05/09/2026
WHEN YOUR PARENTS CAME HOME FROM A WEDDING WITH ONE OF THESE BAD BOYS…
If your parents attended a wedding during the 70s, 80s, 90s or early 2000s (and sometimes in 2010s and 2020s, but not as common), there was a fair chance they came home carrying a little satin or tulle bag filled with sugared almonds.
Known as bomboniere, this European tradition was especially common at Italian and Greek weddings before becoming a familiar sight at Australian celebrations of all backgrounds.
The little bags were usually tied with ribbon, decorated with tiny flowers and filled with five Jordan almonds, traditionally representing:
Health
Wealth
Happiness
Fertility
Long life
White almonds were commonly used for weddings and communions, pink or blue for baptisms, red for graduations, and silver or gold for anniversaries. At Australian weddings, though, it wasn’t unusual to receive a colourful mixture. Sometimes they even came inside an elaborate little keepsake box.
Some families still continue the tradition today, but many modern weddings have replaced them with personalised gifts, candles, chocolates, miniature bottles and just about anything else you can imagine.
Still, nothing hits the nostalgia button quite like discovering one of these tucked away in a drawer decades later… usually with the almonds still inside!
Did your parents always bring these home from weddings, or does your family still hand them out today?
