Bamboo Wedding Favors

Most of the soon-to-be married people are always in the quest of searching the perfect wedding favors for the guests as a token of gratitude and souvenir for being there on such a special day.

There are many popular gift ideas and homemade favors for weddings that could always be the best choices to save you from the dilemma of finding a beautiful, yet unique wedding favor. If you are looking for some really unique and lively gift as your wedding favor, then the lucky bamboos are the ultimate favors for your wedding.

The lucky bamboo is a shrubby species of bamboo that has slender stems and ribbon shaped leaves. Therefore, they are also called ribbon bamboo (Ribbon Dracaena). Lucky bamboos can grow as tall as 5 feet with about 10 inch long leaves. Native to Africa, this bamboo is marketed as a Chinese decorative plant.

There are a lot of beliefs and myths about the lucky bamboo plant in China, along with Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, and Vietnam. Each of these cultures have their own stories to tell about the 'luck' factor involved with the lucky bamboo. There is a huge significance attached to this plant in an ancient eastern practice known as Feng Shui.

It is primarily based on five elements of nature: water, fire, earth, wood, and metal. Amongst them, lucky bamboo is the combination of water and wood, and is a highly stated symbol of luck and serenity. In Chinese culture, it stands for the ultimate balance of life. When you tie a red ribbon around its stem, it becomes a symbol of positive energy of life.

Philippine and Malaysian cultures credit it for being the birth place of humanity. According to them, the mankind began from the bamboo tree stem. While the Japanese culture also states a myth that a beautiful and mysterious princess emerged from a dense bamboo forest.

Vietnamese myth says that the lucky bamboo stands for a successful and long-lasting marital bonding. The common denominator among all these myths leads us to a simple outcome that they are lucky for the mankind. Going by the sayings, it is quite unique to give away the favors and make a mark in the minds of your guests.

One you have selected the lucky bamboo plant wedding favors, it is time to think and plan about the actual task of assembling and buying the bamboos. Never buy them too prior to the wedding as there are chances of dust accumulation and extra amount of care in those busy days of wedding preparations.

Therefore, the best option is to buy other necessities for the plant like vases/pots, tags, and gems/rocks, and store them in a dust free place for the time being.

The vases that you've chosen for your wedding favors must at least be 2 inches bigger than the actual diameter of the bunch of the stems. Once you buy the lucky bamboos, store them in a larger vase so that it would be easy for you to water and clean the plants. Make sure that plants are fresh, while buying them.

The biggest quandary most of the people suffer from is the number of bamboo stalks that must be included in a vase to be presented as wedding favor. There is a significance and meaning of the number of stalks that are preserved. Each number stands for different auspicious meanings. These meanings are:

• 2 stalks - love
• 3 stalks - happiness, wealth, and longevity
• 5 stalks - wealth
• 7 stalks - wealth and happiness
• 8 stalks - growth
• 9 stalks - good fortune
• 10 stalks - completion and perfection
• 21 stalks - abundant blessings

As a wedding favor, it is ideal to give away 3 stalks with words engraved on the tag attached to the vase.

Place the stalks in the dedicated bamboo vases a week before the wedding, and pack them in the boxes just a day before. This will allow you a safe transport of favors. Price of the lucky bamboo depends on the region you live in and the size of the stalks that you choose. There are always chances for you to get discount as you will be buying them in bulk.

On an average, 100 stalks of 4 inch long lucky bamboo cost around $9.99, while 50 stalks of 6 inches are available for approximately $9.95. 100 stalks of 8 inches may cost you around $24.99. Similarly, you can get the vases and the stones for relatively lesser price. You can create customized tags having small, but cute thank you messages for your guests.

Bamboo species other than lucky bamboo can also be included in your list of wedding favors, in forms of carved bamboo shoots and crafts made out of them, bookmarks, photo frames, and/or wedding favor boxes made from dried up bamboo timber. The choice is yours, hence you can take efforts to make them all more memorable and precious.