How much do favors really matter?

mrsbizzz

Favors were one of those things I never imagined I would stress about. FI and I resolved early to do something that was edible, as most people told us they would enjoy that. However, when we got down to what we thought we might want to provide, we drew a blank. I found some fun options, but they were over budget. My sense is that I don’t really need to be stressing about this part of the wedding because most people will barely notice what we send them away with.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

My question is: how much do favors really matter? Do guests remember them? Have you remembered or been especially blown away by any favors in the weddings you’ve attended?

csuave

I've probably only gotten favors at 60-75% of weddings.  The weddings that didn't have favors, they were not missed.  If you decide to spend that part of your budget on something else the favors will not be missed.

From my experience, anything that wasn't edible got tossed or left behind.  Chocolates are pretty standard.  My favorites were home made candy apple, chocolate covered oreo, bottle of homemade wine, regular red apple, photo strips from photo booth.

We did bottles of homemade wine with labels we designed ourselves.  They were sweet fruit varieties (like a wine cooler) which I think is more popular with my crowd than your standard wine flavors.  No bottles were left behind.

southernbelle0915

drmrs2014 said:

Favors were one of those things I never imagined I would stress about. FI and I resolved early to do something that was edible, as most people told us they would enjoy that. However, when we got down to what we thought we might want to provide, we drew a blank. I found some fun options, but they were over budget. My sense is that I don’t really need to be stressing about this part of the wedding because most people will barely notice what we send them away with.

 

My question is: how much do favors really matter? Not at all - they're not necessary. Do guests remember them? Not really - I remember a lot of jordan almonds (1/2 of mom's side is Italian Catholic), but that's it. Have you remembered or been especially blown away by any favors in the weddings you’ve attended? No. One wedding I went to had late night take-home snacks of tacos and, although it wasn't a favor, it was the best take home present ever.

If you're on the fence, save your money. Unless there's something you're dying to do, it's probably worth it to put the money toward an extra app, going out to dinner on your HM, etc. Most people will throw it away if it's not edible. And if it IS edible, a lot of people will take one out of courtesy and toss it later due to diet, allergies, medical condition, etc.

itzMS

The only favor I remember being just blown away by (I believe the couple has been married almost four years now?) was a fudge/chocolate covered Oreo.

It was so delicious. It was made by a local chocolate shop, and is just one of those things most people don't buy for themselves. A total treat.

 

Of course I "remember" countless tulle baggies of M&Ms or Hershey's kisses...but not for good reasons.

Majelin86

I have gotten a favour at every wedding I've been to - however I don't always remember to take it home with me! I find edible ones the best because you can eat them right then & don't have to worry about forgetting it.

I've never been blown away by a favour I've received - most of them were shot glasses (which are awkward because my purse is always too little for them), one was a wine bottle stopper (I don't drink wine) and one of them was seeds (I'm not really into gardening :S). A few of them have been chocolates, nothing special really, Hershey's Kisses or something along those lines.

mel&josh2015

What were the option you wanted? Maybe we can think of something similar and more cost efficient for you. I'm all for edible favors! Do you have a theme or something you wanted incorporated (like penguins?)

mrsbizzz

Thanks for the opinions! I actually found a more cost-effective solution to our original idea. We are thinking of doing these cookies, as an ode to my FI's hometown Philadelphia (the wedding is in my hometown in the midwest and I want his family to fill welcome). The original cookies I found we almost $5 a piece, exceeding out $600 budget for favors. These come wrapped with a little ribbon at the top, included in the price.

Thoughts?

mel&josh2015

Could you make the cookies yourself? You can always make them in advance and freeze them too, so you don't have to make a large amount all at once.

Jen4948

You don't need favors at all.  Most of the time they are something edible, but they are totally unnecessary and not usually missed.

annathy03

Those still look expensive- $6 each?

We plan to do casino playing cards (we live in Vegas, and our families and friends play a lot of card games) with personalized stickers on the box.

The only favors I remember were chocolate, and it was a couple whose first names both started with M, so they did M&Ms which I thought was cute.

mrsbizzz

@annathy03 the bulk discount would get them to about $2.50 a piece.

annathy03

Ah, missed that.  They're cute, and if you have the budget I don't see why not.

Just don't feel like you have to have favors if you think your money would be better spent elsewhere, as PPs said they are totally optional.

atlastmrsg

The only favor I loved I still left behind at a wedding.  Instead of place cards, the bride tied a tag to mini bottles of champagne at each place setting.  I was so excited when I saw the champagne mini bottles, thinking "wow, that'll be great for a mimosa tomorrow."  Then the band started to play and I was up dancing.  I forgot to go back to my table to get the bottle when I went home.  I was definitely sad when I got home and realized no champagne for a mimosa in the morning!

 

Two take away points:

1) Even if the favor is FABULOUS, people like me will get up to mingle or dance and forget to go back for the favor.  You don't have to bother unless you love the favor so much you'll keep the left behind ones and happily eat/drink/whatever them.  (But then someone has to collect the leftovers for you, which sucks for him/her...)

2) I've been to lots of weddings, and that was the only favor I wanted to take home with me.  "I adore this ________ (fill in cheap trinket--shot glass, koozie (I never want to see another one of these!) mini picture frame of couple, bag of Jordan almonds or M&Ms that who knows who touched while assembling...)" said no one.

thefuturemrshawks

 

drmrs2014 said:

Thanks for the opinions! I actually found a more cost-effective solution to our original idea. We are thinking of doing these cookies, as an ode to my FI's hometown Philadelphia (the wedding is in my hometown in the midwest and I want his family to fill welcome). The original cookies I found we almost $5 a piece, exceeding out $600 budget for favors. These come wrapped with a little ribbon at the top, included in the price.

Thoughts?

Those are adorable. If you decide to go ahead and get them, one suggestion I have is to make sure you attach a note saying there is almond extract in them. Some people may have tree nut allergies and not suspect any almond extract in the icing. Other than that, I say go for it if it is within your budget and you and your FI both like them. It's also very sweet of you to choose something from his hometown to make his family feel more at home. Way to go!

doeydo

Favors were one of those things I never imagined I would stress about. FI and I resolved early to do something that was edible, as most people told us they would enjoy that. However, when we got down to what we thought we might want to provide, we drew a blank. I found some fun options, but they were over budget. My sense is that I don’t really need to be stressing about this part of the wedding because most people will barely notice what we send them away with.

 

My question is: how much do favors really matter?  Not a whole lot.  They are nice, but not necessary.  Do guests remember them?  I do.  For example, the last one I went to had delicious homemade jam favors.  Have you remembered or been especially blown away by any favors in the weddings you’ve attended?  Not really "blown away", no.

jvatch

We aren't doing favors. We will both make a donation to our charity of choice, and put something on the tables detailing that.

Mel1217

Pie pops are what I am considering

Jules226

I think a special, meaningful, possibly homemade favor would be touching and memorable -- but I don't think I've ever been to a wedding with that kind! I am planning on not having any favors for our wedding. We will have a lot of out-of-town guests, so we will probably provide guest bags when they arrive at the hotel, filled with local treats. These will kind of take the place of favors, and we can handle them a day or two ahead, which I think will be welcome come wedding day.

AChiusano

I feel as if I'm going through the same thing. I want to give my guests something that they'll remember, but doing so without spending a fortune seems nearly impossible. I really wanted to do gourmet caramel apples (since its an Autumn wedding), but the cheapest I found was like $6.50 each. Too expensive. 

DanielleF29

Favors have been a big issue for me. I was not sure if I should do something edible or something my guests would actually use. So I then decided to do a donation.. I have been reading many people and what they say about donations either they are all for it or do not like it all. I on the other hand feel that I am doing something good, an if my guests want to participate that is fine if they do not then I understand that as well. I have just been searching on line and do not see anything that really catches my eye as a favor.

ekr22

Food is very important to me -- I love cooking and eating.  So I'm considering having the RSVP cards be 'recipe cards' and ask guests to rsvp by submitting favourite recipes... I then want to compile those into books (type up, design etc) and give the recipe books as favours.  I've found a way to print for under $2.00 each....  thoughts?

isabellamckinney

Our wedding is on a Sunday and we decided to have a breakfast bar. Not everyone eats candy- so the candy buffet was out. Since our wedding is on a Sunday and people may have to work the next day, we decided to do a a bagel, muffin & donut table with the message being- Thank you for coming to our wedding- tomorrow's breakfast is on us!- As I'm Colombian, I have little burlap bags filled with Colombian coffee candy to go with it. I was going to fill them with coffee but you never know who actually has a coffee machine or a Keurig anymore. 

AChiusano

I think that's really cute, ekr22. My mom mentioned doing something like that for my bridal shower. 

faubrin

We're using custom CD's where the CD sleeve will also double as a placecard/way for guests to find their table.  This is particularly special to us because my fiance is a musician and one of the songs on the CD will be a recording of the song he wrote me as his proposal.  His brother is a professional musician so some of the other songs will be ones that his brother recorded & will be played at our wedding.  It will also include any other special songs we play during the night.  We've put a lot of effort into picking the songs & although we realize people might not like all the songs and might not even ever listen to it, I feel it's a great way for us to share that part of us with everyone.  It was also about the least expensive thing I could think of at less than .50 cents ea.  

heatherj517

I honestly don't think they matter. For our favor we got a photo booth/lounge and the photographer prints on site, one photo for each person in the picture, plus an extra one for us. On the bottom of the photo it has our names and the wedding date. People are less likely to forget to grab their photos and it's simple. 

Emily4HL

 If its edible, I don't see how its different from food at your wedding. Unless you have a really cool idea--love the recipe book or personalized CD--I say skip it.

slester9

ekr22 said:

Food is very important to me -- I love cooking and eating.  So I'm considering having the RSVP cards be 'recipe cards' and ask guests to rsvp by submitting favourite recipes... I then want to compile those into books (type up, design etc) and give the recipe books as favours.  I've found a way to print for under $2.00 each....  thoughts?

I really like this idea, my fiance and I love food as well. I would only worry if you will actually get many people to submit recipes to you. 

We're planning on doing recipe cards, one with one of his favorite recipes and one with a favorite of mine. Then we will attach an ingredient in the recipe to the cards. (like a mini bottle of hot sauce or a small jar of honey)

Maggie0829

jvatch said:

We aren't doing favors. We will both make a donation to our charity of choice, and put something on the tables detailing that.

This is not a good idea.  Favors are supposed to be small tokens or gifts to your guests.  How is a charitable donation made to a cause that you and your FI support in anyway a gift to your guests?

If you want to make the donation then by all means go for it, but do so privately and leave your wedding out of it.

Sarahphim12

I stressed about it too until I realized that I don't think I've ever gotten a favor at a wedding I attended unless it was jordan almonds, or buttermints that were placed on the table for everyone to partake in. Obviously I didn't miss them since it only occurred to me when planning my own wedding. I'm getting the bridesmaids and flower girls a special little gift (including earrings for them to wear on the day of), and I'm having a "Candy Bar" complete with the fixings for s'mores as the place has a fire pit. Besides that, just some napkins I ordered from this site and match books since some of his family smokes. In my opinion that's more than enough.

MOSHIN

This is totally different but my parents went to a wedding where I presume there weren't children, but they came home with lotto tickets like the $1 kind. Apparently, they were tucked into the toast/champagne glass at everyone's seat. They really liked it and remembered the MC saying "John and Jane (IDK whose wedding it was, my parents probably just know someone's parents) would like to thank you for coming and if anyone hits it big, they just ask you remember them." Thoughts anyone?

tiamarie91

That sounds like a wonderful idea. What printing service did you find? Is it local or online?