I have always wondered why almonds where apart of every wedding I have ever been to. I am not found of the almonds myself, and have only met a few that are. So I always wondered why it was a tradition to have them. Well I found my answer on Martha Stewart and actually they have a lot of symbolism and a great story you can tell your guests. You could always include the history of the almonds on a little card attached to the favor. That way everyone will understand their meaning. Here is the history.
“The use of almonds as favors has evolved in significance over the centuries. The ancient Greeks, and later the Romans, were fond of honey-coated almonds. Sweetened almonds later found their way to the celebratory tables of medieval Europe , when they came to be known as dragees. By 1850 the first commercially produced dragees, coated with colored sugar syrup, appeared. In Europe today, dragees are still fixtures at weddings, christenings, and confirmations.
Because the almond is a seed, it represents fertility, abundance, and fruitfulness. When a bitter almond is used in a dragee, the hard sugar coating produces a piquant contrast of sweet with bitter; the dragee thus represents an important part of the wedding vow: “for better or for worse.” Just as the couple has pledged to support each other in good times as well as in bad, those in attendance symbolically honor the marriage vows by partaking of the almonds.”