Favors: Guest Friendly Tips

Hands on
Draw guests out of their chairs with a candy buffet or bakery cart. These interactive stations allow guests to fill favor bags (or pastry boxes) with the treats of their choice.
Doubly duty
Choose favors that also serve as place cards, or even centerpieces, to save money. Think small wrapped boxes of chocolate that you can stack as centerpieces, or labeled Champagne bottles that double as place cards.
Classic favorite
Cookies. Think cutouts that match a blossom in your bouquet. In many cases, these sweet bites can be designed by your confectioner.
Bridal bucks
Give your guests one more reason to be thankful for your friendship—slip lottery tickets into customized envelopes placed at each table setting.
Eco-friendly
Choose a favor that will help the environment. Think evergreen-tree seedlings. Visit greenworldproject.net to place your order.
Family bonding
Bake cookies with mom, enlist bridesmaids to help fill clear boxes with Jordan almonds, or craft Christmas stockings with grandma.
Win-win favors
You can never go wrong with chocolate. But don't forget less traditional (and less expensive) sweets that can make a lasting impression, such as taffy sticks or caramels. Buy the sweet stuff at candywarehouse.com.
Musical memories
Share your love of music by making customized CDs for each guest.
Dashboard departures
Ask the valet to place a rose on the dashboard of each guest's car with an attached thank-you note from you and your groom. This parting gift doubles as a favor.
Home cooking
What's better than mom's signature apple pie? Give each guest mini pies for a tasty treat.
Green thumb
Give guests a growing favor, such as potted herbs, to cook with at home.
Practical present
Shield guests from the sun, if you're marrying outdoors, with pretty parasols that they'll be able to use long after your wedding day.

Cute Find: Wedding Jelly Beans

While taking a look through Oriental Trading's website, I stumbled upon these very cute wedding jelly beans. They are super cute and incredibly cheap. The only thing is that they have to be purchased by the unit. There are 16 bags, of approximately 28 jelly beans per bag, in each unit, but for only $5.95 per unit. (Less than .38 cents per package) White in color, cherry flavored, and featuring cute wedding messages as shown in the picture. I think these would make fantastic wedding favors or favor fillers if needed. Click here to see them at OrientalTrading.com.

Guests: Child's Gift Bag

To keep your youngest guests happy, here's some great ideas for a goodie bag. Given at the reception, the contents of the bag will have things to keep the kids occupied and will help them feel part of the festivities.

Goodie bags can be just about any color or size you”d like and are easily found at party-supply stores or online at orientaltrading.com. Oriental Trading is a great place to find bulk party supplies and toys for this project.

Supplies Needed :

Paper or cellophane goodie bags
Name tag for bag
Box of crayons
Notepads
Assorted Stickers
Coloring books
Smile Face Bullseye Games
Assorted bite-size candies

Directions :

Simply divvy up the goodies among the bags, write the child’’s name on each tag, and distribute at the reception. Easy!

Tips :

Make sure the goodies are age-appropriate for the kids. A 9-year old often won”t appreciate the same things one would give a 3-year old.

Stay away from things that could stain linens, clothes or kids such as markers.

Remember to include things both boys and girls will like. Our list above is pretty gender-neutral.

Details for this project (1 bag):

Paper or celophane goodie bags $0.25
Name tag for bag $.10
Box of crayons $0.15
Notepads $0.15
Assorted Stickers $0.25
Coloring books $0.25
Smile Face Bullseye Games $0.10

* Assorted bite-size candies $.50

Total Cost $1.65 each

Favors: Make Your Favors A Hit

Favors are meant to be little tokens of appreciation from you to your guests. Whether they are elaborate or simple, what you give your guests should reflect your gratitude and be something most of your guests can appreciate.

Before you spend countless hours and lots of money on favors that will be ignored or thrown away, we’d like to offer you some hints to make your favors a hit.

1. If it’s not edible or useful in everyday life, you’re likely wasting your time and money. The idea of a favor is to give your guests a little “thank you” for sharing your day. Most guests are appreciative of the gesture, no matter what it is. However, not everyone wants to cart home little trinkets to clog their junk drawers, memory boxes or garbage cans.

2. Find favors that will appeal to MOST OF YOUR GUESTS. You may find lacy, highly scented potpourri sachets to be the veritable cat’s meow, but the 50% of your male guests, 2% of your highly allergic pals, and 30% of your friends who have very different decorating ideas will not be as charmed by them as you. You’ll likely end up with lots of left-overs.

3. Forget monogrammed items. Frames, glassware, trinkets with your initials are likely candidates to get left behind. Why? Who wants someone else’s initials on their glassware? It’s kind of creepy. Want to put your monogram on something? Attach a little card or ribbon with your names/initials to the favor or put your monogram on the packaging, not the item itself.

4. You’re an adult. The majority of your guests are adults. Please distribute favors that (a) look like something an adult would appreciate OR (b) appeal to the kid in all of us. Nostalgia toys (Legos, Pez dispensers, Pla-Doh) are big hits for kids and adults alike because most of us can relate to them. Frilly, girly things are better saved for 7 year old girl guests or for your bridal showers, if you’re into that sort of thing.

5. Inexpensive doesn’t have to look cheap. Chances are if the favor looks cheap, it’ll get left behind or will get tossed.

6. Make certain guests know they exist. We’ve attended many receptions where the favors were hidden in a basket next to the door. Putting favors next to each guest’s place setting is ideal or personally handing them out to each guest during the reception is a nice way to greet each person and thank them individually.

So, what are the favor “shoulds”?

- They should appeal to most adult guests, male and female.
- They should not be highly scented.
- They should be useful or edible.
- They should given with love and gratitude.

Found on the DIYBride.com site

Reminder Bands

A new favor idea I've seen is to have custom made rubber bracelets. AKA Reminder Bands. These aren't so much my style, but the idea is really cute. I do buy them regularly to support causes, but typically they end up with my nephew to be, and he wears them everywhere. They're popular with the kids these days apparently. I did think they were really cute favor ideas, and I also stumbled upon a site that will make them for you. ReminderBand.com has many different styles and options to choose from, including, but not limited to:




One cute invitation idea I saw online used these bracelets:


Of course, the more you buy, the cheaper they get, and it depends on the style you pick, and any other options you choose.

Ecofetti: Tossing Alternative

I can't remember how I came across this site, but I absolutely love the idea. I'm going to order some samples to check it out before I place an order, I also have to figure out how much I'll need if I do order, but they make it incredibly easy on their website by telling you how much they put in their envelopes and cones (can be ordered as kits, or pre assembled items). I found that the cones they offer seem much larger than the ones I've "designed" at home myself, so I'll likely go ahead with making my own cones and simply ordering their ecofetti for my filler. I figure by their sizing guidelines, I should need 1/8th cup of ecofetti to fill my homemade cones, so one large bag of ecofetti would make 96 cones for me. 2 large bags, one blue, one orange, should do us just perfectly. Well, likely more than perfectly, but I'd have left over to be able to find something else to do with it. Better numbers can come later.



"Ecofetti is the new safe and accepted wedding toss with no cleanup worries. Water-soluble and completely biodegradable confetti - either hose it away or let nature help with the cleanup...
The perfect alternative to rice or birdseed, no slipping or staining, and ecofetti flutters easily to the ground."
Ecofetti is packaged with a scoop: Bags contain enough for each guest to have 1 rounded Tablespoon for the toss. If using a basket for guests to help themselves, you may want to increase the amount ordered - some enthusiastic guests can take 2 to 3 times that amount...

Small - 25 scoop bag; approximately 3 cups; ($7.95)
Medium - 50 scoop bag; approximately 6 cups; ($10.95)
Large - 100 scoop bag; approximately 12 cups. ($19.95)

To see water-soluble ecofetti for yourself and check out our colors send a large self-addressed stamped envelope (traditional business size holds 6 samples) with 2 thirty-nine cent stamps to:
Ecoparti, 125 Miner St., Middletown, CT 06457
and they will send you free samples, let them know your colors!

My Mood: High (on wedding planning excitement)

DIY: Wine Charms

I made these last night as part of my mom's mother's day present. She and Dad are wine people, they enjoy a glass every now and then, and they like the expensive stuff... okay, Dad likes the expensive stuff that tastes like grape (although that's debatable) nail polish remover, and Mom likes the fruity stuff with slightly less alcohol content. But we all like going over to Mom and Dad's, sitting around a bonfire and having a glass of wine, whatever type we all prefer.

How to Make Wine Charms:

Materials: Fig 1.
- Earring Hoops (also known as manipulating hoops) OR Ring Sized Memory Wire.
- Beads. Whatever you want, just try to be sure before you buy that they will fit over your hoops/wire.
- Charms and Split Rings (a.k.a. Jump Rings). If wanted.
- Pliers, needle nosed are the best.
- Wire Cutters, if using memory wire these could be handy to trim the excess.




Steps:
1. If using memory wire, make a loop or hook at one end (I just made hooks and was sure that my beads couldn't slip off). Fig 3 & 4.
2. String on your desired beads / pattern of beads that you wish. Fig 2.
3. Close the open end of your wire / hoop. For memory wire, trim any excess wire if necessary and create a second hook. For Manipulating/Earring hoops, bend the end of the wire to a 90° degree angle so it sticks straight up and will fit into the receiving end. Fig 3 & 4.
4. If Charms are desired: Attach a small jump ring to your charm and then attach the jump ring between the selected beads. This can be done during the stringing process as well, that's when I put mine on.
5. To put the wine charm on a glass, simply slip it around a wineglass stem and close it by putting the stopper piece of wire into the eyelet or your hook into your loop/hook. Fig 5.

Note: If it doesn't want to hold, gently pull the hoop open so that it will have some tension when closed.

I found some very cute (and very tiny) photo frame charms and my local WalMart. I picked these up and printed 1.7cm x 1.4cm photos of the family for Mom's mothers day presents. I put the tiny pictures in and they look gorgeous. I know she'll love them.

Here are some pictures for inspiration:



My Mood: Pleased

My Marble Magnets

I was bored tonight, so I ran down to our local dollar store and picked up the things I needed for marble magnets and decided to give them a try. It was stupidly easy and cheap. It took more time for me to decide what pictures I wanted to use than it did to put them together.

I bought:

- 4 Packs of 12 magnets at $1.50 each

- I bag of flat bottom marbles at $1.50

- I tube of "Amazing Goop" at $5.50

I made 12 magnets tonight, so it probably cost me at MOST $2.00 for those 12. I still have TONS of glue and flat marbles left. To figure it out, The bag I bought will make 24 sets of 4 magnets, with a couple left over marbles. So that $0.0625 per 4 marbles. The magnets I will try to find cheaper in super bulk for the favors, but using these ones they are $0.50 per 4. And say I use one tube of "Goop" per bag of marbles (although I think by tonight's findings it'll be much more than that) the goop works out to $0.23 per set. So totalled up it would cost me time and $0.7925 per set of favors. But if I find cheaper magnets, that could drop significantly.

Here are the pics of my bored night creations: (Sorry for bad light reflections)

My Mood: Artistic

DIY: Poetry by Any Other Magnetic Word

I have always loved magnetic poetry. I don't own a lot of it unfortunately, but I love it a lot. I was thinking about this while going along my idea of using magnets for our wedding favors. Can be easily personalized for our wedding and also practical. Come on, who ever has enough fridge magnets? But to buy the suckers it is friggen expensive! So I've searched online for DIY instructions, and really only came up with the same ideas I already had. So here it goes:

Materials Needed:
This is really broad.
- Words. Yes, Did I mention broad? Anyway. I suppose you could do anything, cut them out of magazines, print them on plain or sticker paper off your computer, write them on, the possibilities are endless here.
- Magnet Sheet. I've seen instructions where people glue or stick the words onto old fridge magnets that they don't want anymore, others will pick up magnet sheets or magnet strips.
- Glue - that is, if you aren't using sticker paper.

Instructions:
Step 1:
Collect your words.
Step 2:
Stick or Glue them to your magnet. Let Dry.
Step 3:
Cut the magnets to separate your words.
Step 4:
Enjoy. Stick on your fridge (or anything else magnetic), Give as gifts, Whatever.

Simple as that. I found the picture of the fridge in Google Image Search, if it's yours, let me know. I found the close up from DIY Maven on Curbly.com.

My Mood: Mellow