Okanagan favours Something sweet, something small, something local that captures it all. Long gone are the coloured mints wrapped in pastel tulle, the wedding favour of choice for decades, often consumed before the cake was cut. Whether their guests are from the Valley or afar, today’s brides want to provide a taste of the Okanagan with local wedding favours.
“Brides are always asking for local favours,” says Kelowna wedding planner Laura Lebbon, owner of English Rose Weddings. “If you’re bringing your guests to the Okanagan Valley, it’s nice to give them a little piece to take away.”
Here are some of the most popular ways Okanagan brides are doing just that.
Honey
The Okanagan is home to a hive of bee farms producing world-renowned and award-winning honey. Little pots of honey created by the hard-working local bees at Arlo’s Honey Farm or Planet Bee give your guests something healthy and sweet to remember your wedding. With a little burlap or gingham cloth, honey jars are the perfect addition to trendy rustic affairs.
Fruit
This is fruit country and brides are bringing the orchard to their weddings by offering apples, cherries, peaches and pears as their favours. In a tiny basket or alone, guests will delight at the chance to fill their bellies and their memories with the fruit of the Okanagan. Fruit baskets can also double as table place holders.
Lavender
At the end of a long day of hugs, well wishes, dancing and eating, help your guests wind down with the soothing scent of local lavender. Kelowna’s Okanagan Lavender Herb Farm and Armstrong’s Hartwood North Farm can wrap lavender in a monogrammed sachet for a unique local favour that keeps on giving.
Macarons
Sandrine’s French Pastry in Kelowna creates mouth-watering macarons—meringue-based confections filled with chocolate ganache, buttercream, caramel and more. The Seasonal is an especially popular wedding choice because it uses the Okanagan’s most delicious in-season fruit, including peach-apricot, lavender, mint, lime-basil, wine and spicy cocoa.
As seen in the July 2014 Okanagan Life Magazine
Preserves
This is the favour you know every one of your guests will love and use, and it’s another lovely way to plant a bit of the orchard feeling into your reception. Choose the fruit that matches your colour scheme or mix it up with several different flavours on each table. Summerland Sweets has a delectable range of syrups and jams, and Davison Orchards also makes some of the Valley’s best jellies.
