The days of the “blushing bride” are over! In times past it was expected that the bride would be demure, shy, and even timid, but those days are long gone. Today’s bride is often a career oriented, successful woman that is not shy about her choices when it comes to every detail of her wedding, and nowhere in the wedding ceremony is this more obvious than her choice of wedding favors. How so?
Think of the statement that many wedding favors make about the bride, her groom, and their life together. For example, many today are giving out packets of seeds and even small plants or saplings. This of course shows their concern for the environment. Some brides are choosing small tokens of their favorite hobby or passion, such as models of motorcycles or paperweights with the Harley Davidson logo on them, if the bride is a “biker chick” and not afraid to show it. Another popular choice by way of wedding favors is key chains or tokens from a favorite museum, especially one that celebrates her heritage or family. For example, don’t be surprised if you were to receive a souvenir from the Museum of the Cherokee Indian or the African American Heritage Museum at a wedding in the near future. These types of wedding favors make a bold statement from the bride that her family, and her family’s heritage and history, are very important to her.
Another way that wedding favors are becoming bolder – and this is true for all parts of the wedding – is the colors of the favors themselves. It used to be that the “appropriate” colors for a wedding needed to be soft and so-called feminine, such as pastels and mint greens. However, today’s popular color choices for bridesmaid dresses and all other accessories are usually warmer and stronger. Think of shades of warm brown and russet; typically the bride herself might wear a sash of one of these shades as well. Mint green has been replaced with shades of hunter or forest. It’s also not unusual anymore to see a combination of two strong colors such as red and black being used for accessories, invitations, decorations, and even wedding favors.
Of course, many of the standard choices in wedding favors are still popular, including bags of chocolates or personalized candy bar wrappers. However, these too are becoming bolder as the bride is choosing stronger colors for the bags of loose candy and ties that are strings of crystal beads or ribbons in black and red or those warm brown shades. In recent years, many designs for personalized candy bar wrappers are also becoming bolder and more unique, with some companies providing designs that are not just elegant and traditional, but also fun and whimsical or modern designs that are clean and simple with an art deco feel. To see how these types of wrappers would work as wedding favors, visit The Knot or Favors and Wraps and see the wide variety they currently have in their catalog.
It’s unlikely that a bride’s choices in wedding favors and all other accessories for her wedding are going to start being more subtle as time goes on, as many brides are finding that these bold choices are a welcome change from what they’ve seen in weddings from generations past, and guests appreciate how unique and personal these choices really are.
Linda Ellison is a freelance writer who specializes in trends and lifestyles. Her previously published fiction works, including the Dana Ford Mystery Series, have been on bookshelves nationwide. Visit www.FavorsAndWraps.com to read more about the latest trends in wedding favors.
