I am on a mission to rid my house of items that are no longer of use or apply.  It can actually be a daunting task.  Guilt makes me keep some things – like great-grandma’s ornament given to me, which is, well how else do I say it – ugly.

In the kitchen, I have my sister-in-law’s favour given to us at her wedding; it is a beautiful terra-cotta pot with a planted tree.  The pot is still of good use but the tree is looking pretty sad.  I mentioned this to my husband as I was going to “rid” the pot of the rotting tree and he freaked.  He will bring it to life – just give him some more time.  It’s looked like this for the past 6 months but okay.  I’ve come to the knowledge that he is “attached” to the favour – it was his sister’s wedding. 

He’s not alone either, a lot of people treasure wedding favours.  We gave away bottles of homemade wine at ours and recently at my friend’s house – I noticed the unopened bottle and told her I wouldn’t drink that 9-year-old wine.  She told me she never planned to – it was her keepsake.

So take sometime to really think about what you want your guests to take home and remember about your special day. 

The Wedding Favour was traditionally called “bomboniere” and is tracked back to the early days of European history when wealthy aristocrats gave away sugar (a costly delicacy in those days) to celebrate birthdays, christening and marriages. 

Today, anything you select can be given to your guests. 

Be creative!

If you’re planning on having a country wedding, consider giving away bottles of BBQ sauce.  Get your girlfriends together and make a huge batch of BBQ sauce and bottle it up.  Or buy a bulk amount of kids cowboy’s hats and let your guests get into the fun of the western theme by wearing them throughout the wedding.

For an Irish wedding, send your guests home clean by giving each of them a little bar of Irish Spring Soap or a rabbit foot key chain for good luck.

Other great ideas for any type of wedding are CD’s of some of your favourite songs, home-made soaps or candles, packets of flower seeds, book marks, frames, mason jars filled with anything (candies, Potpourri), bottle openers, flavoured coffee.  

Do yourself a favour and visit your local dollar store and take a look around to see if anything catches your eyes.  And remember, whatever you might select, might live forever as a precious memory in someone’s home.

For more great wedding  ideas, make sure you get your copy of Unique Theme Weddings to create a wedding like no other!