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Introduction
For someone planning a wedding, the decisions to make surrounding wedding
favors can be extremely difficult to make. Do you need favors at all?
What wedding favors are elegant and which ones are considered tacky? How
will guests react? Let's face it, there isn't a lot of information out
there on wedding favors for brides interested in planning a wedding. This
article is designed to provide advice, tips, and general etiquette on
wedding favors. Topics included in this brief overview include: the
decision to use wedding favors, how to save money on favors, placement on
the table, the quantity of favors necessary, and the appropriateness of favors.
Wedding Favors or no Favors
There are a number of different takes on wedding favors. Some etiquette
experts caution on the use of wedding favors, mainly because of the danger
of getting tacky or tasteless wedding favors. However, many other experts
emphatically support the use of wedding favors. Most of these experts say
that wedding favors are a tangible reminder that you guests will take with
them of your special day beyond their memories of the wedding reception.
Wedding favors can also serve as tasteful additions to the table. To
determine whether to use favors or not, it will be helpful outline the pros
and cons:
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Pros |
Cons |
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Wedding guests will feel special
Can accentuate tables
Serves as a reminder for guests
Guests can use the favor
Can complement reception hall decor
Can work well with a theme wedding
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Tacky favors can be bad
Some favors can cost too much money
Can take up extra room on a table
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Given the pros and cons, wedding favors are usually a good idea - simply
for the fact that they make your guests feel special and cared for.
Moreover, everyone likes leaving a reception having something in their hand.
Whether you decide to have wedding favors or not, be sure to care for your
guest - many of them have come a long distance to support you on your
special day.
Quantity of Favors
A general rule is you should plan on having one favor for guest as you
plan your reception. Remember, when you purchase favors you will want to
know the size of your reception and the number of people you have invited.
Most weddings tend to have a 20% decline rate for wedding invitations so
you should factor that into your favor calculation. Moreover, you will
also want to figure in any planed last minute additions to your reception
(that Uncle you need to invite, or a friend you haven't talked to in a few
years). The standard 20 percent rate may be too low if a large percentage
of the gusts are out of town. It is not uncommon for wedding in which a
large part of the either the bride or groom's guests are from out of town
to have a decline rate of over 40%. If you have sent out invitations early
enough, you can get a sense for the rate from the first few responses that
you receive back.
Another option that you can do is to give one favor per couple or one
favor per family. This idea can be a good one in the sense that each
family or couple will get a gift and you can buy higher quality favors.
This idea requires a significant amount of extra preparation and generally
works effectively if everyone has assigned seats. Otherwise, people will
not get the favors that were designated for them and some people may think
that they did not get a favor. You will definitely want to make sure
single guests receive a favor too if you choose to use this option.
Save Money on Wedding Favors
Wedding favors don't always need to cost a lot of money. Some weddings
can have a few hundred people - providing a favor for each guest can become
quite costly. There are a number of ways to lower the cost. The main one
is to buy supplies that can be creatively assembled into wedding favors.
These usually cost less than bought favors. You can get help from your
bridesmaids / family members a few weeks or days before the big event.
Ideas for favors that you can assemble, decorate, or readily create include:
candles favors, candy in a bag, wedding bells, or tulle-based favors.
If you don't have time to assemble favors, you can opt to give wedding
favors on a per family basis. This allows you to cut down the number of
favors that you are purchasing and saves money.
Another way to cut the cost down on favors, is to not purchase favors from
an expensive source. Most people would be surprised to know that the
favors that they find in high end, brand name stores could most often be
bought a lot cheaper in store that didn't spend as much money on
advertising. These stores will be able to bring the costs on quality
favors down and will save you some money.
Placement on Table
Although a lot has been said about the placement of the favors on the table,
the decision of where to place the favors is most often a personal
preference with a few guidelines. Don't place the favors on plates, on
chairs, or on the floor. The favor should be some place visible, a place
where your guests will be certain to look at the favor. Many wedding
receptions place the favors just to the left of center above the plate
(just beyond where the bread plate would go). Other wedding receptions
have placed the favors in the center of the table where they are out of
the way, but still can be accessed by guests. The final alternative is
to hand out favors as the guest leave or come in. Again this requires
some planning, as you will need to have a person on duty to distribute the
favors. This can work okay is you have the facilities (a single entrance
/ exit), but generally, we recommend putting the favors on the table so
that they accentuate the overall table presentation.
Appropriateness of Favors
Another important item to remember is that wedding favors need to be
appropriate and tasteful. Secondly, the wedding favors should be
something that your guests would consider desirable - do not clean out
your closet in search of wedding favors. Items like plastic figurines
or goofy toys are not favors that are appropriate for a wedding. Some
standard ideas are candles, candy (although this should be quality candy),
gift boxes, or picture frames. If you are having a theme wedding, you
will want to obtain wedding favors that will be appropriate for the theme
that you have selected. Finally, you will want to be sure to include
items that match your color scheme.
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