By Georgina Clatworthy

If you are having a spring wedding then you are probably at the stage where you are thinking about your favors.  Spring wedding favors give you a world of choice no matter what style of wedding you are having and best of all you will find something to suit any budget.

When it comes to choosing wedding favors there are some things you need to bear in mind – your wedding theme, wedding style, colors, budget and your own style and taste.  This may seem an overwhelming list of requirements but you will find that in reality it is quite easy to match potential spring themed favors to your wedding.  Here are a few ideas for you to consider:

Spring is the time of year when new life is born.  The plants and trees suddenly begin to burst into life, birds are singing and flowers begin to bloom.  Consider packets of flower seeds or seedlings which you have grown yourself at home.  Bulbs are another option, although you need to check when they can be planted, bulbs which need to be in the ground by October are probably not the best choice as a spring time favor.

Easter presents some great options for spring themed weddings, although you may want to steer away from fluffy bunny rabbits and little chicks! Chocolate eggs are abundant in the shops and give you a great alternative to traditional favor chocolates.  If your wedding falls after the Easter period then look out for the hundreds of reduced price Easter goodies in the shops!  Small wicker baskets or mini hats filled with mini eggs or candies make a nice wedding favors treat. 

For an edible favor think about things like custom cookies in spring themed shapes, cup cakes decorated with sugar flowers or frosted blossom petals and even mini tins of tea leaves and heart shaped metal infusers.  Chocolates and candies are always popular and aside from the Easter theme mentioned above you can find them in an array of shapes, flavors and colors to match your spring wedding theme.  Have a go at making your own at home as well, with a kit which can be bought on the internet for just a few dollars.

Other spring wedding favors could include scented sachets in the shape of birds, check out websites like Etsy for ready made versions or tutorials to make your own.  Put together some spring time recipes in mini booklets or single recipes in laminated, wipe clean sheets.  Accompany them with a suitable mini kitchen utensil such as a wooden spoon, chrome measuring cups or mini whisks.  A book of spring themed poems is another option and you may be able to find mini versions in book stores or make your own. 

Finally check out the wealth of ready made wedding favors online and in store.  Candles, mini soaps, coasters, photograph frames and condiment sets can all be found to match a spring theme and dressed up to coordinate with your color scheme.

By Georgina Clatworthy

When you do the sums wedding favors can actually add up to a significant portion of your wedding budget, especially if you are having a large wedding.  If you have splurged too much on other elements of your wedding day then you will probably be looking to save money wherever possible by the time purchasing your favors comes around.

The good thing about wedding favors is that they can be very versatile and it is wholly possible to get double the use from them and therefore save yourself some money in the process.  Here are a few suggestions on how to make your wedding favors work for you:

Use them as place cards – seems an obvious one really and one many brides may have already thought of.  But it can be surprising how many brides do not think to put their guests names on the favors, and then spend a fortune on name cards and even tiny frames to put them in.  Get creative and make some fabulous tags complete with your guests names to adorn your place settings.

Another great version of this is to use custom cookies as wedding favors and name tags.  You can have made in shape or size you like as long there is sufficient room to ice a name on them.  Tag or plaque shaped cookies look amazing iced up with guests names across them.

Center pieces can be very expensive to put together so use your wedding favors instead.  Design your favors in neat little boxes and pile them up in the center of the tables.  You can add personalized tags if you wish and you can display them on decorative dishes, stands or plates if your budget will allow it.  This is a fantastic way to save a lot of money and you won’t have the problem of what to do with the centerpieces after the wedding!

Combine your favors with your wedding cake in the form of cup cakes or mini cakes.  When you combine the average cost per slice of wedding cake with the average cost per favor you will probably find a figure around $10 – $14.  Small cakes can cost as little as $5 each and when you add in an extra $1 for a Perspex box you will still be saving around $4 – $8 on each guest.

You can display the cakes on a large stand as you would a traditional wedding cake or package them in clear plastic boxes and place them on each table setting.  You can then have a smaller single cake for the cake cutting ceremony later on.

By Georgina Clatworthy

With many couples choosing to get married in the warmer spring and summer months it is no surprise that a garden is a popular wedding venue and forms the basis for many wedding themes.  So when it comes to finding garden wedding favors you should have plenty of inspiration to help you.

Here are my top ten garden inspired wedding favors to help you along!

1. Flower seeds – these have a popular choice for wedding favors for some time now.  Choose seeds that match flowers you have used for your wedding or that match flowers found in your garden venue, particularly if that garden is award winning or contains some special varieties or specimens.  You can package them in paper bags, packet style bags, fabric bags or stylish aluminum tins.  Remember to let your guests know what type of seeds they are and offer up some growing guidelines as well.
2. Garden selection – staying with the seeds theme you could give your guests several varieties of plant, flower, herb or even vegetable seeds.  A nice idea I have seen has different seed type presented in mini tins (lip balm size) which are then nestled inside a larger tin.  There is a pretty custom label on top and a set of instructions on how to grow inside.
3. Potted plants – you can buy many varieties of potted plant from garden centers and even supermarkets.  Popular varieties include miniature roses, gerbera’s and African violets.  If you are green fingered then you could have a go at growing your own, just make sure you plant the seeds early enough for them to have grown to a reasonable size by the time your wedding day arrives!
4. Gardening guides – check out wholesalers and book stores for mini gardening books which can make inspiring favors to your guests.
5. Scented sachets – these are dear little items which many people will put in drawers or hag in closets.  They are fabric bags filled with lavender seeds or pot pourri and make great inexpensive wedding favors.  These are also very easy to make yourself with some fabric scraps and a shaped template.
6. Candles – candles are popular favors for any type of wedding, however citronella candles are particularly suited to a garden wedding.  Citronella will ward off bugs and flies when lit which makes them great for those who like to sit outdoors in the evening sunshine – the time of day when the bugs are most active!  Look out for floral scented candles or those shaped like flowers.  Alternatively tea lights or votives can be presented in stylish garden themed holders.
7. Edibles – treat your guests to some luxurious handmade chocolates shaped roses or other garden themed shapes. An alternative to this is cookies which can be shaped and iced in a variety of themes.  If you prefer candy then look for flower and butterfly shaped candies, which you can mix with other candy shapes and chocolates.  Honey makes a lovely spring wedding favor and is well suited to a garden wedding.  Look for manufacturers that can offer you custom labels on the jars as well to personalize your favors.  Alternatively check out the favor stores for pretty honey pots and matching server sets.
8. Birds nests – these are a lovely favor idea for a spring wedding in particular and will suit a garden theme.  Look for novelty birds nests which you can find at florist stores and wholesalers and add some chocolate eggs to them or fill with candies.
9. Floral decorations – if you wanted to go down the traditional favor route and give boxes of chocolates or almonds, then decorate your favor boxes with silk or paper flower heads.  You could use fresh flowers if you wanted although you will need to add them at the last minute and take steps to make sure they don’t go brown or wilt.
10. Windmills – these are my favorite garden wedding favor idea.  Look for someone who can custom make them for your or find a kit and template to make your own.  Custom made mini windmills can have your names and wedding date printed inside the windmill and can be made to match your wedding colors.  They make pretty additions to any garden when placed in pots or flower beds and are sent spinning with the breeze.

By Georgina Clatworthy

Time was that wedding favors were a straight choice between chocolates and almonds.  These days however, coming up with wedding favor ideas, which have become far more sophisticated and novel, can present brides with no end of dilemmas between perfection, uniqueness and the eternal question of whether or not to personalize!

So I have put together a list of five wedding favors which in my opinion address these dilemmas and should give you some ideas for your favors.  This list is not representative of sales or popularity amongst other brides, but more based on a criteria consisting of how unique it is or can become, is it perfect for just about any type of wedding? The price and its usefulness when your guests get it home.

1. Custom cookies:  These are topping the popularity stakes at the moment and with good reason.  Edible favors always go down the best, by the time your guests sit down to the reception meal a sugar snack is just what is required to get the blood sugar levels back up again!  Custom cookies can be made in a variety of shapes and size, decorated in any number of ways and above all taste delicious!

Uniqueness rating: 8/10 – because of their popularity

Perfection rating: 10/10 – can be customized to any wedding

Price: 4/10 – can be very expensive unless you can make your own

Usefulness: N/A – it’s a cookie, what do you want to use it for?!

2. Chocolates: Staying with the edible theme, chocolates are definitely the second most popular choice.  From small handmade chocolates to mini bars with personalized wrappers, these go down just as well with guests as cookies do.

Uniqueness rating: 5/10 – chocolates are likely to turn up at most weddings so not that unique

Perfection Rating: 8/10 – can be customized to any wedding style/theme

Price: 10/10 – there are chocolates available to suit any budget

Usefulness: N/A

3. Candles: There is something about candles that makes us want to buy them.  Whether we actually light them is another matter, but from scented to beeswax we love them!

Uniqueness rating: 6/10 – wide choice available but a popular favor nonetheless

Perfection Rating: 7/10 – wide choice of colors, scents, styles and shapes available

Price: 10/10 – again there are choices available for every budget

Usefulness: 9/10 – you never know when the lights might go out!

4. Bottle Stoppers and Openers: These things come in many shapes and sizes so are ideal choices for many weddings.  Purchase them separately or in sets comprising of one of each.

Uniqueness Rating: 7/10 – a fairly modern favor so your guests are unlikely to have been given lots of them before

Perfection Rating: 5/10 – many designs available although perhaps not enough to suit every wedding style/theme

Price: 8/10 – favor stores offer them at around $2 – $3 each so within most budgets

Usefulness: 10/10 – always handy to have in the kitchen drawer

5. Photograph Frames: Not large 4×6 frames but mini versions which many brides will double up as place card holders.  A nice variety of styles and designs available from most favor stores and stationers.

Uniqueness Rating: 4/10 – a common choice for weddings, however the design of the frame can make the difference

Perfection Rating: 6/10 – classic styles through to themed versions make them easily coordinated to many wedding style/themes

Price: 10/10 – available to suit most budgets

Usefulness: 9/10 – depends on the style or design really but decorative whatever you do with them.

By Georgina Clatworthy

With budgets tight for many couples at the moment, many brides are looking for cheap wedding favors and inexpensive wedding favor ideas for their special day.

If you are having a large wedding, with say, more than 200 guests, the cost of your wedding favors can quickly mount up.  Many brides fail to include the cost of packaging, decorations, tags and labels, as well as shipping costs and taxes which may be applicable.

But there are a number of inexpensive wedding favors available to you and with a little creative thinking and some savvy shopping you can come up with perfect favors for your wedding on the cheap!

Firstly you need to set a budget.  You should have included a figure for your wedding favors in your original wedding budget which you did at the start of your planning.  Now is the time to go back to figure and work out if it is still realistic and more importantly if you can still afford it!

Putting together cheap wedding favors for $1 each is not impossible but will require some creative input from yourself and possibly some compromise.

When it comes to shopping for your wedding favors there are a number of places to look.  Start online with the favor stores.  Many compete with each other on price and will hold pretty much the same stock so you should be able to easily compare prices.  Where they can differ is on the offers and discounts they have.  Some will offer discounts on the total price over a certain amount (usually $150) whilst others will offer free shipping over a certain amount and others will run regular discounts or offers throughout the year.

Even if you are certain you would not be able to afford these stores they are great places for wedding favor ideas and can give you lots of inspiration.  Many will also have a section for discount wedding favors or closeout stock which is always worth keeping an eye on as you can get some great bargains here.

Next you should look for wholesalers, not just those who specialize in wedding favors but also those who provide wholesale food items as edible favors are one of the cheapest and most popular favors around.  Food wholesalers can offer you great prices on bulk purchases of candies or chocolates for instance, allowing you to easily create favors with a selection of treats inside for relatively little expense.

Supermarkets are also great places to look for wedding favors.  A packet of gourmet coffee from the supermarket will cost you just a few dollars but you can split it into many favors for a fraction of the cost of the sachets offered by specialist favor stores.

Other wedding favor ideas which can be found in supermarkets include candles such as votives or tea lights, chocolates, candies and plain cupcakes which you could decorate yourself at home.

In terms of packaging you can find good deals on wholesale favor boxes online, check out sites like Ebay for bulk quantities of boxes, voile bags and decorative items like ribbons and embellishments like flowers and stickers.

By Georgina Clatworthy

Personalized wedding favors are a popular choice with many brides particulalry those who are looking to add a unique and personal touch to their favors.

Creating personalized favors is not as difficult as you may think or as expensive.  Favor stores now offer a wide range of wedding favors which can be personalized, along with a range of packaging which can be personalized also.

If you are looking to add personalized favors to your wedding, the here are a few ideas to consider:

Usually you consider personalization to be the printing of your names and wedding date onto an item, however, simply adding your photograph makes them personalized too.  Look out for photograph frames, coasters which allow you to add a photograph and fridge magnets also.

Packaging is one of the easiest and least expensive ways of adding personalization to your wedding favors.  Sachets of gourmet coffee or tea can be presented in personalized packets and most favor stores will offer you a choice of designs so you can easily coordinate them to your wedding.

Other items with personalized packaging include:

• Chocolate bars with printed wrappers
• Folied wrapped chocolate or candy coins
• Sachets of hot chocolate
• Cocktail mixes
• Labels for bottles or jars
• Mint tins

Printed ribbon is one of the most popular ways of adding personalization to your favors.  It is also one of the most cost effective ways as you can buy it in reels for a bulk purchase price.  I personally think this is the best way to add that personalized touch to your favors as adding you names and wedding date to every element of your favors can be slightly over the top!

You can also have custom stickers or labels printed with your names and wedding date and which can also be designed to coordinate with your wedding stationery or some other element of your wedding.  If you are the creative type you can easily print these at home.

Other personalized wedding favor ideas include M & M’s printed with your intials, visit the M & M’s website for more details on this.  Have custom cookies made and iced with your names and wedding date or if you budget will allow have mini cakes or cupcakes made with sugarcraft intials on top.

Just about anything can be personalized in some form or another these days, for you it is about finding the perfect way to personalize your wedding favors whilst ensuring they are still in keeping with your wedding style and theme.

 By Georgina Clatworthy

Chocolate wedding favors are one of the more traditional and popular favors chosen by brides.  There is a versatility to them that allows for matching with any wedding style or theme and of course, chocolate never fails to delight!

Aside from the candy coated dragees that many favor stores carry, there are a range of other chocolate options for your wedding favors.  Here are a few to consider:

Personalized Chocolate Bars: These usually consist of small bars of milk or plain chocolate with a personalized wrapper which many favor stores allow you to customize yourself with a range pre-designed wrappers to choose from.  You simply choose your design, colors and add your text, the store then does the rest.  These are relatively inexpensive with many stores offering good discounts for bulk orders.

Other personalized chocolate bars include slabs of chocolate with your names, wedding date or message iced on to them with a contrasting color of chocolate – usually white.  These look amazing but could cost you much more than their wrapped counterparts above.

Luxury Chocolate Truffles: As favors go these are usually at the top end of the budget scale and consequently it has become common to give just two or three of these to each guest (if your budget is really tight you could assign two per couple and one to each single guest).  Visit a specialist chocolate and confectionary shop to choose from a wide range of flavors or to even design your own for your wedding day.

You can present them in boxes, but many brides choose decorative silver colored trays for a more luxurious look!

Standard Chocolates: These are type you would commonly find in a mid-range box of chocolates, $10 or less.  Don’t go for the cheapest on the shelf as the quality is often very poor and your guests will think you miserly!

A good budget saving tip is to buy boxes of chocolates rather than visit a chocolate store, however you will end up with a mix of different flavors, including the unpopular ones!  Try to choose boxes that have a mix of two or three flavors or better still buy individually wrapped chocolates that say what they are on them.

Chocolate Cookies: Cookies are very popular wedding favors but rather than giving the expensive custom iced versions, bake up some chocolate, choc chip and double choc chip cookies, you can then give each guest one of each flavor.

Chocolate Cakes: Mini cakes are popular alternative to having a multi-tiered wedding cake and include individually packaged cakes or cup cakes.  If you want to give them as wedding favors have them iced to coordinate with your wedding, including little sugar craft toppers like flowers or butterflies.

Chocolate Brownie Pops: A few favor stores are starting to stock these and they make for quite a novel favor.  Essentially brownie based, these lollipops have a chocolate coating and often an iced message or motif on top.

 By Georgina Clatworthy

As far as modern day wedding favors go they don’t get much more popular than cookie wedding favors.  Indeed, it has to be said that if wedding guests were polled on their preferred choice of favor they would a) choose something edible and b) that something would be a cookie!

Cookie favors can be made up in a wide choice of shapes and of course iced to match the wedding colors.  Some brides will use them as place cards by having their guests names iced on to them, whilst others choose a simple ‘thank you’ instead.

I am unsure as to why cookie favors have become so popular.  Perhaps it is because they can be made to suit any wedding and despite them appearing at many wedding tables across the world, there is still something quite unique and delightful about them.

However, they are not cheap.  Average prices for cookie favors are in the region of $5 – $7 each, more than double the cost of other types of favors such as candles or chocolates.  That said, if you are handy in the kitchen yourself you can make them for a fraction of the cost and have the satisfaction and compliments of your guests!

The other attraction of cookies is the wide choice of flavors you could have.  This means you could even coordinate the flavor of your cookies to your wedding, for instance, gingerbread for a winter wedding, honey cookies for a summer wedding or chocolate for a fall wedding.

If you are not confident at icing then why not make up mini cookies in a variety of flavors and give your guests a goody bag of cookie treats instead!  Or make giant cookies in flavors such as choc chip or vanilla shortbread?

When it comes to wrapping them most brides choose simple clear cellophane bags tied with some ribbon at the top.  These types of bags are perfect for showcasing your cookies whilst protecting them at the same time.  Mini cookies would be nice in colored paper bags or large boxes.  The one thing to remember though is not to order them or make them too early, otherwise they could be stale by the time the wedding day arrives.

Whether you have them custom made or make them yourself, it looks as if cookies are here to stay and most likely at the top of the popular wedding favors list!

 By Georgina Clatworthy

Wedding favors are those little gifts or treats you give to your wedding guests as a thank you for joining you on your special day.  For many brides their search for a unique wedding favor can be a long and stressful task.  So what exactly constitutes a unique favor and how do you get your hands on them for your wedding?

Firstly, there really isn’t such a thing as a completely unique favor, that is unless you have something custom made and which isn’t available on the wider market.  Let’s face it, most brides will not be going down that route! 

If we think about something being unique then we should think about finding a favor that is that little bit different and not your usual type of favor.  Traditional favors consist of chocolates, candy coated almonds and plain almonds.  Alongside these come candles, wedding bells and small photograph holders which double as place card holders on the reception tables.

Personalization is one way to make your wedding favors unique.  You can add your names, wedding date, a personal message and even your picture.  There is a wide choice of favors available today that can be personalized and only for a few extra cents per item. 

Your wedding theme can also give you inspiration for a unique favor idea particularly if you have chosen an historical theme such as medieval or Victorian, which will give you scope to do some research in to traditions and customs of the period.  Consider also you wedding style and color scheme as you will need to coordinate your favors with both of these elements.

Lastly you need to add in a touch of your own tastes, style and personality.  This may sound a lot to incorporate into your favors but in fact you will find that all of these are very similar.  The effect you want is to be able to say that you finished favor is something that you would be pleased to receive!

If I was to commit to a favor that was unique then I would have to say it should be something you have made.  Whilst DIY and crafting is not for everyone, the easiest DIY favors are written poems, prose, stories, songs or even old family recipes, all of which should be original works by yourselves.

Your packaging will also go a long way to making your favors unique.  Try to avoid the traditional card boxes or voile bags and think outside of the box (so to speak!).  Consider making your own packaging using a template which you can buy from a craft store or search the web for free downloadable ones which you can print onto card.  Check out wholesale sites for unusual boxes, containers and gift wrap you may be surprised by what turns up!

All in all a unique wedding favor is something which says more about you as a couple than it does about itself.  A candle in a voile bag is not very unique, your guests have probably got a box full of them at home, but a candle presented in a box or packet which you have made yourself and which includes some personalized ribbon and a handmade thank you tag, is something very unique indeed!

 By Georgina Clatworthy

Wedding themes are very popular at the moment and an Asian theme is one of the most popular choices amongst couples at the moment.  So when it comes to Asian wedding favors you will be pleased to know there are many choices available to your for your wedding day.

Here are a few of the kind of Asian inspired favors your will find on the market today:

Chopsticks are probably the first to spring to mind.  They are simple, stylish & above all inexpensive!  There are many different designs and finishes to choose from including plain, painted and elaborate lacquered designs.  Wedding favor stores even offer personalized chop sticks in a neat presentation box as an option.  Combine your chopstick favors with a noodle recipe so your guests can have an excuse to use them!

Fortune cookies are possibly the most popular choice for an Asian inspired wedding and even non-Asian style weddings!  These delightful treats are a great way to wish your guests good fortune and let them have some fun at the reception looking at what fortune lays in store in each other!  Try customized cookies that come in different flavors & different colors, which make them easy to coordinate with any wedding theme. You can also order personalized fortune cookies with your own fortunes inside or simply your names and wedding date – but then that would be boring!

Bamboo is an integral part of Japanese culture and is believed to bring good luck and fortune.  Favor stores sell small potted bamboo shoots and you can personalize them with your thank you tags and some printed ribbon.

Treat your guests to some Tape – this is a fermented sticky rice or cassava and is a popular Indonesian dessert.  Cassava cakes as wedding favors presented in small card boxes decorated with batik designs will surely delight your guests. 

Cranes are a traditional symbol at Japanese weddings and are said to symbolize peace and a long life.  In Japanese tradition the bride would make hundreds of paper cranes before the wedding so she could give one to each guest.  You can easily make your own with pretty origami papers.  Make plenty and you can use them as reception decorations too.  There are also ceramic cranes in favor stores which can be also be used place card holders on your tables.

Fans are another great wedding favor idea and are inexpensive also.  Look out for bamboo fans with intricate designs or ’silk’ painted paddle fans with their beautiful pictures.  Paddle fans also give you the opportunity to have your wedding program printed on them giving them a dual purpose!