Favors

Where can I find inexpensive whole coffee beans?

I really want to have whole coffee beans in apothecary jars with small brown bags to put the beans in as my favor. Our wedding has a rustic/classic theme to it and I think it'd be perfect but I'm worried about the price. I need enough to serve 200-250 guests. We have huge families :( Does anyone have any ideas of where I can find this? Thanks in advance!

Re: Where can I find inexpensive whole coffee beans?

  • What price are you looking for?  I think the cheapest way would just be at the grocery store, just buy something not name brand.  But how small are the bags/jars?  For the beans to ever be used you'd have to give each person enough to brew a whole pot when ground.  And even then, people who don't have grinders will just throw them away.
  • labrolabro member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    What @sarahonlife‌ said. I thought about coffee beans for our favors because FI and I are huge coffee snobs. However, I realized 1. How many people have grinders in their homes 2. We would need to provide enough coffee for a whole pot. 3. How many people would go out of their way to get a small random bag of beans ground up?

    I'd start considering some other ideas.



  • Thanks, guys. Your input helped a lot. We decided to go with homemade bookmarks instead because I'm a huge bookie and I think a lot of people would like them. 
  • JMS62415 said:
    Thanks, guys. Your input helped a lot. We decided to go with homemade bookmarks instead because I'm a huge bookie and I think a lot of people would like them. 
    I don't want to be a Debbie Downer here but we did bookmarks for our wedding 17 years ago (I am a MOB) - handed them to our guests as we did table visits - more than half were left behind. (DH's family if full of readers, teachers, and engineers).

    Please do NOT base your favor on what you enjoy or what you like.  Think about your guests and what they like.  It is a thank you to them.  I REALLY encourage you to think about edibles.
  • mrscomposermrscomposer member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer
    edited June 2014
    We love coffee, and one of our GM roasts, so we are doing small packages of beans to give away - that way, if we have leftovers, we can keep the rest. We're also doing Mentos with a 'mint to be' tag - again, with leftovers, we can keep them (I'm a Mentos fiend). @jms62415, I received a bookmark as a favour several years ago, and I still have it. But I'm a booknerd, too, so it was right up my alley - but not a lot of people in my family are, so I could see a lot being left behind.
    **The OMH formerly known as jsangel1018**
  • kmmssg said:
    JMS62415 said:
    Thanks, guys. Your input helped a lot. We decided to go with homemade bookmarks instead because I'm a huge bookie and I think a lot of people would like them. 
    I don't want to be a Debbie Downer here but we did bookmarks for our wedding 17 years ago (I am a MOB) - handed them to our guests as we did table visits - more than half were left behind. (DH's family if full of readers, teachers, and engineers).

    Please do NOT base your favor on what you enjoy or what you like.  Think about your guests and what they like.  It is a thank you to them.  I REALLY encourage you to think about edibles.
    I wasn't. I did say that I think a lot of my guests would like them. 
  • If you go with bookmarks, please do not personalize them unless you're putting like a literary quote or something on them. My heinous cousin did these, and they had their engagement picture and their names and wedding date on them. It promptly went in the trash as soon as I was out of there. 
    What did you think would happen if you walked up to a group of internet strangers and told them to get shoehorned by their lady doc?~StageManager14
    image
  • AddieCake said:
    If you go with bookmarks, please do not personalize them unless you're putting like a literary quote or something on them. My heinous cousin did these, and they had their engagement picture and their names and wedding date on them. It promptly went in the trash as soon as I was out of there. 
    I was thinking the same thing. I was possibly going to go with a nice quote about love or loyalty, that sort of thing. I hate to say this but I think personalized favors are kinda tacky. 
  • We haven't 100% decided yet though. We're still looking into edible options but everything is so dang expensive. 
  • With the prevalence of Kindles, Nooks, iPads, and apps on phones, are bookmarks even relevant anymore?  Now that I have a Kindle, I don't think I'll ever go back to paper except for cookbooks and textbooks.  In fact, last week I just donated 90% of my books to Goodwill and my big expensive bookcase to a breast cancer charity.  The only books I kept were cookbooks, a resume writing book, and three books that have sentimental value from my childhood. 

    However, even back before all of these gadgets existed, I would have been iffy on a bookmark.  While I used to read voraciously as a kid, after college I just got burned out and then joining the workforce full-time limited my leisure reading time and I never really found the need for a bookmark (I can remember that I left off on Chapter 15). 

    50% of your bookmarks will be left behind, 45% will be taken and spent either languishing in a purse or drawer out of obligation until they feel enough time has passed that they can throw it out without guilt, and 5% will probably be used as bookmarks.  Meanwhile, everyone eats.  Go edible. 
  • jacques27 said:
    With the prevalence of Kindles, Nooks, iPads, and apps on phones, are bookmarks even relevant anymore?  Now that I have a Kindle, I don't think I'll ever go back to paper except for cookbooks and textbooks.  In fact, last week I just donated 90% of my books to Goodwill and my big expensive bookcase to a breast cancer charity.  The only books I kept were cookbooks, a resume writing book, and three books that have sentimental value from my childhood. 

    However, even back before all of these gadgets existed, I would have been iffy on a bookmark.  While I used to read voraciously as a kid, after college I just got burned out and then joining the workforce full-time limited my leisure reading time and I never really found the need for a bookmark (I can remember that I left off on Chapter 15). 

    50% of your bookmarks will be left behind, 45% will be taken and spent either languishing in a purse or drawer out of obligation until they feel enough time has passed that they can throw it out without guilt, and 5% will probably be used as bookmarks.  Meanwhile, everyone eats.  Go edible. 
    What's a good idea for an edible then? We're on a very low budget. 
  • jacques27jacques27 member
    First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited July 2014
    It might be easier to advise if you defined "very low budget".  That can mean different things to different people. 

    Also, favors aren't a requirement, so if you can't afford them, you can't afford them.

    And finally, there's nothing that says they need to be unique or wedding themed or say something special about the personalities of the bride and groom.  M&M's, Hershey Kisses, SweeTarts and butter mints are all readily available for good prices in bulk online.  (OMG butter mints are delicious - I would love so much if you gave me butter mints instead of grind your own beans or a bookmark if I were your wedding guest).  My friend did gummy bears for hers (you can get a 5 lb. bag of Haribo for under $13 on amazon).  Grab some tulle or glassine bags and some ribbon from a craft store.  And even if people don't like the candy, the guests who do like it will be more than happy to swipe the extras off the tables.
  • jay788jay788 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper

    A similar idea to your original, but slightly different: I went to a wedding recently where I got chocolate covered espresso beans as a favor. Those are more likely to be eaten because there's no prep involved.

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