Let me tell you about a real conversation I was standing nearby to hear – one that happened just this past weekend! I was shooting Brad and Kristen’s beautiful wedding day, and had a few moments to catch up with the wedding planner during the reception. The bride and groom came over and asked if anyone had been taking their wedding favors – the answer was… it doesn’t look like it.
In this particular wedding, the wedding favors were these charming bookmarks to match their “Beauty and the Beast” themed wedding. They sat in a black wire basket on a table at the left side entrance to the reception space. At least half the guests would have walked right past them, but the basket was still full at the end of the night.
The bride brainstormed out loud about maybe sending them back to guests with their thank-you cards that they would write post-wedding. Not a bad idea! But the whole scenario reminded me of how many weddings this must happen to.
Wedding favors have long been a tradition that now feel like obligation to many wedding-planning couples. It’s a detail that often gets caught in the “Oh yeah!” conversations – you know, the conversations about the parts of planning you might have forgot about until 3 months before.
Oftentimes couples order wholesale boxes full of bubbles, succulents, bagged candies, or custom tea candles just to have SOMETHING to send their guests home with. But isn’t a free meal and a night of entertainment enough of a gift? Especially when this little part of wedding planning can cost couples upwards of a few hundred dollars in many cases!
So here’s my guide to wedding favors – whether you should skip them altogether, or how to do them right so you save a little $$ and make sure there are little-to-no favors left behind.
Ultimately, when it comes to wedding planning, do what you think will lead to the least post-wedding regret. If that means you just HAVE to give out wedding favors, then do it! But if you worry about nobody taking them after you drop a couple Benjamins, I hope this advice helps.
If you’re newly married (or not-so-newly married) and you had amazing wedding favors, I’d love to hear what they were! Or if you regret your wedding favors, do a future bride a favor and drop your advice in the comments below.
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