How to Choose your Wedding Favors

Wedding favors are far more integral part of your wedding day than many realize. They are an important element of your wedding, as they are your way of saying thank you to your guests for joining you on your special day. Now you may be thinking ‘well, why do I have pay out yet more money on wedding favors to say thank you, when I could just say thank you in the speeches’ or maybe your are thinking ‘isn’t that what the thank you cards are for’.

Well yes & no is the answer to both of those. The tradition of wedding favors goes back many centuries & your guests will be expecting them. You can say thank you to your guests in your speeches but this in itself will not stop some guests muttering comments such as ‘cheapskate, couldn’t even be bothered to give us favors’! As for thank you cards, well these are used to thank those guests who gave you gifts, not to thank them for coming to the wedding.

So when it comes to choosing wedding favors consider the following points to help you narrow the choices & find the perfect gift to say thank you.

· Wedding Theme – you should have either a wedding theme or a wedding style. This will help you with your wedding planning & as such your wedding favors should coordinate with this. For example – a beach wedding would call for sea shells, boats or fish; whilst a winter wonderland theme would call for snowflakes, snowmen & things made from crystal.

· Your Style & Tastes – Think about things that you would like to receive. Would you prefer something edible? Practical? Fun or decorative? Choosing something that you yourself would like to have will probably mean at least 90% of your guests will like it too.

· Colors & Packaging – Not every wedding favor needs packaging, some things will already come presented in pretty boxed sets or wrappings. In this case you would just need to add a thank you tag. Those things that aren’t ready wrapped will probably need some form of packaging; it is your choice as whether or not you do. It is important to choose the favors first & not the packaging. Fit packaging to the favor & not the other way around! You will find a wide choice of colors & styles for packaging your wedding favors, but if you get stuck just choose a plain neutral color & add in your wedding colors with ribbons, tags & other decorations.

Types of Wedding Favor

· Edible Favors – These never fail as favors, everyone loves a treat in the form of cookies, mini cakes, candies or chocolates. Traditionally, an edible wedding favor consisted of almonds or sugar cubes, but in modern times just about anything goes!

· Sentimental Favors – these could be photo frames or a mini album with a picture of the two of you inside; a CD with your reception playlist on it or your favorite love songs; a poem recalling how you met & fell in love.

· Practical Favors – there is a wide choice of useful & practical wedding favors out there. These include bookmarks, bottle stoppers, measuring spoons, mini graters, cheese knives, pizza cutters, coffee cups, tape measures, salt & pepper pots, cookie cutters & coasters.

· Decorative Favors – These range from candles in many shapes & sizes, ornaments, paper weights, photo frames, vases & keepsake boxes, to name but a few.

· Themed Favors – the most popular wedding themes have been immortalized with coordinating wedding favors. Look out for Cinderella’s carriage in the form of photo frames or candles for a fairytale wedding; boxed sets of casino dice for a Vegas style wedding or personalized golf balls for a sporting theme.

· Seasonal Favors – For a spring or summer wedding look for plantable cards which are embedded with flower seeds, flower shaped candles, honey pots & even miniature pot plants. For a fall wedding you will find leaf shaped candles, soaps, bookmarks, bottle stoppers & pumpkin shaped photo frames. Winter weddings could have snow globes, snowflake shaped candle holders, snowball candles & bottles of mulled wine.

· Eco-Friendly Favors – there is a growing trend amongst many couples to be greener with their weddings & you will find many favors made from recycled materials, tree seedlings, edible favors made with organic ingredients & fair trade products.

Wedding favors don’t need to be expensive or extravagant in style. They just need to say thank to your guests in a way which coordinates with your wedding & which is uniquely you!