Gourmet Cookie Wedding Favors — A Unique Twist on an Old Tradition
Cookies as wedding favors create an unique twist on the time-honored tradition of providing small gifts to guests, as a token of appreciation from the bride and groom.
Initially wedding favors were only a part of celebrations European upper classes, who would provide elaborate gifts to their guests. Wedding favors began as small fancy boxes, filled with the royal treat of confectionery delicacies, at a time when sugar was quite expensive.
Today, sugary delights are an affordable option for wedding favors. Cookies allow for unique variations on traditional wedding favor preferences. A wide range of basic cookie recipes, combined with frosting options and inscriptions, can make cookies an exciting choice for a wedding favor.
Modern brides take great pride in putting a lot of thought into the choice of wedding favors, seeking to reflect her personality and a sentiment from the couple. The versatility of cookies, allows for this treat to duplicate roles serviced by other traditional wedding favors. Decorated cookies with the guest's name written with piped icing, can serve the same purpose of wedding placecards that help guests seat themselves at reception tables.
Unique edible centerpieces are designed by baking cookie dough on lollipop sticks. Heart or flower shaped cookie pops are decorated with frosting and sprinkles before being arrayed into delightful and original arrangements, by driving the stick into a block of florist's foam or a decorated cake. Rose cookie bouquets are easily tinted to blend with the table décor. Wedding favor boxes intended to hold additional delights can be created from gingerbread and appropriately decorated.
Gourmet cookie assortments are available in small gift boxes as a replacement for grocery store boxed cookies. Distinctive cookies can be bought in bulk and wrapped in specially selected wedding favor boxes. Popular bulk cookies include Danish shortbread, fortune cookies and Mexican wedding cookies. Fortune cookies, like other cookies can be decorated with frosting and sprinkles. If the couple wishes to personalize the fortunes in the cookie, there are companies who provide this service.
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Custom cookies can be ordered from any local bakery or a baker featured online. Typically, custom cookies are shaped and frosted sugar cookies. The designs include traditional wedding themes of wedding cakes, wedding bells, bride and grooms, wedding dresses and floral bouquets. Cookies can feature a simple frosting or include delicate icing details. Cookies can be ordered to feature monograms or short messages. The more intricate or lavish the details, the more it will effect the final cost of the cookie. The average price of a gourmet cookie is around $5 each. Brides can easily provide this wedding favor for less expense, by taking the time to make these favorite home-baked creations.
Technological advances have created the means to transfer photos onto baked goods. Couples can elect to have their pictures added to basic shortbread cookies in the shapes of hearts, circles, squares and triangles for about $25 a dozen. Most bakeries have the means to make these creations, as the edible ink works on most ink jet printers and is applied to sheets of frosting. The bakery does use a dedicated printer that is free of any previous printing inks, so it's recommended for a bride not to try this on her home system.
The endless possibilities for the use of cookies as wedding favors, provides for a couple to infuse originality and fun into the European tradition of giving confectionery delights.
How do you make the cookie icing so perfect? A friend of mine has asked me to make cookies as her wedding favors and now I am getting overwhelmed at how to make them beautiful.
I’ve designed cookies as wedding favors for several brides and often get requests to do monogrammed cookies. One of the special touches that I do is place the cookie in a cellophane bag tied with an ribbon imprinted with the bride and groom’s name or anything else they may choose, but then attaching a card with the guest’s name and table assignment. Each guest gets his or her own cookie, and the cookie does double duty as the table assignment and as the favor. The cookie can be designed in any color to coordinate with the wedding or any shape to compliment the wedding theme.
I’ve set the cookies up on a table similarly as you would normal seating cards, and they look absolutely lovely. For smaller weddings, I’ve placed them on silver platters. They receive tons of compliments, always, particularly since they are unexpected yet appreciated!