I'm wondering about. As yet, no theme, colour scheme available (nor date set!), but I am expecting purple to feature heavily as I know it to be the bride's favourite colour.
I have seen them done in net, tulle, organza and even vintage hankies.  Just wondered if anyone had done them and had any tips?

The little plastic dishes make the favour sit well so the decoration stays upright... you can buy  the organza circles precut .. home cut ones tend to fray more but pinking will help ... I would say that they can all look lovely but ultimately all the wrapping ends up as rubbish on the dining table...unless you create something people will want to take home with them
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: DementedFairy on April 23, 2017, 10:23:11 AM
I would say that they can all look lovely but ultimately all the wrapping ends up as rubbish on the dining table...unless you create something people will want to take home with them

Partly why we abandoned the idea.  For a while, I toyed with the idea of making/buying seed bombs as favours, but got very mixed reports on them when I started looking into it.  No one seemed to care that they had no favours, they were too busy tucking into the delicious meal!
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Fiona M on April 23, 2017, 10:24:40 AM
Thanks, yes I have been given them at weddings and always taken them home as a memento - I would be amazed if anyone actually wanted to eat sugared almonds!  I will seek out the plastic dishes, they sound nifty.  I was thinking of probably three layered circles of tulle, embellished with narrow ribbon and some sort of decorative flower or something.  For my personal taste, 'less is more', but I suppose the bride may have other ideas ...
By the way, I'm making them as a gift from myself, she didn't ask me to do it, but obviously I had to let her know as I need to know colour scheme etc.
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Lowena on April 23, 2017, 10:35:54 AM
I absolutely love sugared almonds, but can't see any point in wedding favours
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Fiona M on April 23, 2017, 11:37:32 AM
You must have very strong teeth.  Or dentures.
The 'point' is a) a memento, b) 'thank you for sharing our day', c) a decoration for the place setting at the table and d) a tradition symbolic of good wishes for the happy couple, represented by the 5 sugared almonds - health, wealth, happiness, fertility and longevity.
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Lowena on April 23, 2017, 11:53:31 AM
That's very interesting. I have never attended a wedding where there were "favours" and assumed it was another American "tradition" we had adopted in some circles.
If you suck s.a. a bit, they give a satisfying crunch  :)
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Fiona M on April 23, 2017, 12:44:20 PM
I suspect it is a Mediterranean tradition originally - places where almonds grow in abundance.  In Italy they are known as 'Confetti', which I think translates as 'little sweets', but obviously that means something quite different to us.
I've been given favours at pretty much every wedding I've attended in the past 30 years, so it's definitely not a new thing, and I have always been aware of the associated symbolism.
Off on a tangent, sugared almonds always remind me of Xmas, since that's the only time they appeared in our house, but even as a child I couldn't crunch them.  I certainly wouldn't attempt it with my current (precarious) state of dental health!
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: UttaRetch on April 23, 2017, 13:57:22 PM
The almond is my least favourite nut being both hard and tasteless.  :( 
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: DementedFairy on April 23, 2017, 14:43:09 PM
I love almonds if roasted and salted, or ground and made into yummies...oooh I could do some more almond shortbread now you mention it!
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: shadykittykat on April 23, 2017, 14:50:36 PM
*wanders in.....I like sugared Almonds (and almonds in general) ......*wanders back off
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Vegegrow on April 23, 2017, 15:46:13 PM
Smoked almonds are the best .... yum.... I've got some in the larder.... they are hidden .... I'm the only one who knows they are there and if they go missing I'll know I've eaten them.... I don't eat sweet stuff they are MY treat
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: maliw on April 23, 2017, 15:55:43 PM
When DS got married DDIL made the favours/place names - out of bird food. DS had bought her a big bag of bird food (big mistake) for her birthday as an interim present. Although she loved feeding the birds she didn't see the funny side. However at the wedding, there on the table were heartshaped favours with a persons name on a paper luggage label tied with coarse brown string. She had made birdfood 'cakes. All favours were taken home and fed to the birds so were nonfattening to us overfed humans at the reception.
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Samantha on April 27, 2017, 10:37:03 AM
When DS got married DDIL made the favours/place names - out of bird food. DS had bought her a big bag of bird food (big mistake) for her birthday as an interim present. Although she loved feeding the birds she didn't see the funny side. However at the wedding, there on the table were heartshaped favours with a persons name on a paper luggage label tied with coarse brown string. She had made birdfood 'cakes. All favours were taken home and fed to the birds so were nonfattening to us overfed humans at the reception.

That's a lovely idea. One of my cousins who got married a couple of years ago had little packets of wild flower seeds printed with their names etc as favours.
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Holly Berry on April 27, 2017, 14:29:37 PM
The last time I made some I was going to make little pouches, but in the end opted for the little boxes. I've just found some boxes I had left over. The real ones had a bit more finesse, I've just tied this one together to give you an idea.

I have to say I was a bit disheartened at the end of the meal that there were so many left on the table. Perhaps people didn't like sugared almonds!
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Mama likes to make on April 27, 2017, 14:34:59 PM
Not a fan of the sugared almonds. My aunt is married to an Italian and lives there and every birth, christening, communion, confirmation and wedding etc came with an ornament of some kind with sugared almonds in the. We were always so disappointed as kids when we broke into what looked like a bag of sweets to find them!

At our wedding we had little candy canes at each place setting and a little box of fun christmas trivia questions at each table.
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Sakar on April 27, 2017, 14:39:53 PM
Sorry for the -maybe silly- question.... :(

... but what is "a favour"??

I married just a year ago, but I couldn't find any translation, that would make sense in this context  :|
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Mama likes to make on April 27, 2017, 14:47:40 PM
It's a small gift from the bride and groom left at each place setting for the guest to take home. Here in Ireland anyway they are often a small box of chocolates or sweets, or they can be something like a candle with the names of the bride and groom and the date on them for example.
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Sakar on April 27, 2017, 14:53:28 PM
ahh!!!!  0_0

Thank you very much for this answer!!  <3

Now I know, what you mean, and yes, that's something, which is common on modern weddings here too.

 :*
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Fiona M on April 27, 2017, 19:18:59 PM
Thanks ladies.  Holly Berry, I love the little rosebuds on yours, can you remember where you got those?
Title: Re: Wedding favours
Post by: Holly Berry on April 27, 2017, 22:44:43 PM
Thanks ladies.  Holly Berry, I love the little rosebuds on yours, can you remember where you got those?

I bought them from a cake decorating and sugar craft shop in Tunbridge Wells, called Catering Complements. I've just searched for them but can't see a web site. I did see though that Hobbycraft had some silk rosebuds. eBay have some too, I searched for miniature silk rosebuds.