Wedding Tips & Bridal Trends

For some, Wedding Favors may be a wedding planning task that’s rather simple, but that’s not always the case these days. In recent years the industry has flourished and making a choice gets a little difficult with so much to choose from. This often leaves a bride to be in question. Which one is right for my wedding? Even more, you have to decide if they will be part of the wedding ceremony, or just for the reception afterwards. It’s this kind of stuff that makes shopping for Wedding Favors a bit stressful. Fortunately there are a number of available options for Wedding Favors that make any ceremony or reception satisfactory for all involved. It’s especially important to wrap up the search for the wedding decorations quickly since there is so much ‘other’ planning involved. Now, let’s go over the basics and wrap up that search for the best Wedding Favors that fit your theme. Huh? Theme? Yes, every wedding that involves any type of decor has a theme, how else could you decorate? Now let’s jump in and find out which Wedding Favors are right for you. A few simple thoughts planted in your head will get you there and keep it simple, less stressful and even a bit fun.

Flowers instead of Wedding Favors
Using flowers as Wedding Favors? Yes, it’s been done. A way around it if you’re on a budget. If you really want to have something to give to your guests don’t go out and grab a bulk wholesale amount of Cheap Wedding Favors! That is the worst idea when it comes to decor. When they’re cheap, well, they’re cheap and guests know it. You’re better off offering something like flowers, you’re most likely working with a florist anyway and a little extra can go a long way for a wedding on a budget. Flowers are one of the easiest ways to offer your guests something with meaning. There is literally no preparation involved with this type of wedding favor and the extra plus about this type of planning is the ability to change amounts with a call to your florist a week before the wedding date. Remember, not everybody you invite is coming, and sometimes those you invite will bring more than themselves too! Flowers can quickly be added or subtracted before delivery. You might consider offering your guests a single red rose as a favor or even a white rose to signify your wedding. A rose is not just a flower in our society, it also symbolizes love, which is why they’re so popular on Valentine’s Day. The color white, or ivory, is commonly associated with the wedding dress or veils, and offering a white or off white rose for ivory is another perfect way to offer something guests will remember and enjoy when they take it home. When a flower is used as a favor it is common for the staff at the reception hall, or even members of your wedding party, to place one at each place setting so guests quickly receive their gift as they are seated. Flowers make great table centerpieces too. Oh, speaking of Wedding Party 🙂 Don’t forget the wedding party gifts.

Candy, the super easy Wedding Favor
Candy is a really easy way to offer something at your reception in place of Wedding Favors. There are so many creative ways to give candy, with Favor Boxes being the most popular. These aren’t always ‘boxes’ as the name states. Sometimes they’re little pails that look like miniature buckets, and sometimes they’re little bags. Filling them is quick and easy (and cheap), and they look good.

Mini Photo Frames as Place Card Holders
Those mini photo frames really are an easy wedding favor, especially if when they are used as place card holders. Picture frames are used as inexpensive Place Card Holders so often the industry actually makes them that way now, perfectly sized and low cost. These beat the 99 cent Cheap Wedding Favors any day. (Those cheap favors look fancy in the pictures online, but they really are cheap junk, don’t be fooled, you’ll regret it later). If you’re a bride and groom short on time this one’s for you! Think about it, you don’t have to wrap them or set them up in any special way, they’re little frames. Stick the place cards in them and you’re done. Later guests can use them for a photo. Even better have your photographer make your favorite wedding photo to fit those frames and make lots of copies, one for each guest address in the thank-you cards after the wedding has passed. Now they have your wedding photo in their little frame, forever on their table or shelf, etc., always a reminder of your special day. How much better can it get?

Wait! I want more than this, I want my dream Wedding!
Ok ok! Let’s have some more fun. Put a big smile on your face. Come on, where is it. OK, lets go. You have much more to choose from, but if you’re in a rush and on a tight budget, the above suggestions are a great way to move forward. If you have a little more time and want to match that theme with the perfect Wedding Favors, read on. Everybody wants the perfect wedding, but sometimes the money in our pocket or the time we have available just doesn’t work too well with wedding planning, so we substitute or improvise to save time and money. Unless you’re someone like Angelina Jolie the wedding ceremony will more than likely be the biggest event you will ever attend, where you’re the center of attention. That’s pressure! Hold on, slow that heart beat down, it’s not that bad. It’s the best day of your life, all that nervousness is gone once things get started, don’t worry.

So, I’m not a psychic, I don’t really know what you’re planning or what your theme is, or if you’ve even decided yet. That’s ok, we can do this. Many upcoming brides actually decide on their theme after they find their wedding favors. Sometimes it takes some looking around at all those fancy little things in the pictures online before you suddenly say hey, those are my wedding favors, that’s me. It really can be that simple, and yes, it really is a common way to decide on that perfect theme too. Many don’t realize it, but the Wedding Favors make more of an impression on guests than the wedding cake. There is only one single item that people notice more than favors, and that’s the wedding dress, but that’s too much for this article, so let’s not get into that yet. I’ll post about wedding dress tips later on.

Back on the Subject
OK, you made it this far so let’s wrap this up and get that decision making process moving. Ask yourself a few questions. Actually write these down, you’ll remember them better (or just bookmark the page, it’s a great reference, I promise).

What’s the theme for my wedding?
You’re wedding is a big deal, even if it’s a small wedding, doesn’t matter, it’s YOUR wedding. You don’t have to have a theme, but once you do anything with decor, guess what? You have a theme. Some view a wedding ceremony as a fairytale (pumpkins, coaches, vintage items, silk fans) while others view it as a royal style event (crowns, fleur de lis, prince and princess, monogram favors). There are so many themes but here’s a few more. Maybe you like or are having a beach wedding, and things like starfish candles, shell place card holders, dolphin bottle openers and even light house tea light holders are a perfect match. Maybe you’re into elegance, and what a perfect way to celebrate when you have chrome bottle stoppers with a real crystal heart on top or Eiffel Tower place card holders along with the popular ‘Paris with Love’ photo coasters or Eiffel Tower key chains. Or …Perhaps you have a unique personality and want to reflect that ‘uniqueness’ at your wedding reception. Something like Vintage Burlap Favor Bags (yes, FavorsDepot.com has them, they’re tiny little guys and personalized, oh yes, very popular too), or even heart shape vintage key bottle openers at http://www.favors.cc — There’s so much available when you get in to Unique Wedding Favors.

What’s the most I want to spend on Wedding Favors?
This one can be a bit tricky, because you need to answer it after you know what your guest invite list consists of. The more people you plan on inviting, the more Wedding Favors you need. Some brides to be like to plan this part a different way, by deciding not how much to spend in total, but how much to spend per person. This may be a good way to go if you don’t have a complete wedding guest invitation list yet. If you want cheap wedding favors that are pennies, like 99 cents or 89 cents, etc., well, they are good as garbage after the ceremony when they’re cheap wedding favors, nobody’s taking them home. That’s something to keep in mind. Guests are like you, they’re smart and they know what quality products are. They also know when something is cheap. Remember this: Your Wedding Favors are a huge part of YOUR impression on YOUR guests. Do you want to leave that impression? Maybe it’s better to plan for $1.50 to $4.00 per favor, it really makes a difference in the overall atmosphere when you’re sitting at the big table in your reception and start noticing the guests picking up the Wedding Favors, holding them up, turning them, talking about them, etc. See it happening in your mind now? Yes, they will talk about them, so make the impression. You can often find what the industry calls ‘Price Breaks’ which discounts the favors based on the amount you buy, so the more you need the lower the price, but they’re not those ‘cheap’ ones anymore, they just become inexpensive because you needed a lot, but still high quality favors that leave a lasting impression, and your guests will take them home too!

How much time do I have to deal with these Wedding Favors?
This is another little tip that many brides never think about. Do you have time (which can be hours if your guest list is big) to tie little tags on a ton of favors? Do you even have the patience? 🙂 If you’re considering Personalized Wedding Favors you want to keep that part in mind. They don’t come assembled. You’ll get a shipment of favors and a lot of tags (or stickers, depending on the product) that will need to be assembled. Next, you need to keep them from getting tangled together. Just something to think about. Personalized tags are a really fancy way to express yourselves even further but they’re also time consuming and require great care to keep them in order. Outside of personalization there are other time consuming tasks that may come about, which almost always involves some type of assembly. If you’re not into that ‘spending lots of time’ stuff you might be much less stressed by going with something simple, like wedding favors that aren’t made of cardboard, which often need to be punched out of their sheets, folded and connected together. Most favors aren’t like this, but if you run across them keep that part in mind, they don’t come to you assembled.

Hopefully you have a better idea of what you want, and how you want to do it. If not, that’s ok, you’ll get there soon enough. Here’s some links to different Wedding Favors from Unique and Elegant to Personalized and just plain Popular! Just looking helps, it gives you new ideas and starts the thinking process if you’re stuck on what to do next. Oh, outside of all this favor talk, you can also find practically everything else you’re looking for at the Wedding Favors place, Favors Depot. Now here’s those links I promised:

Popular Wedding Favors ||| Unique Wedding Favors ||| Personalized Wedding Favors

Elegant Wedding Favors ||| Wedding Favor Boxes ||| Beach Theme Wedding Favors ||| Bridal Shower Favors