Do It Yourself Wedding Almond Favors: What to Buy, How to Make

You may have heard of, or been the recipient of, the infamous little tulle bag of almonds as a wedding favor. Now you're the one getting married, and you're been thinking about doing the same – giving out almond favors to your guests. Here are a few facts about the symbolism behind the gift of 5 almonds, and some simple instructions on how to assemble the almond bags yourself.

Italians, Greeks, and other countries in the Mediterranean consider almonds to be a symbol of good luck on your wedding day. First, the taste of the almonds (bittersweet), is a symbol of life; and second, the candy coating is a wish for the happy couple's life together to be more sweet than bitter.

Traditionally, the almond bag contains five almonds, representing health, wealth, happiness, and longevity. Each guest receives one, wrapped in tulle and tied with a ribbon, and you may also wish to include a printed ribbon or little bit of paper with the bride and groom's name on it.

Preliminaries:

Figure out how many guests will be attending the wedding. Multiply that number by five, and that is the total number of almonds you'll need for the entire project. Of course, you won't know exactly how many guests until the very last leg of the wedding plans, so this is not a project that you can do too far in advance.

Select your colors. Of course, you'll want to match the decor and the bridesmaids dresses. Or, you can use white or off-white according to whichever hue your wedding dress is. You will be purchasing tulle and ribbon to coordinate with the abovementioned colors.

Determine the amount of tulle and ribbon you'll need. You may wish to consult with a fabric or craft store, hopefully they will be able to offer you a discount for your bulk order of each. The tulle should be cut into circles, each 6 to 8 inches in diameter, and the ribbon should be at least 12 to 16 inches long per favor.

Shop around. Research where to find candied almonds in bulk for the best price. You can find a supplier online (do a search for "Jordan almonds"), or check the Yellow Pages for a local gourmet candy supplier.

Time to Make Your Wedding Almond Bags:

Purchase your almonds a few weeks before the wedding. The candies will still be fresh on the big day, so no worries there.

Cut out tulle circles. Use a small plate (like a lunch plate – can be paper) to trace the circle on a piece of the tulle fabric. Cut it out with sewing scissors and put it aside. Do this for the total number of guests. Hopefully you'll have some helping hands such as the mother of the bride and/or groom, the bridesmaids, or other friends who will be attending the wedding, to help make light work of this project!

Tie up each almond bag. Once you have all of your tulle circles laid out, break out your candy-coated almonds. You will need five almonds per circle. Place your little nest of almonds in the circle and tie it up with the ribbon which you can cut on the fly as you go. If you have also ordered little bride-and-groom name tags, add those as well.

Repeat this process for however many guests you expect at your wedding.

Store them and arrange for transport. Store all the almond favors in a couple of weather-proof boxes with lids (plastic is good), and make sure that someone remembers to transport them to the wedding hall on the morning of the big event. You also want to be sure someone can take the time to place each one beside every plate at each table. The wedding hall coordinator may be able to advise whether someone on their staff can be tasked with this project, and whether or not it is included in the total cost of the wedding.

That's it – don't forget to save a little bag of almonds for yourself and your husband!