i've thought of some creative ideas for guest favors but alot of brides i've talked to said they were a waste of money because not everybody takes a favor, and it's just one more thing you've gotta find a place for in the end. what do yall think? do you enjoy guest favors, or would you rather see the money put somewhere else?
money isn't really an option as far as the guest favors. but if i'm gonna do them, i want to give something people will enjoy and use.
belle1013
Favorite Answer
We gave CDs that we made featuring music from the wedding ie first dance, father/daughter dance and songs from our relationship ie a song from the first movie we saw together, a song from our favorite musical. We also put a personal greeting on it. We did it by ourselves and everyone loved it.
kill_yr_television
Years ago, they weren't called wedding favors, they were called matches. And that's what they were -- fancy books or boxes of matches printed with the name of the couple and the date. Sometimes there were also tiny candy bars, similarly printed (the wrapper that is, not the candy) with the name of the couple and the date. This stuff would be at each place setting or, if the food were buffet, in baskets near the coffee station.
How this morphed into giving each guest some cunning little artsy crafty knick-knack, I don't know. I suspect that "The Bridal Industry" saw an opportunity to extract even more money from starry-eyed brides. Other than candies, I've yet to see a wedding favor that I wouldn't have rather have done without. It's just clutter. If I want something to remember the occasion by, I have the invitation to put in my scrapbook or photo album.
sputnixx
I think it's definetly a good idea to have guest favors. I'm getting married in 7 weeks and we're on a decently tight budget... but I still picked them up.
I'll tell you what I did incase it might help... I went on ebay and got 120 sets of metal measuring spoons that are each shaped like a heart (but accurate to the measurements..from 1/4 teaspoon to tablespoon)... on the tablespoon (for example..) on the top it says "a heap of love".. but on the bottom side it says "1 tablespoon. They were each in a very nice box with a velvet inside and clear top to present them in with a nice see through white ribbon tied in a bow and a tag (custom designed with border and color..etc) with our names and the wedding date.. and with shipping each of the favors came out to about $1.50 or just under that.
It's pretty inexpensive but it looks really nice and it has a function... so people can use it and think about the wedding.
Again, I think it's nice to have a favor (especially for out of town guests who had to travel or sentimental family or friends) but I wouldn't spend more than $2 on each (if that...)
I'd recommend sitting the favor on peoples place setting at the reception or something like that so that they realize that it's there and make sure to bring it. If possible even have peoples names on them so they feel ownership over it and make sure they don't leave it behind.
And if you don't end up using them all you can always sell any that you have left on ebay.com or craigslist.org... maybe even for a mark up..
Spex
I was married on June 3rd of this year and we had a really tight budget for our wedding (total cost: $3600 for 60 guests). Our wedding was Asian themed (complete with red wedding dress and samurai swords), so we picked up some fans from a local party supply store, ordered chop sticks online, and my husband spent countless hours making origami cranes and flowers for each guest. We also had small statues of Buddha and, for our ultra Christian-conservative guests, small Japanese bags with a piece of jade in them for good luck. I liked having them and they added a nice touch to the place settings and overall appearance of the tables. Oh, and we did not have many favors left over, just about everyone took one (or more) home with them. However, I think my results may be due to the fact that it was such a unique wedding and the favors were not run-of-the-mill.
TP
When I got married... I decided against favors.. I have been to tons of wedding and to be honest, I can't remember who gave what as a favor! Instead of investing my time (which brides to not have a lot of) and money.. My husband and I made a donation to a charity we agreed upon. Then we displayed this on the table with the place cards: "In Lieu of favors...we have made a donation to the *** Charity"