Tuesday, February 24, 2009

FAVORS OR NOT? THAT IS THE QUESTION!

To give favors or not that is the question? You are not required to give your guests gifts, however if done correctly they can be a special thank you. According to many articles I’ve researched it is possible that the little gifts have been given out for centuries. The French used to call the small and fancy boxes they handed out at weddings bonboniere. The bonboniere was made from gold, porcelain or crystal and for those wealthy enough; they were encrusted with precious gems and stones. Bonbonieres were made to hold bonbons or other sweet treats and were considered delicacies because of the high price of sugar. One of the things the gift of wedding favors do have in common with most cultures, is the tradition of giving five candies to represent the 5 wishes for all happy couples. These wishes are longevity, fertility, happiness wealth and health.

This does not mean you have to give sweets as the favor. Many brides and grooms are giving other gifts that reflect their personality or match the colors/theme of the wedding. I found that some donate to a cause and give out the donation cards instead. I have found really updated and unique favor ideas on www.myweddingfavors.com / www.theknot.com / www.beau-coup.com .

What ever your choice is to give favors or not, be sure to keep in mind:
· Budget (items get costly). If giving something expensive try giving them out to each couple.
· When having an outdoor summer wedding chocolate is not a good idea.
· Package your favor so your guests can easily take it home.
· You can personalize little boxes with monogram stickers and wedding color ribbons.
· How will you display your favor, at each place setting? Separate table? What ever the case is make sure that your guest realize it is a favor that they can take.

A great place to get ribbon is www.joannsfabric.com & www.michaels.com

This is the fun part. I’m asking to get dialogue from you. This will help others get some new fresh ideas. Please comment to this blog and let me know:

"Do you think favors are necessary? If so, what are you giving out?"

Kelly

12 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't think favors are necessary, but it is a nice gesture. We are having chopsticks as our wedding favors. In the Chinese culture chopsticks is a sign of unity - chopsticks come in pairs. Since this is the first non-traditional Chinese wedding in my family, having chopsticks as favors adds a little Chinese culture. :)

HappilyMarried said...

We are going to be doing favors, just not sure yet. I'd like to maybe do a candle or have the bottles of bubbles on the tables, I know the kids would like those.

Jenn Helberg said...

I by no means think wedding favors are necessary this day in age. They are a wonderful gesture, especially if they are a good reflection of the relationship and personality of the Bride and Groom. When I really think about it, all of the favors I have received from weddings in the past (which include but are not limited to an engraved shot glass, a small bottle of red wine, a rose shaped sucker pop, a potpourri thingy, a container of jelly beans (no joke)) have ended up in the junk door and if perishable, eventually the trash.

Jon and I went back and forth on favors and whether we should give out engraved wine bottle stoppers, individual containers of olive oil (I like to cook), small honey jars, and many other random items. All were pricey and just didn’t seem that important in the grand scheme of things. We recently decided to donate what we would have spent on favors to the causes of which our father’s passed away: Alcoholism and Wagner’s Granular Mitosis. We are also going to donate to the Multiple Sclerosis society as we just lost a loved Aunt to the awful disease. I am going to try with all my might to get crafty and make little notes on nice cardstock inserted into envelopes matching our color scheme outlining the donation and to whom it was made in honor of. On the front, I plan on attaching a little token that says “hope.” We feel making donations is a really special way to include those who cannot be with us on our Wedding Day and do something that feels good for everyone involved.

Hope that helps give all of the other Brides and Grooms planning their big day at the Monte Verde Inn some new ideas!

Sincerely,

Jenn Helberg
Wedding Date: 08/28/09

ElisabethEvans said...

We went back and forth on our wedding favors, too, and thought about making our own "book thongs" (beaded book marks) with a note on them about storybook endings or something (we're nerds and both love to read). Then we heard about the photo booth through Joe at SJ's DJ who we'd already booked and we were sold! Our experience has also been that a lot of the favors we've gotten have ended up in the trash, so we thought the photo booth would be a great favor for our guests because it is a memory of the day as well as the experience and fun of taking the pictures! We probably wouldn't have thought of it on our own, but we are excited to have a unique and fun favor at our wedding!

Monte Verde Inn said...

Hi Jenn
Bubbles are a cute idea, however when they are on the table, people blow bubbles. Then the bubbles (soap) end up on peoples food & drinks. A way to incorporate the bubbles, have the guests blow bubbles during the recessional (end of ceremony), it makes for great photos.

HappilyMarried said...

I was also wondering if we are allowed to have small candle votives around the dinner tables at the reception?

Monte Verde Inn said...

We already provide votives with tealights on the guest tables. You can bring your own, just make sure they don't drip candles wax on the linens.

Holly O' said...

I agree with Flora, I don't think favors are necessary but I do think it's a nice way to thank your guests for coming. At our wedding we will be placing small birds nests filled with white jordan almonds on each place setting. This little gesture will fit into the theme of our wedding, which is white feathers/birds and cherry blossoms.

HappilyMarried said...

Awesome, even better!

Vicki said...

I don't think favors are necessary, but I feel it is important to thank your guests for coming. Plan for us is to use photo coasters (come in a set of two). I was given an idea that one can act as your placecard setting and one can be a thank you on the way out (so everyone ends up with two). I thought it was important that the favors be useful. We are also going to have the photobooth, in which we plan to take a photo in at the wedding with "thank you" signs to include a personalized thank you picture with our thank you notes!

Dep Vida said...

We are thinking about 3 options:
1) If we have $ left in our budget, we will definitely use our DJ Joe Kalamaras' photo booth as favors. Cost $699 for unlimited use.

2) If not, my cousin & brother may run around with a digital camera during the cocktail hour to snap pictures of guests, go print them out, & set 2 copies out on a table. One for guests to attach to a page in the guest book & leave a message & the other will be for them to take home. Cost $100 for ink & photo paper for ~100 guests.

3) We'll have a gift box or container with 5 starlight mints with a personalized sticker or ribbon placed on each charger along with the place card & a dendrobium orchid blossom (we shared our first kisses by sharing these mints at a Feist & Stars concert at Bimbo's in SF on 3/26/05). Cost ~$150 for 100 guests.

Unknown said...

I like the idea of having wedding favors, although I do agree they are not necessary. Since the flower theme for our wedding is Calla Lilies, I wanted to buy the calla lily vase shaped candles. Will candle favors do ok at the end of June (Kelly I read your comment about chocolate being a bad idea for the summer months)?