Wedding Tips & Bridal Trends

It’s wedding time! All those people you have invited have set aside their time to celebrate your special wedding day with you. How can you properly thank them for attending your big event? Wedding favors are an offering of sincere thanks from the bride and groom to the guests at the wedding who traveled, sometimes far, just to share in that magical moment, the union of two.

Wedding favors offer a way for any newlywed couple to express appreciation in the form of a small gift, a token of appreciation. Many factors are involved when deciding just what exactly should be offered to the guests . It does not matter if your guest list is as small as a few, or as big as a thousand, because wedding favors are given at either the wedding reception for larger celebrations or the luncheon (or dinner) for small and simple gatherings. They can be placed on the tables in the reception hall before the guests arrive or passed out as guests enter the reception hall by the ushers. Some newlyweds even have a table set-up so guests can take a favor as they leave, or as they come in.

It is important to keep a good count on the guest list so you will know how many people will be attending.  Traditional wedding planning is the most common with guest counts, where a reply card is included with each invitation so potential guests can let you know far in advance if they will be attending, and how many will be in their party. In most cases, if the guest list is small (under 60 attending) the wedding favor to be given will be more expensive and elegant. However, if you have many attending your reception after the ceremony you may need a lot more favors so you might want to go with the discount wedding favors that are less costly, because weddings are expensive and there are many other costs involved.

The wedding favors should be in your spending budget, noted on that piece of paper you’re using to arrange your budget, because they are a big part of a wedding, and often expected by guests who attend. Keep in mind, the wedding favor is a token of appreciation and guests will most certainly appreciate any small gift, it doesn’t have to be Swarovski crystal.

What’s your theme?
What is your wedding theme going to be? In the present day theme often plays a major part of the reception and guests never know what to expect when entering the reception hall. Remember that there are many theme wedding favors available that you can find to match your planned theme.

Let’s say that you and your spouse love the beach. You are true water babies. Wedding favors can take the form of seashells, little bottles of colored sand, a small pail with your wedding date stamped on it, or something else.

The traditional wedding reception will commonly feature more expensive favors, not extremely high-priced stuff, just a big more elegant and unique. It’s common practice where a guest will be given a mini picture frame that includes a photo of the couple inside (be creative and use place card holder frames to double as place cards). Another common item would be personalized favors or even small engraved gifts.

Tailoring the unique wedding favors to the theme makes choosing them a lot of fun for both bride and groom. Gifts are only limited by your own creativity and personal style.

Another item on the list that is certainly worth mentioning here is your wedding budget. If the budget is really tight (and for many in this economy it is, so don’t feel alone) you might want to consider homemade wedding favors that you design and create yourself. If time or creativity just doesn’t help you much here just keep it simple, such as disposable wedding cameras (usually in white) and low-cost photo albums. Simply offer each guest a photo album specifically for the pictures they’ll take at your wedding. Check out these inexpensive bride and groom photo albums for guests, they are as low as $1.20 and make a great impression.

If you are a bit artistic on the computer you can easily create unique yet traditional wedding decrees. Just roll them up like an old sea scroll style treasure map and secure them with a bit of fancy ribbon. Guests now have a bridal keepsake they can take home for their scrapbook or display cabinet and it’s certainly unique.

Wedding favors are by far the most popular and unique way for a bride and groom to express their gratitude to all the reception guests. Oh, and remember, they don’t have to be expensive or super elegant wedding favors to send that message of appreciation, just keep it simple because you have enough to worry about with all the other wedding planning to come.