Almonds with Indian wedding cards — The history behind it

Everyone wonders how to turn a normal wedding into big fat Indian wedding but as weddings are turning bigger, the wedding invitation has also started gained some weight.

While unique invitations are popular, the amazing gifts that accompany the invitation are also becoming popular day by day. These amazing gifts mostly include edible things like chocolates, badam and other sweets. Almonds, Belgian chocolates, roasted nuts, dates, baklava, and other confectioneries are the most popular items, which accompany wedding invitations. Wedding invitation card along with badam is gradually becoming a major trend to kick off the auspicious occasion of marriage. Alongside making invitations nice and attractive, gifting almonds and dry fruits along with invitations have a significant meaning attached.

Almonds are loved by everyone and when dipped in sugary syrup, it tastes 100 times better. Sugared almonds, as the name suggests, are plain almonds coated in a sugar candy. While the tradition of giving sugar coated dry fruits started in Italy, it is majorly followed in India. Almonds have a bittersweet taste, which is thought to represent life’s unpredictability. The sugar coating illustrates the wish that the couple’s married life will be more sweet than bitter.

Also, it is believed that gifting badam in odd numbers strengthens the relationship shared by the couple. Because odd numbers are indivisible, this symbolizes that the newlyweds will share everything and remains undivided. The tradition that began in Italy of gifting almonds with the wedding invitation was picked up in India as well. Invitations carry 5 almonds which signify good health, wealth, happiness, fertility, and longevity for the bride and the groom. These almonds decorate each place setting as flavours, tucked into pretty boxes or tulle bags called “bomboniere” that are often personalized with the couple’s names and wedding date.

Not only badam, but few wedding invites also come with an assortment of dry fruits which include almonds, cashews, raisins, dates, pistas and an assortment of dry fruits. It is believed that gifting dry fruits mark the onset of an auspicious event and also sets the tone for the wedding. While dry fruits like dates and raisins signify a pleasant journey ahead, almonds, pistas and cashew signify a bitter-sweet journey for the couple. It marks the beginning of an eternal journey filled with ups and downs. Also, another reason behind gifting dry fruits is the nutritional value possessed by these nuts. By gifting healthy badam along with the invitation, parents of the bride and the groom wish for relatives attending the wedding to bless the couple with a healthy life ahead.

So, giving these dry fruits along with the wedding invite not only signify sharing good health, but also signify and mark the beginning of a strong life long bond shared by the couple filled with ups and downs.