Wedding favor cost

DianneTO · August 2011

Hello Everyone,
I am just curious to find out the average you have spent on favors for the guests? We are trying to keep a pretty low budget, our parents are helping a little bit but we are paying for 90% of the wedding. I just don't know how much to spend. I understand everyone has their own ideas and thoughts on what people should receive for attending a wedding so opinions are welcome. Can I spend under $3 per gift? Is that too cheap? All I keep thinking is that any favors I have received I have either not used or forget entirely what it was so I don't want to go over the top on these and have people not even use/like it.
Thank you for any suggestions!

paulandjen2012 · August 2011

You could take that $3 a person and make a donation to a charity that means something to you and your future hubby. Then just leave cards on the table that say.. in lieu of wedding favours a donation has been made to whatever the charity is.

blush64 · August 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_canada-toronto_wedding-favor-cost?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:613Discussion:aa62bb50-890e-4d2a-b78c-1efc5356cdbePost:cd923901-2f2e-4408-b23c-90c694acbab2">Re: Wedding favor cost</a>:
[QUOTE]You could take that $3 a person and make a donation to a charity that means something to you and your future hubby. Then just leave cards on the table that say.. in lieu of wedding favours a donation has been made to whatever the charity is.
Posted by paulandjen2012[/QUOTE]

I would say don't do that. If you want to make a donation, do so. Don't do it instead of favours. (many people don't agree with the donation thing as a favour)

If you don't have money for favours then don't do them. I have been to weddings without them and no one has minded at all. They aren't necessary.

EDIT On the favour board there is a posting about this.

hendersonsarah · August 2011

My girlfriend and her husband made a donation to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation because his mother has MS. I thought that was very touching however I do agree that wedding favours are a bit of a waste...I know it's tradition to have them but if you aren't sure what do give your guests and need to rack your brain, just don't do it

My Fiancé and I are considering not having them either - the only thing that will make sure give out favours is if we come up with a personal idea as a gift (I don't want to just give people candy or a wine bottle stopper just for the sake of it)

Joanne1984 · August 2011

Are you are looking for themed favours? Are you willing to do the work to make and package them? That will cut down on costs.

My fiance and I are giving wine away. We are both Portuguese and wine is a huge part of our culture. We are going to a specialty wine shop, bottling and packaging it ourselves (with help from the wine shop owners). We are getting 750 ml bottle that will be $6-7 per. I know that is over your price range, but I know they also do small bottles as well for $3-4 each.

Re: Donations. Donations, while a generous gesture, are often not done with the purest intentions. Like it or not, too many people choose a donation instead of a favour because a) they can't think of an appropriate favour and a donation is the "cool thing to do these days", b) they don't want to spend time looking for and packaging 100+ favours and/or c) they would spend less on a donation than they would on favours that people would actually like/keep/use.

I know this sounds cynical and I don't think this is the case with everyone but from real life experience and creeping the knot boards this is the impression I get from many brides. I don't think donations should be done on lieu of a favour. Favours are given as a thank you to your guests for sharing your special day. They are not mandatory.

Littlin · August 2011

We bought bistro mugs in bulk and filled them up with hershey kisses and personalized hot chocolate or coffee and tea. I think we spent about $3-$4 per favour.

DianneTO · August 2011

Hey, I really appreciate all the feedback on this!
We have talked about charitable donations, I am still undecided on how I feel about it, and don't really have a strong opinion on it either way so we aren't leaning towards that just yet.
The small bottles of wine sounds like a really nice idea, thank you, I'm thinking though that because it's not "important" per say to us we may stay away from it. They are great gifts though we received them as a guest at my cousins wedding.
I was thinking something personal and from our hearts would be nice. I see people who have made jams or sauces and I think that's great, just can't think of something we would give.We were thinking of not giving favors, I feel a bit bad giving nothing at all though. We were looking at Ikea at these clear glass cups and thinking of putting something in them and wrapping them up in tulle, similar to the cups with kisses and tea (great idea!) We are willing to do the assembly to save some money there.There are just so many options. We looked at tree samplings too which are nice, but figured some people would not value them the way we do, or have a place to plant them.Anyway, this discussion is really helpful, I'll check out that other board too! Thanks everyone, keep them coming!

mattycam · August 2011

We had bells and photo coasters. The bells were free and the coasters were
$0.99/set of 2. A lot of favors were left behind because either people forgot them or didn't care for them so the remainder we gave to others who wanted more coaster sets and/or bells. Fortunately we didn't spend a lot so our feelings weren't hurt

sbonotto · August 2011

I have always liked the idea of a donation and I plan to do one to the Make a Wish Foundation. Many charities now offer cards/scrolls that you can give to your guests because donations have become so popular at weddings.

I also plan to do personalized M&Ms to put with the donation cards or scrolls. You can google personalized M&Ms and go through the site and put yours together and buy a 5 or 10 lb bag and then go to Michael's or a dollar store and buy mini sachet bags or tins to put with the donation cards for your guests.

When all is said and done, it shouldn't cost more than $5 per guest and even that can be lower depending on how much you buy.

APW2010 · August 2011

We spent about $4 per on ours, more expensive than we wanted but they were exactly right - we did little tins of candy, the tins were consistent with the theme and had quite a few different types. I liked that we were giving both something to consume right away and something that could be a keepsake for those who wanted to keep it. We made stickers for the tins with our names and the date and a little picture. Not a single one was left behind, and a few people complained someone else had taken theirs (there were some people trying to 'collect them all').

Definitely think outside the box and focus on what things you like to do together and what represents you or your wedding theme, and it will be more meaningful to your guests.

naomikb · August 2011

Yes, you can definitely do a favour for less than $3 each.

We are doing blue spruce seedlings. Including burlap, ribbon, tags, and the trees they are less than $2 and we are doing one per couple. I ordered them from www.evergreenmemories.caand wrapped/decorated them myself.

amme5832 · August 2011

My personal preference is to not end up with things I don't need or want, so I've taken over favours for my wedding, and I will be baking cookies - the current plan is to go with our favourite types (white chocolate macademia / chocolate chip / ginger cookes), and packaging those in little baggies (you can buy those from BulkBarn), using sticker labels with "thank you for joining us" type comments on them to seal them.

I had been wanting to do baking for the wedding, and this was our trade-off. I could bake cookies for favours, but this way I won't be going crazy.

The cookie dough can all get prepped, shaped, and frozen in advance, with final baking happening the day before the wedding. I do this every year for Christmas baking, so I'm really not too concerned or worried about doing it, plus cookies transport quite easily. I will most likely be packaging a bunch of extras, since my cookies disappear like rapidfire once my friends start eating them.
Total cost will likely be less than $1 per person, though I've budgeted for up to $1.50 a person

lisafalon84 · August 2011

I love the seedling idea, i'm also doing that!!! Blue spruce seedlings (I think i'll do that wrapping myself, but i'll also check out that website, thank you) I am also doing the personalized M&M's, I just went to a wedding with them and they were so cute. You can get a 10lb bag for 250 and decide how many to give each guest depending on the packaging.
I love the donation idea as well. I have seen the card tied to a chocolate or a chocolate kiss, so the guests are getting something small as well as the donation, personally I felt great knowing the couple donated to a good cause and appreciated this.

Tamdude · August 2011

hi!

I am doing tea and cookies... I bought nice Tea at Winners, and the nice little favour baggies that match my invites at Winners as well - which was totaly luck. Then I'm going to either bake cookies or buy them from a local bakery. Its not goin gto cost me very much at all... a few dollars each maybe? Also, I spent more on the kiddie favours... I have decided to give little loot bags to the yuonger kids filled with colouring books, crayons, puzzles etc... The bags will be waiting at the tables for the little ones.... My hope is that the colouring ect will keep them busy during the reception so they don"t get board and become annoying

specialk30309 · August 2011

Depending on your guest count, try Ebay! There are tons of vendors selling favours in either 50 or 100 count. I chose bottle stoppers because I recieved them before as a favour and I am always using them. They all came individually packaged with a bow and i dont need to do anything with them. I paid about $2 a piece incl shipping. Happy Shopping!

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