Tips for Choosing the Right Wedding Favors

Wedding favors are thank you gifts from the bride and groom to those who attended their nuptials. Historically, only wealthy families gave favors in the form of sugar cubes.

Today, the choices available for wedding favors are endless and often can be overwhelming for the happy couple-to-be. Criteria for choosing your favors can fall into many categories — theme, season, color, location, and personal memento — and all have their merits. By examining each, you will be able to choose a favor that is perfect for your event.

Theme: The favor you choose may be inspired by your wedding theme. The addition of a themed-favor will enhance the ambiance of your event. For example, if you’re sporting a beach theme, you could give personalized sandals or a picture frame with seashells on it. For a winter wonderland wedding, incorporate snowflakes or snowmen. For instance, you could give snow globes with your names and the date of the wedding on them.

You also can incorporate your wedding favors as a coordinating piece of your wedding décor. Wedding favors can be used as part of your table-setting decorations. For example, picture frames can be used as place cards, or plants can be part of the centerpiece.

Season:The time of year you hold your wedding can also spur some favor ideas and enhance the mood of the day. If your wedding is near Valentine’s Day, you could give heart shaped cookie cutters or measuring spoons. If you are getting married in the spring, wrap bulbs or seed packets in beautiful ribbon. An event in the fall could include harvest scented candles. In addition, for a holiday-time event, you could give out Christmas ornaments.

Color:Is there a signature color that already coordinates your flowers or bridesmaid dresses? If so, you could choose to work with the established colors. For a classic black-and-white color scheme, you could fill personalized champagne flutes with foil-wrapped candies to highlight the elegance.

On the other hand, you could offer a contrasting shade. If you are using a neutral palate for a beach wedding, you could provide a pop of turquoise or green with a small vase with a votive candle inside.

Location:The location of your wedding can provide ideas as well. If your reception is at a vineyard, you could hand out miniature bottles of wine with customized labels. If you are having a destination wedding, give your guests an elegant airplane luggage tag with a chrome finish.

Personal Memento:Favors could also reflect your own interests and personality. For instance, you can tell guests how “lucky” you feel to be marrying your best friend by giving lottery tickets. For couples who want to show their love of nature could give “green” favors made from recycled materials. Finally, the bride and groom can honor their guests by simply making a donation to a cause in which they believe strongly; simply announce this via an inexpensive table cards or an announcement during the reception.

There is no right or wrong way to choose your wedding favors, regardless of whichever criteria you choose to use. In the end, pick an item that will help you and your guests remember your special day.