The importance of a good favor

sarahjane222

I'm torn on what to give as a favor to our guests. Our reception is at an upscale place and our guests are being served a high-end meal with an open bar. I very much like the idea of an edible favor and we were planning on making peanut brittle and cookies (or some other dessert - the peanut brittle means something in my family). We chose the baking route because we thought it would be the most cost effective way, but now that I'm adding up the cost of favor boxes plus the ingredients (not to mention time!) to bake all of this, it's seeming less and less of a good idea. 

My latest idea is to get nice looking pre-wrapped chocolates (in gold foil or something) from the bulk store and do up little "thank you" tags or something to personalize them. Is this cheap or chincy? I think I've been to weddings before where this has been done and haven't thought twice about it as I popped it in my mouth before dinner!  

artbyallie

Favors are never required, but you are correct in thinking that if you do them, edible is best. Nothing wrong with chocolate.

doeydo

I'd love little chocolate favours!

The only thing for me would be knowing whether they are gluten free or not (I have Celiac disease).  
However, if you wanted to go the peanut brittle route, I'd make sure no one is allergic first, then try to look at other ways of wrapping them or something to lower your costs.  Examples:

esstee33

I prefer peanut brittle, but as PPs have said, people could have allergies that make them unable to have that. 

Homemade favors are a major PITA, but in my experience they're very appreciated -- I made apple butter for 65 people for my first wedding and people raved about it. That definitely made all the hard work worthwhile. 

That said, if I do favors at all again, it'll be something purchased. 

atlastmrsg

I prefer store bought favors.  I'm not germaphobic, but I'm on the way there.  Granted, professional bakery/etc. kitchens may not be up to standard, but I trust a professional more than someone at home to not lick the spoon.  It's pretty likely that I won't take a homemade favor, but I would take something that is wrapped and obviously made by someone in industry.  For example, there is a chocolatier near my house.  Everything is made in store, but by the time they wrap and seal it, you'd think it's from Godiva's operation.  

The short story: I prefer a non-homemade item.  Not cheap/chincy/etc. at all.

What I really prefer as a favor: a good time.  Lots of food, at least beer/wine provided...sounds like you have that covered.  For people who don't on here, I suggest that they spend the money on alcohol, passed appetizers, etc.

MairePoppy

The chocolates aren't chintzy. I've received m &ms, as well as fancy truffles at weddings and enjoyed both.

My DD and SIL bought maple sugar candies to represent her New England roots and nip bottles of Arak to represent his Armenian roots. DD made her own wedding stationary with matching hang tags for the favors.

vulpiepop

Edible favors are the best! The Ferrero Rocher chocolates look nice (and are delicious), I've seen them used as favors for more upscale weddings. Do you have a theme for your wedding? FI and I are basing our favors around our "theme" and it's made it a lot easier to figure out what favors we wanted to bake.

oxfordcomma14

I honestly couldn't tell you what the favors even were ar the last 3 weddings I attended. Don't overthink it. If you have the time and money to do the peanut brittle and would enjoy doing it, do that. If not, do something store bought or skip them altogether.

jynxiie

We're doing lindor chocolates and everyone that knows we're doing those are really happy since who doesn't like lindor truffles? 

lc07

atlastmrsg said:

I prefer store bought favors.  I'm not germaphobic, but I'm on the way there.  Granted, professional bakery/etc. kitchens may not be up to standard, but I trust a professional more than someone at home to not lick the spoon.  It's pretty likely that I won't take a homemade favor, but I would take something that is wrapped and obviously made by someone in industry.  For example, there is a chocolatier near my house.  Everything is made in store, but by the time they wrap and seal it, you'd think it's from Godiva's operation.  

The short story: I prefer a non-homemade item.  Not cheap/chincy/etc. at all.

What I really prefer as a favor: a good time.  Lots of food, at least beer/wine provided...sounds like you have that covered.  For people who don't on here, I suggest that they spend the money on alcohol, passed appetizers, etc.

Aaaaagreed. 100,000%

jacques27

Store bought chocolate is perfectly fine.  Edible is always good.  No favors at all is also a viable option - people likely won't even remember that they weren't given a favor at all.

Meanwhile, they might remember if you go the tacky route.  The tacky route, imo, is doing either a "donation in lieu of" (because it's braggadocios and you should never tell people that you've opted to not spend money on them) or a favor that's entirely themed on you (like a small framed photo of you and your groom or a Christmas ornament that has your names and wedding date on it, etc.).  So as long as you're avoiding that, you're golden.

vmj23

I made buttercrunch for my favor and it was a hit.  I did 1 box per couple. I only had about 75 people at at my wedding so it wasn't all that much work (i made it with help of my mom over the course of a couple days, had the ribbon and labels set and than 2 days before the wedding spent the mornign boxing it up)  and people I still am getting requests from people that came to the wedding for me to make them some more!   I think either option is perfectly fine, but if you go the homemade route, I got my boxes from here: http://www.papermart.com/paper-candy-boxes/id=34793-INDEX  and they were .29 each.  

amb1062

I think a little chocolate with a thank you card is a SUPER cute idea! It's easy and who doesn't need chocolate at the end of night!  AND ... look how CUTE!

mrsk616

chocolate is super easy way to go and everyone will love it. not a lot of people i know like brittle.

Jen4948

Favors aren't necessary, but if you're giving them I'd stay away from brittle or anything with peanuts because many people have peanut allergies or have to be around people with peanut allergies.  They can get sick from the tiniest exposure.

Chocolate's very popular though.

kissyface454

Chocolates are always a winner! I vote chocolate.

danamw

My nephew's wedding had the chocolate coins, which I ate right away, my portion and my husbands.

I saw on the 'net, probably too expensive for most weddings, little lip balm / hand lotion minis.

They had the couple's names and date on them, they were real cute. If anyone left theirs behind, I would scoop them up.

[Deleted User]

I'd go with the chocolate. It's cheaper, easier, and most people love some chocolate! 

Maybe just give your family members some peanut brittle as/with their Christmas gift

redheadbride15

I would never turn down chocolate, peanut brittle, or any other edible delicacy at a wedding. That being said, I think some favors are so impersonal that they're easily forgettable, which leaves me wondering what the purpose was of doing them in the first place.

I'm totally hooked on the idea of giving little seed packets as favors at my wedding. I love the symbolism of it. Plus I'm having a rustic, spring wedding so it fits with my theme, and most of my guests are gardeners and/or tree-huggers so I know they'll be appreciated. I like favors that either say something about the couple or are something you think your guests specifically will enjoy.

If peanut brittle means something in your family, then is there something meaningful for your fiancee's family too? A combination favor with a little note explaining the significance of the items is always really sweet. My best friend did this in a little package with two magnets: a turtle (the bride's favorite animal) and a red telephone booth (symbolizing the groom's English roots).

happilyeverthacker

We are planning on jam and local honey. 

I can and have been making jams for a couple years now. 

My friend makes an amazing jam and she wants to do that for me, and there is a local bee keeper, and I'm going to buy some of his honey and put it in smaller jars with personalized labels. 

For the out of town guests, I may bake some biscuits so they have a little breakfast in the morning to add to it. 

ddoane

@redheadbride15 love the seed packet idea!

I like chocolate too, but we are kicking around small bottles of Jameson because FI is Irish!

badbnagdway

The options are almost endless for favors and I agree with all that edible will be most appreciated. Folks have pointed out food allergy issues, but honestly you can't please all of the people all of the time with any food. You could consider a candy bar, with an assortment of candy, but those always seem like a lot of work to me. 

We are doing a small wedding cake and then mini cupcakes in a variety of flavors. The minis will double as favors and we will have favor boxes in case people want to take some home.