Votive candles should always be burned in a votive cup because they are designed to liquify. Buring the votives in a cup will make sure you don't have a wax mess to clean up and it also makes your votive candles burn longer. The votive cups keep the liquefied wax near the flame so it will continue to be used as the fuel source. With out the liquefied wax, the votives candle flame would melt straight to the bottom.