Favorite favors

I get a lot of questions from brides about what they should do for favors at their wedding. If you've been to enough weddings you know that most of them get left behind at the reception hall anyway, so practical brides feel that they put themselves at a risk for wasting money by going with something expensive. My recommendation is always to go with something simple and edible since just about everyone likes to snack on something sweet at the end of a good wedding. Food isn't the only way to go, though, and here are some neat ideas from some of my past weddings:

This was a wedding I did back in 2007 and the picture is courtesy of Emma Dodge Hanson. This couple had guests coming in from all over the country, and they wanted to give them each something to listen to on their travels back home. They put together a mixed CD with songs that meant something to them as a couple, and dressed up the CD with a cute picture of the two of them. Once they placed them all in the pink and green cases they fit perfectly with the color scheme of the event. Fun, easy to do, and personal.

These are pictures I've posted on this blog before, but I wanted to bring them back because they are two examples of couples who chose to combine their place card with their favor. It's a great idea because it saves on paper, it keeps you from having to keep track of twice as many items, and it reduces the waste left behind at the end of the night. The top picture with the blue boxes was taken by Shannon DeCelle and the bottom photo is from Niki Rossi. The boxes held candies are were displayed as traditional place cards at the entrance to the room. The bottom photo is a tree sapling that guests could take home and plant in their yards. These were placed at each place setting instead of being stacked at a front table. Two different approaches to the same great idea.

This picture was taken by Hillary Harvey at one of our weddings last fall. What's different about this wedding was that they gave their guests not one, but two favors. Although not pictured, the couple had small maple syrup containers at each place setting. But at the end of the night Katie and I put out these cute to-go containers that had maple candies and other goodies in them. By placing this display right by the exit we were making sure that everyone would see it and take the boxes home with them. The couple also added a personal touch by fixing a sticker with their monogram and wedding date on the top of each box. Cute!

This might be my favorite kind of favor - the one of charitable donation. If you think that buying little trinkets or candies if a waste, then why not make a donation in your guests' honor? This picture was taken by Jill Kaiser at a wedding last fall, and this couple chose the Lance Armstrong LIVE STRONG charity. This is a charity that is on top of it when it comes to wedding donations, because they are already equipped to send out thank you cards that couples can give to their guests that night. As you can see in the picture, the card informs the guests of the donation that was made, and it also come with the signature yellow LIVE STRONG wrist band attached to the back of each card. Perfect packaging and a perfect idea! So pick your favorite charity and put your favor money to a very practical and worthy use.