Hello Everyone!!

I have a friend who is getting married. They don't have tooooo much to spend on the whole shindig! I'm helping out by making cookies & catering at pretty much cost.

Now she needs some ideas for favors & a clever little slogan to go with it. Name are Stacy & Dane. Colors are Hot Pink & Chocolate

Please give us some suggestions & ideas that won't break the back. Any help is appreciated!

TIA~~

OP check these links out..I know someone who did cookie cutters as favors, very cute metal ones shaped like butterflies (one of their themes). Other weddings I have been to where they were on a budget, they just tied up little candies, Jordan almonds or Hershey kisses or whatever, in a little tulle bag with a card attached. Someone else did little fabric picture frames with romantic poems inside, they bought packs of like 10 frames at the $1 store.

Wedding favors on a budget | Frugal Village

Wedding Favors

I've seen where they printed up specialized wrappers for miniature candy bars and placed them around on the tables.

Another time we were at the wedding of two avid gardeners and they gave away seed packets that they had printed, folded, and glued and then filled with seeds. The packets had sayings that tied the particular seed / flower with a Bible verse, famous quote, etc..

Please don't spend too much on favors. I have been to a lot of weddings that don't have any
and that is just fine. I have also been to many weddings and showers that spend a lot of money
on favors. I have received clocks, candy dishes, figurines, etc... I wonder how many of these things
are just thrown away. I take them home and my dd is thrilled to have them. My sil always leaves hers and my mil will come up and take hers home to her because she thinks she is forgeting it. lol I know it will just go in the trash. So if they really think they
need something then the little bags of candy would be nice. That way people don't have to figure out
where to put it, they can just eat it.

I agree with the poster who said not to spend a lot of money on favors. I had little silver bells on each table and very few people took them. Also, our favors were personalized golf balls (husband is a BIG golf nut; former PGA member) and we had a lot left over. On the ball were our names and the phrase, "Suited to a tee." We also had golf tees with our names on it. It was all great, but it was just an extra expense that was wasted.

A good friend attached cards (made on the computer) to peppermints (you could use pink mints) that said, " _____________ and _________________, "mint" for each other. We also went to a wedding recently where they gave out personalized shot glasses! LOL

My advice would be to focus on small touches at the reception that they will remember.

__________________
If you're not living on the edge, you're wasting space.

I almost don't see the point to favors at a wedding anymore. It's almost like a goody bag at a kids party! I'm sure the meal is costing an arm & a leg already. I know it's to thank the guest for coming, but it seems like an outdated tradition.

We went to a very nice wedding and they gave out metallic jordan almonds in the tulle, as well as a custom engraved gift bag with the names of the bride & groom, inside that was a shot glass with a celtic symbol on it. I dunno, I guess if you have unlimited funds these things are ok, but what do you do with them after??

__________________
Come and visit the gang at TLJ
PM me for info

I must be in the minority - I LOVE wedding favors! I find the ones that are most memorable are the ones that are homemade. To me, favors should be more of a 'thoughtful' detail than a 'costly' detail.

There are lots of great ideas here!

Hershey kisses in tulle sounds very pretty!

I agree that consumable (edible) favors are probably best - both for usefulness and financial abilities.

We gave out little jars of home made strawberry jam at our wedding.

I work for a catering company and I do about 2 weddings a weekend, so I think I can speak from experience!! If you do favors, do something they can eat. You would not believe the amount of favors we pick up at the end of a reception. Hersheys kisses and hugs candies in a bag with a tag that says "Hugs and Kisses" from the new Mr. and Mrs. is cute. The cookie cutter is another good one with the tag that says cut out for each other or something like that. Another big thing is to make a donation to a charity and then leave a little card at each setting saying "In lieu of favors, Stacy and Dane have made a donation to XXX charity" (Personally I like this one, because you are helping a cause and it isn't wasted money)

A little votive candle is always a good one too, because most people will use that. If you do decide to do favors, try to get the little bag in the boldest wedding color, it looks really good sitting on the table as a contrast to the white linen. Or go opposite if the linen is in the wedding color, go with white. --oops-- just saw the colors obviously go with those, not white if you can help it!!

Hope this helps...I am off to manage yet another wedding...this one is a true Bridezilla, I mean princess as she likes to call herself!!!

Good luck.

__________________
*******If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
But if life gives you limes....make margaritas!!!*******

I was reading though the comments on my way to post...and I so agree with the people who said...."Forget The Favors" A bag of Hershey kisses..cute but either eaten up of left to melt in the car. I recall the old days **sigh** when the little box for the wedding cake had the bride and groom's names on it....and you took a piece of wedding cake home. ...what else did you need. The cake was great with a cup of coffee after a couple of hours being home....that was a great favor.

__________________
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.

E. Roosevelt

I just wanted to add my two cents - I read all the comments and I agree to do something edible. Sometimes food takes forever to come out because of waiting on someone, so the edible favors are nice to have at the table.

We had bowls of popcorn and nuts on our tables. The guests ate them while we finished up our pictures and then we had dinner.

Something I've seen recently that I wish we had when we got married (almost 19 years ago) are disposable cameras on each table so the guests can take pictures from their point of view. Then bride and groom can get the pictures developed and get to keep them. It shows snapshots during the reception that they may have missed. I think it's a great idea.

Lisa

__________________
"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

Hi Everyone! THank you for good ideas & points. I will talk to them this week & let them know everything. I think we can buy the tulle circles at Michaels...& ribbon in their colors just about anywhere...My DH can print out the labels...Yes-I have my own personal Geek Squad--Not that labels are hard...I just love he can fix our crap!

I can get the Hershey Kisses at Sams for like what $6/bag? A few bags of those & we would be set....Not bad!

Anyone else got ideas...Feel free to keep them coming..

Oh yeah. they aren't internet "ready" the way I am...I couldn't even take my laptop & hope to pick up someones wireless, to show them some cheap favors online that I found...I would buy everything on line if I had too!!!!

Alright, well thank you again! Keep the commments coming!

I agree with the others -- don't fret about the favors. I think the idea of the Hershey kisses is great. People always love things to eat! When my son and his wife got married, we made votive candles. They were a big hit. And the ones that people left, we just took them home to use for ourselves.

When my friend got married three years ago. We did hershey kisses roses. They were adorable and eatable. I am looking for a link to them now.

Hershey's Kiss Rosebud Favor here is the instructions for the rose. Then we took 5-6 and made a bouquet out of them. They were really cute. you could look for pink foiled wrappers, even brown probably.

here is another site, with the bouquet picture. We did not glue or tape the kisses together. We just wrapped them. That way they were still edible. They were a big hit...
Hershey's Kiss Rosebud Favor

__________________

Just going to agree with the others. Nix-o on the favors that are just stuff. Candy is great. I would stay away from individual candies, like M&M. I don't like it when I know someone has touched the candy to wrap it in the tulle or whatever. Wrapped is better, like Kisses. Or maybe there is a candy out there that somehow represents them, a reference that people would get. Like if they are computer geeks you could get little boxes of Nerds. Or if they both work on a dairy farm Milk Duds or Hot Tamales if they met at a mexican restaurant. Maybe I am stretching, you would have to check out the candy aisles for inspiration.

BTW, BIG KUDDOS to your friends for having a wedding that fits within their budget. That is awesome and is a testament to their maturity and is a great way for them to start their life together.

Congratulations to them both.

__________________
Raising my baby RIGHT!!!!!!

All the cool babies are wearing cloth!

We did plastic spoons, put two Hershey's kisses on them wrapped with toole, tied off with ribbon in our colors and tied on the ribbon a tag (cut with pretty scrapbooking sissors) that said "A spoonful of kisses from the new Mr. and Mrs." Cheep, can match almost any theme, gives people who what to help something to help with. Just rembmer if you do candy - it can melt...so keep it cold. We brought a cooler for them.

__________________
saraedawson@yahoo.com

Mommy to Jake, Alexis, Abigail and Joshua, Wife to Matt

At my cousin's wedding, we had to wait for awhile for them to get done taking pictures. When everyone arrived at the reception area, we had regular sized candy bars on the tables waiting for us. They were all still wrapped, but in addition to that they had preprinted wrappers around that. It was nice to have something to munch on while we waited for the bride and groom to get there.

I don't want this to sound like a total sales pitch ...... BUT the company that I work for has the most gorgeous engraved lollipops they are called Suckers for Love, are tied with a ribbon and have a personalized message on the card. We also have Tokens of Appreciation candies that are $2.50 each. They are available in many colors and coordinate with most color schemes.

Link to suckers

Wonderful Graffiti

Link to tokens
Wonderful Graffiti

If you have questions, you can pm me if you have questions.

Leanne

You can make your own wrappers for mini candy bars. Use address labels and print them out on your computer. You could print hearts, bells, doves, whatever and the couples names & wedding date. Then spread them around the tables.

You could also make lables for full size or 'snack size' candy bars -- just vary the size of the label or print on copy paper, put to size and tape over the sealed wrapper.

If you're on a budget, I wouldn't spend a whole lot on the favors -- I think candy is great because the guests can enjoy it while they are sitting at the table.

Sarah........mom to Jason & Devin

My Walmart had these cute little trinket wedding boxes back in the craft department that came in packs of 50 for 8.00. They would be cute to hold a little something.

__________________
AKA: Airbornearmywife

I LOVE the "Suckers in Love" idea! That is really cute! Also, here's an interesting article on saving money for a wedding I read recently: Best ways to get married on a budget - Wedding Budget - Helium - by Emma Lynn
Maybe it'll help someone planning a wedding.

Cheryl

__________________
Momma to 4 Sweeties!!

you could always do the personalized m&m's, dove bars, even hershey's kisses:


WWW.MYMMS.COM > CUSTOM PRINTING

MYDOVECHOCOLATE.COM > HOME PAGE

HERSHEY'S GIFTS - Special Message HERSHEY'S KISSES® Brand Chocolates Gifts

__________________
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God? " ~Epicurus

I got married a year and a half ago and worried about the favors. I ended up doing jordan almonds wrapped in tulle and tied with my ribbon colors. Then I had them sitting in plastic Cinderella-type slippers at each place setting. While it was awfully cute, very few people actually took them with them! I had SO many left over. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't even do favors. I also have two votive candle-holders sitting on my dresser now from a wedding we attended recently (DH picked up the favors - I was trying to forget them on the table). They have the bride and groom's names on them and their wedding date. While that is a nice thought... where do I keep that? The only thing I'd even consider doing is perhaps the idea of Hershey's kisses in the tulle circles.

__________________
Kim

Heart shapped chocolate cookies with pink iciing. Tie them in a bag and put ona bow with a tag with names and dates.

__________________

GO TONY!!!!!!!!!!! # 20!!!

no offense to anyone, but jordan almonds are as hard as a rock, and I wouldnt risk my teeth or expensive dental work on them. I eat regular almonds all the time, but these are like concrete
JMO

How about some buttermints? I know I always have lifesaver mints with me - I think people would appreciate something minty after eating anh drinking!

If you want to package them a little differently, you could buy those little black or clear plastic cups at the warehouses (BJ's, Sams, Costco). They are used for condiments. You could put a label with their names and date of marriage. Nice, but usable.

What about the chocolate dipped spoons tied with pink ribbon and a cute saying? They are really easy to make and great to stir in coffee.

This is what we did. I did them myself and bought the miniatures in bulk at Costco during Easter time (so we would have the pastel wrappers instead of silver and gold). Personally, I wouldn't think of spending a lot on favors. I forget my favors half the time when I attend weddings. My SIL got married in Oct of last year,. Had a big wedding in Vail (probably 10 times what we spent) and did the little containers of bubbles with tulle wrapped around them and we blew bubbles at them when they left...

__________________
Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

Those are cute, but $3 each is pretty expensive.

We did these on full-size Hershey bars for DD's bridal shower -- and not a single one was left on the tables

.

If you have a Michael's Arts & Crafts store in your area.....

The Michael's store in my area has a 40% off coupon in their ad just about every week, and occasionally a 50% off coupon. You can find lots of wedding related items there. They also have lots of good tips on wedding favors here at their website. HTH

Wedding Favor Tips

.

__________________
No outfit is complete without cat hairs!

~~~MsMiser