There are a few things though that most people want during their celebrations, bubbles being one of them and confetti being another. Lots of people like confetti.
And I confess to being a lover of confetti. I love the moment, every year, when our cherry tree puts its blossom all over the lawn. It makes my heart race and I have such a sense of romance in the air. It’s such a spectacle visually, smells fantastically fragrant and an act of nature that is so completely beautiful.
This week the blossom has done it’s thing and it made me think about where confetti came from and what it’s all about. A little bit of research on wiki made me laugh to find out that in Italy in the Middle Ages people in carnival parades threw things at the crowds, but get this – they threw mud balls, eggs, coins and fruit. A bit different to my idea of confetti! Apparently there is a place called Ivrea where they have “Battle of the Oranges” and the tradition continues.
There is a nicer story about Milan, where nobles threw candies and flowers and the dames thew eggshells filled with essences and perfumes, although the lower classes threw rotten eggs! We don’t want any of that, thank you very much!
Later, as things progressed candies, which were small sugar-coated seeds, usually coriander were used. If this was too expensive small chalk balls were used instead.
But I guess the style of confetti we can really relate to came out of Milan around 1875. Milan was one of the main hubs of silk manufacturing and small punched paper disks were a byproduct that people started throwing around in parades.
Plain shredded paper was used in Paris in 1885 at New Year’s Eve and it was around this time in Europe that paper confetti really took off and became so popular.
The word itself has a confectionery meaning from Italy, and it all began with parades in Italy.
In Britain we were mostly throwing rice up until the end of the 19th Century, when we swapped to shreds of coloured paper.
The bit I was really looking for was what is actually represents traditionally, which is the hope that the new couple will have a fertile marriage.
The bubbles, petal and paper varieties we see at Lower Barns always signify wishes, dreams and hopes of good times to come for our wedding couples.
What’s the best confetti you’ve seen? Have you got any ideas to share with us?
I heard a great story about a man who bought his dog a bubble blower, with a bacon flavour bubble mix. Forget the bacon flavour and think more maybe geranium, but I love the idea of dogs at weddings blowing bubbles!
Wishing you a wonderful bank holiday weekend.
Janie x