Wedding Favors – Why you Should Give Them

Wedding favors have been an integral part of weddings for centuries, ever since they were first given by European aristocracy back in the 13th century. Back then they consisted of small decorative boxes of sugar cubes (a rare commodity in those days) or almonds. Today wedding favors are a multi million dollar industry and the range of favors for brides to choose from grows every year.

But for those on a budget, particularly in these tough economic times, it can be tempting to forgo the wedding favors in order to fund something else. This seems fair enough, especially when you consider that for a large wedding the cost of the favors alone can run into several hundreds of dollars.

However, wedding favors are traditional and are given as a token of thanks to the wedding guests for joining the bride and groom on their wedding day. Whilst some guests will not be in the least bit bothered about whether they get a favor or not – after all how many bottle stoppers or candles do you really need?, there will be those who will be expecting them and may look upon you as a cheapskate for not giving them!

Wedding favors needn’t cost the earth and I personally take the view that it is better to give something than nothing at all. A small voile bag of candies can cost less than $1 each to put together, whilst a scented votive candle presented in the same fashion can cost you about $1 each.

Making your own favors remains the cheapest way to create luxury style favors on a budget. Homemade cookies can cost just a few cents each to make but will go down like they cost several dollars with your guests! And if those are beyond you, then printed recipes done on your home computer can go down just as well.

Candy bars have become a popular way to give wedding favors and needn’t cost you much to set up. Candy bars work by providing a variety of different candies in various shapes and sizes, presented in glass bottles, bowls, jars and dishes. You add some small scoops and plastic bags and your guests simply help themselves. These look amazing when you use candies in your wedding colors and arrange it on its own table in your reception room. Check out wholesalers for bulk purchases on different types of candy and beg, borrow and steal the various bottles and bowls etc to put them in.

Finally, if your budget really won’t stretch to giving every guest a favor then give the money to charity instead (or a portion of it) and give each guest a small card telling them that instead of wedding favors you have donated the money to the following charity or charities. It is up to you whether or not you disclose the amount of the donation. This is possibly the best way of getting around the whole wedding favor dilemma and you will be surprised by how many of your guests will be touched by the gesture.

Mae Andrea is a professional writer who collects wedding favors and wedding related articles. She is working with a wedding planning social networking company that caters to all the wedding needs of brides in almost every major center in America.

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