Wedding Wednesday: Favors

In the spirit of Christmas and gift-giving, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about wedding gifts--and subsequently, the wedding registry. But then I remembered that a year and a half ago, for our one year wedding anniversary, I did a whole series of wedding-related posts. Included a pretty detailed one on tips for the wedding registry (if you haven't checked it out, though, be sure to!). So, rather than repeat myself (because I really don't have any "new" advice from what is on there), I figured I would instead talk about the "gift" you will end up giving your guests: the wedding favor.

The whole idea behind giving your guests some sort of wedding favor is to thank them for coming to your wedding. At the very least, your guests have given up an afternoon/evening to drive across town and celebrate with you; at the most, they've given up an entire weekend and poured a decent amount of money into traveling to your wedding to celebrate with you. And in either scenario, they've likely brought you a gift as well. While you'll (hopefully!) be sending out thank you cards to personally acknowledge your gratitude, it's also courteous to have a little something for them at the wedding. Thankfully, there are no real "guidelines" in place for what the favor needs to be, so with a little creativity it's possible to find something nice for every budget. Here are a few different ideas, and a few notes about why I do (or don't) like them as favors.

(all images from Style Me Pretty)

Food as a Favor

 Food is probably one of the most common wedding favors. Candy is generally really easy to throw together as a favor; all you need is a few economy-sized bags of your candy of choice, a cute little box/bag to put a few pieces into, and a little personalized tag, and viola! Your favor is ready to go. While I understand the simplicity (and budget-friendliness) of doing something like this as a favor, it's personally not my favorite type of favor to get. Especially when the couple has clearly spent significant time wrapping the candy bars in personalized labels or paid extra money for personalized M&Ms. When it comes to food, I'm just going to eat it. I'm not going to save the personalized wrapper, and I'm not going to care if there is something special written on the candies. Save the extra money (and time), and put it toward something else: another food option on the buffet line, a larger portion of candy for each guest, or perhaps a different favor option all together. Like either of these.

I love both of these favors. These favors don't need fancy little wrappers or anything to be "personalized", by nature of the gift themselves they are a much more personalized reflection of the bride and groom (and perhaps a nod to the wedding location--like blueberry jam for a Maine wedding). Bonus points if the food item is homemade--and if you include the recipe it'll definitely be a favor they can cherish for a long time!

Centerpieces/Place Cards as a Favor

If you are doing assigned seating at your wedding, chances are that you'll be needing some sort of place card to direct your guests to the appropriate table. Rather than buying cutesy little card tents printed with each guest's name and then also having a favor sitting at the table for them, why not combine the two and save a little money? This way you also ensure that each guest will get a favor (no sticky fingers swiping goodies off the table). I was at a garden-themed wedding where the place card/favor was a packet of seeds printed with each guest's name and table number--definitely a unique way for the guest to remember your wedding for months/years to come!

You are also probably going to have some sort of centerpiece decorating the tables at your wedding. This is another good place to save some money by making the pieces multi-functional. Have the centerpieces be an arrangement of small potted flowers--and then encourage the guests to take them home at the end of the night. Or the centerpieces could be small packets of potpourri placed around some candles--another easy item for the guests to grab on their way out. Of course, a potential drawback with this option is that guests will leave without taking a favor with them, so make sure you have a plan in mind for what to do with extra favors.

"Trinkets" for Favors

I know this is kind of vague category, but for the sake of this post I'm categorizing a "trinket" as a non-perishable item that the guest can take home with him/her and enjoy for years to come. By nature of this sustainability, these gifts can easily become more expensive than some of the other types, but are often very well received by guests. I mean seriously, who wouldn't get use out of that super cute canvas tote bag? And one can never have too many bottle openers (stash one in your car if you already have one for the house--you'll be surprised when you might need it!). Obviously for a large wedding, a favor like one of these might blow the budget (although many places give you discounts for buying in bulk), but being able to "gift" your guests with something nice like this is just another reason to keep the guest list at a reasonable size. A few options that fall into this category that can be a little bit more reasonable in cost: matches and koozies.

(Not from Style Me Pretty... Obviously I'm not cool enough to have my wedding featured there)

Do try to keep your "trinket" practical for the majority of your guests; if you know only a small percentage of your guests drink beer, a bottle opener or koozie may not be the best idea because many guests may just leave the favor behind. And trust me, there is only so much you can do with a shoebox (or two!) full of extra koozies.

A Donation in lieu of a Favor

If there's been one common theme throughout all my comments covering a variety of favor ideas, it's been that many times the favor is not as well received as the bride and groom would hope. And really, this is unavoidable. You are never going to please everyone. Even the option of giving a donation in lieu of a favor is likely to be poorly received by some guests. However, this option is becoming more and more popular with couples because not only is it very worthwhile and altruistic, but it's also the only option that doesn't leave them with the possibility of figuring out what to do with the "extra" favors. Candy favors just gets eaten (and really, you're likely already feeding them a meal and cake, so it's not like candy is a necessity), live favors like flowers eventually die, and trinkets can get lost or left behind--a donation is really the only "favor" that is permanent. Just an option to keep in mind if you don't feel like "wasting" your money on a favor that only a portion of your guests will truly appreciate.