sophisticated Italian bomboniere

Add an elegant touch of traditional romance to your wedding day and capture some Italian romance with our luxury range of keepsake wedding gifts.



An historic overview as to why we give our wedding guests keepsake treats

The tradition of giving ‘bomboniere’ or ‘favours’ at weddings, christenings and anniversaries dates back to medieval Europe (particularly in Italy and the Southern Mediterranean). Brides and grooms from well to do families gave their friends and loved ones small tokens of silver and gold trinkets filled with crystallised sugar, once a rare treat. Some of these may have even featured each family’s coat of arms. This was in the days before photography and was intended as a memento of the special occasion. As sugar became more popular and less scarce the aristocracy started giving elaborately worked sugar sculptures in the form of intricate, decorative boxes, miniature baskets and even sculptured babies in cradles for christening celebrations. They were made out of ‘pastilliage paste’ and moulded from hard wood culinary moulds and then expertly hand finished by master confectioners. Some were also used as table-name markers and were very popular amongst French Royalty and the elite and commonly used by Marie Antoinette and her circle.

Now a day this tradition lives on, and families still give bomboniere to celebrate weddings, christenings and anniversaries. These days you are more likely to find macramé, organza or net pouches personalised with flowers and pretty ribbons filled with five sugared almonds symbolising the virtues of health, wealth, happiness, longevity and fertility. Favour boxes are more contemporary versions of bomboniere and can be filled with jelly babies and smarties for fun!