personally, i feel if you are going to give wedding favors to your guests, you either need to go all out (i mean don't just hand out some monogrammed thing-a-ma-bob and expect people to hang on to it forever); or save the money.
either approach is fine, but please don't stress over favors as an obligation.
however, if you are enjoying this whole wedding planning process; and you're inspired to play martha stewart, here are my five favorite ideas:
1) reflect your relationship -- pick an item that tells a part of your couple story. if your first date was the ballpark, consider bagging peanuts, or giving out cracker jacks. did you get engaged somewhere special? use a map to wrap up a box of candy. say you and your husband-to-be love music or your first kiss was at a concert, why not make a mix cd of your favorite tunes?
[rebecca thus, the knot and snippet & ink]
2) celebrate the season -- some sort of dessert or food is always a popular choice for favors. there is nothing wrong with giving your guests a seasonal treat! for fall, package a caramel or candy apple. a s'more kit is perfect for winter. easter candy in a mini basket for spring. and i love these bags of cherries for summer. the options are endless.
[papery and cakery, twig & thistle, martha stewart and martha stewart via stylish events]
3) embrace silliness -- a favor in this category can really let your couple personality shine through. my favorites are a personalized temporary tattoo, a 'ole fashioned "goodie bag" complete with a fake mustache, silly glasses and a personalized crossword puzzle, or a $1 lottery ticket and lucky penny. be creative!
[snippet & ink, snippet & ink and the knot via dc nearlyweds]
4) go green -- it may be trendy, but it's a trend worth celebrating. pay it forward with a packet of seeds, succulent or seedling. i think it'd be pretty cool to know that trees were growing all over in honor of my marriage!
[once wed, martha stewart and elizabeth anne designs]
5) give back -- i am seeing this as an increasing trend. couples are making donations to various charities in lieu of the traditional wedding favor. this is what husband and i did. we made a donation to Young Life, a ministry that we both grew up in, and met serving through. if a loved one was been affected by say, breast cancer or alzheimer's, and they are not able to attend the wedding, this could be a great way to honor them. or choose a charity that you and your fiance volunteer with.
[nantucket weddings unveiled and brooklyn bride]
what do you think? what's your favorite wedding favor that you've received?
Great ideas :)
ReplyDeleteWe gave tree seedlings to our wedding guests back in 1992, before it was trendy to go green, and it is definitely great to see how big those trees have grown over the years! (There's a picture on my blog of one of the trees, taken last year, if you'd like to see it...)
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