The history of wedding favors - They go back further than you think

Wedding favors have been a beloved tradition for centuries and remain an important part of the wedding celebration today. The earliest roots (The earliest reference I've been able to find anyway!) of this custom date back to at least the 16th century, when European families famously gifted sugar cubes as tokens of gratitude to wedding guests.

At the time, sugar was seen as a rare and luxurious item and it was only fitting that couples would use it to show appreciation. In addition to sugar cubes, many European couples offered guests nuts, spices, and dried fruits wrapped in cloth pouches as a sign of good luck and wholesome fortune. 

When candy and chocolates became more common in the 20th century, they too began to take their place amongst the traditional wedding favor lineup. Even books of poetry were gifted as tokens of appreciation to wedding guests throughout this time.

One of the latest trends in wedding favors is maple syrup! Maple syrup is becoming increasingly popular due to its unique nature and versatility; couples can choose from an assortment of sizes and labeling options to make sure each guest feels special. Maple syrup can also be sourced locally, allowing you to support small businesses in your area while offering a unique twist on tradition. No matter what type of favor you ultimately decide upon for your big day, giving wedding favors is always a great way to show love and gratitude for those that share in your joyous occasion!  

Do people still do wedding favors?

This question is separate from whether favors are necessary, that is a question of personal preference. 2020 aside, and even this far into 2021 and the spring of 2022, COVID-19 has thrown everyone's plans into disarray, vendors included. However, yes, wedding favors remain as popular as ever, with couples allocating almost 1.5% of their total budget to this gift of gratitude. The industry expectation is for this trend to continue into the 2022 wedding season as well. However, members of the industry have noted that many people tire of the same old monogrammed gifts such as cups and bottle openers that will just collect dust in a drawer. We hope that maple syrup can fill this void and spark people's imaginations for how best to reinvent the wedding favor as something unique and fun.

How to display wedding favors?

In our experience, and with feedback from past customers, we have seen two popular options regarding the optimum way to display favors. Most popular, and in our opinion, one of the finest ways to display them is at each guest's place setting. It's a perfect ice breaker for people that might not know each other well, and who find themselves together on the seating chart by chance. In either a rustic or elegant theme, our bottles are going to add to the setting theme, as opposed to taking away from the ambiance.

For the second option, a display tower greeting guests as they enter the wedding hall or tent is also an attractive and popular option. Prominently displayed in this manner, 100 or more glass maple leaves can look like a cascading waterfall of gold. If someone misses during their first pass, you can bet that once at the table they'll make their way back to the display to collect theirs! No matter what you decide, we are certain you will have 100% satisfaction across the board.

When to order wedding favors?

In general, a month before the wedding is a great time to place your order. Depending on the location, it might only take 2 or 3 days to arrive as we ship orders immediately and generally keep a supply bottled and in stock. However, that does not mean you have to wait until the last minute, especially for maple syrup, as it is shelf-stable and has a long life when stored properly. In addition, being a small family farm provides us a great degree of flexibility and personal attention generally not possible from larger vendors. Feel free to contact us about any of your special shipping needs and we will work to accommodate you personally.

In our experience, many couples like to wait until their RSVPs are filled out before finalizing their favor order. Unfortunately, people aren't very good at returning these, electronic RSVPs still don't fare much better, especially with grandparents and other guests from a pre-tech era. It isn't the end of the world to have a few extra favors hanging around, there are always late guest additions or a great service provider you might want to share a token of appreciation to.

How far ahead should you order personalized wedding favors? 

Due to the nature of utilizing a third party for customization, we recommend a 3-4 week lead time before the date of the wedding. Living in rural Vermont, nothing is closer than 30 minutes, our engraver being no exception. Additionally, we will present you with a digital proof over email to give the OK on moving ahead with the engraving process. The personalization elevates these bottles, every time we get a new batch back we're blown away with the results. Commemorate your day and etch a custom message to your liking.

Will my syrup spoil before the wedding?

We've written a whole blog that addresses this very question of storing maple syrup, but in short, your syrup will not go bad so long as you store it in a cool, dark place. Glass is a very effective storage container for maple syrup, and it is naturally shelf-stable.

Shipping Wedding Favors

Everything you need to know about shipping and receiving your wedding favors from Carman Brook Farm can be found in-depth at our Shipping Wedding Favors - FAQ blog. Generally, we ship with UPS and our website uses real-time rates that are calculated using the weight of the product you ordered and the location you selected for shipping. So long as the item is in stock, we ship within 1-2 business days of receiving the order, otherwise, we bottle syrup weekly and a delay isn't usually a problem. Two decades of selling party favors and answering questions qualify us to know the best way to ship your party favors. If you can think of a question we haven't answered here, email us now for a quick turnaround of important information that will impact your wedding favor purchase.

What if there is damage when I receive my favors?

In the unlikely event, that the shipping company stacked a crated lawnmower on top of your package and you have broken favors, let us know and we'll send a replacement ASAP. We have an extremely low breakage rate (at the writing of this, I can't think of the last time it was an issue), and take boxing glass for shipment seriously!