In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
You are quite right about the confetti - certainly I am glad when I got married in Loreto Aprutino last year that they didn't throw the sugared almonds at me! Might have got a few bruises that way.
Confetti from Sulmona is traditionally given as a little gift for each wedding guest - known as Bomboniere. You always give five dragees in each bag as they represent Health, Wealth, Happiness, Long Life and Fertility. Some people use very simple bags with ribbons, but they can get quite sophisticated and expensive.
When the married couple come out of the church rice is usually thrown over the newly married couple rather than paper 'confetti' as we call it in the UK (well that is what happened to us - courtesy of our Italian friends who gathered it from neighbouring houses to Santa Maria in Piano church)
confete
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/12/2008 - 17:02In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
hi i
must agree to disagree on this suject i was waching a bride and groom coming out of a church in Guardiagrele in abruzzo oly to be hit by whole sugered almonds and what i thougt more dangerous sharp shards of brocken almonds
ciao
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Nice article.
[quote]Nick Hankins explores the mountain villages of the Abruzzo, one of the last unspoilt corners of the country[/quote]
Not wanting to sound padantic,but keep coming across statements like this,and they are not justified. The vast area of southern Italy is still very much unspoilt,as are other areas in Italy.
The almond confetti thing, well it seems some still throw it,and some do not.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In the March issue of CASAVIVA, the Italian version, there is a very interesting article on "Gioielli d'Italia - In terra d'Abruzzo tra confetti e vini doc" and they specially talk about the Sulmona confetti, particularli the Pelino Confetti , which seems the oldest and most important producers of this sweet, which is exported worldwide. They stress their use as a gift to guests at a wedding and this is the way they have always been used. I think it would be dangerous to throw them to anyone.... and too pricey to do it.
There is more information about how they are produced, etc. at
[url=http://www.pelino.it]Pelino[/url]
It has an English version and don't miss the beautiful confetti flowers.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[COLOR="White"]m[/COLOR]
A sugared almond flower I was given by the lady who owned a beautifully restored building converted into monolocale in the centre of Sulmona, one of which I rented for a few days.
[IMG]http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z294/sallydonaldson/screenshot_01-30.jpg[/IMG]
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
maybe the wedding you saw in Abruzzo was confused brits who thought that they italians threw the 'confetti!'
I will check with my family next time i am over -they are all born and bred in the region and see what their perspective is. Certainly I know when i was getting my confetti i was never asked about if it was going to be thrown - just what type of bag/box etc I wanted to put it in to give to the guests. Certainly my husband has never heard of people throwing the almonds.
Maybe the wedding you saw, it is just a tradition in that area, but i must admit in all the planning for my italian wedding last year in a church, in italian, this never came up.
I will post more info if i get it
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
When I got married many moons ago,( in Abruzzo) my mother in law prepared confetti( in Italy sugared almonds) with Perugina small choclates just a few and silver coins they where all mixed together and thrown all over us as we came out of church , quite painful as well especially when your used to the paper stuff and n ot expecting it .
The almonds from Sulmona are supposed to be the best.
I think its become to expensive to throw around thats why theres some confusion as to the use of confetti.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
There's a little bit of the history of Sulmona's Confetti here:
[url=http://www.sulmona-confetti.co.uk]Sulmona-Confetti.co.uk[/url]
The site also mentions the largest manufacturer in Sulmona - Pelino - who apparently have a free entry museum detailing the history of Confetti in Abruzzo. :smile:
[I]"Some sell confetti – sugar-coated chocolates and hazelnuts, to be showered over Abruzzese brides and grooms."[/I]
I might be wrong but………….
In my experience confetti in the form of sugared [B]almonds[/B] are not thrown over the bride and groom but given as gifts to the wedding guests. I think the author has got muddled with the coloured paper confetti, which is thrown at weddings in England.