Here Comes the Blog

Archive for the ‘Gifts & Favors’ Category

Asian themed weddings are quite popular, and there are so many ways to create this theme for your guests in an entirely new way. The favors you choose will help set the mood and carry your theme throughout the day. Online sites are excellent sources for hard-to-find Asian-themed favors. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Double Happiness
The double happiness sign is very traditional for an Asian wedding. The symbol stands for wishes of life-long happiness for the bride and groom. Why not wish your guests well with a take-home place card holder in the symbol of the double happiness characters? There are also many other items that bear the double happiness sign. You’ll find everything from candles to boxes to bags emblazoned with the uplifting design.

Red Tea Light Holders
Because red is the color of luck in Asian cultures, you may want to include an elegant red votive holder at every place setting. They are available in many designs including an intricate gold scroll pattern that really looks elegant. You can either send them home with guests, or you can light them and have each table glowing with gorgeous luminescence. Nothing says romance like candlelight.

Mini Lanterns
There are many versions of miniature lanterns available. You might want to choose on that holds a tea light or one that is more traditional made of silk or paper. These are fun little favors and your guests can hang them when they get home.

Everything Elephant
The elephant is a symbol of good fortune in Asia. Why not add a few elephant touches for your guests? They can take home a darling ivory elephant votive holder or a wooden elephant napkin ring to remind them of the day. You can also print elephants on your cocktail napkins or matchbooks.

Sake Cups
There are sake cups available in just about every design you can think of. Find one that coordinates with your décor. You might want to include a dragon sake cup for the men and a phoenix for the women as these symbolize men and women respectively.

Fortune Cookies
These days you can get fortune cookies made to your exact specifications. There are companies who will make them with the fortune you choose or you can have your wedding date and your names printed as the fortune. You can also select the color and flavor of the cookie to match your theme or have them dipped in white or dark chocolate or sprinkles. There are also many silver and gold colored metal favors in the shape of fortune cookies. You might look for silver place card fortune cookies or golden chopstick rests in the shape of the cookie.

Cranes
The crane appears in Asian culture as another symbol of luck. You can purchase a ceramic origami crane for each guest or couple, or you could enlist a bunch of friends and create them yourselves out of paper. Either way, a crane favor to take home is a nice touch.

Coins
Asian coins make great take-home gifts. You can either string them on pretty ribbon and make a decorative ornament or bracelet or you can offer them in pretty favor boxes.

Brocade Favors
There are so many wonderful brocade items to offer your guests. You can choose silk brocade wallets or jewelry pouches for the ladies and ornately decorated boxes for the men to keep their watches or tie tacks in. They’ll look stunning on your tables.

Photo Coasters
Photo coasters are becoming very popular. They come in all designs and allow you to personalize your gift to your guests. You can include a photo of the bride and groom (an engagement photo works well) and assemble them ahead of time. Guests will appreciate the time you took to make this thoughtful present.

There’s really no limit to the favors you can find to coordinate with your Asian theme. From personalized water bottle labels and personalized candy wrappers to fans and parasols, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the choices available to make your day special.

More and more brides are opting for edible favors for their wedding guests.  And why not?  Guests can take home a sweet treat that will remind them of your big day.  One of the most popular edible favor choices are gourmet iced cookies in various shapes such as three tier wedding cakes, hearts, wedding gowns, tuxes and more.  You can even get iced cookies that are imprinted with a photo of the bride and groom. 

Recently, the Classic Curls Heart Cookie Favors from Cookie Gift Baskets were featured in the April 2010 issue of Brides Magazine.  The perfect “something blue” for your wedding, these heart-shaped cookies truly taste as good as they look.   A delicious almond flavor-infused shortbread cookie is topped with an aqua blue royal icing and then confectionery artisans pipe on classic, elegant white lace curls.  The extra large (about 5″ across) cookies are shrink-wrapped, but you can get them wrapped in individual cello bags that are hand-tied with a matching satin ribbon for just 50 cents extra per cookie.  Cookies are priced from $4.25 and up with a minimum order of 12 cookies.

Personally, I find that my favorite cookie favor shape is that of a wedding cake.  At Gourmet Cookie Bouquets, you can find personalized wedding cake-shaped favors that are available in numerous patterns so that you can choose something that fits your style and color scheme perfectly.  Select from floral, polka-dot, striped, and classic curl designs and then add your names to one of the tiers for the ultimate personalized favor that your guests can eat.  If you prefer, you can skip the personalization altogether and go with a simple, elegant cookie cake design that features a white base and a white scroll work pattern like the gourmet cookies shown below.  Simply Stunning!

One of the most elegant and traditional color schemes for a wedding is black and white so it is no wonder that this palette is one of the most popular choices for weddings today.  When it comes to choosing black and white favors, the sheer number of options can be staggering.  You can find personalized and non-personalized choices as well as traditional favors that are timeless classics and whimsical favors that feature zebra stripes or polka dots.   Just choose a favor that will convey your thank you sentiments along with your personal style.  I found this montage of my favorite black and white wedding favors that are available from Wedding Favors Unlimited.

For the traditional bride and groom, a damask or flourish-patterned favor is a great choice.  For example, the damask covered candle favors in the upper left hand corner of the collage or the black and ivory flourish-patterned boxes in the middle would be a classic choice.  The boxes arrive with the matching ribbon so you simply assemble and fill them with your favorite candy, mint or trinket for a stunning presentation to your guests.  My personal favorite in this color palette are the “Timeless Traditions” black and white photo wedding coaster favors in the lower right hand corner.   The 3.5″ square glass coasters are packaged in sets of two and arrive with a white sheer ribbon and a center card that reads “For You”.  The white floral pattern on the jet black glass background is beautiful.

No matter what favor you choose, your guests are bound to be thankful that you cared enough to give them a little something to take home with them!

Image Source: Black and White Wedding Ideas from Hubpages.com

If you’ve decided to have a sweet pink wedding with chocolate brown accents, then you’ll need favors in the same color palette.   The great news is that there are a wide range of wedding favors on the market that incorporate this color scheme so you can choose something that fits your style and personality perfectly.  Give your guests a memorable gift to say thank you for sharing in your special day.  While I was poking around on the web for some of my favorite pink and brown wedding favors, I stumbled across this great lens at Squidoo which covers every aspect of a Pink and Chocolate Brown Wedding from the bridesmaid dresses to the reception centerpieces to the wedding favors, of course.    Below you’ll find the amazing collage of favors from that lens.

Personally, I am a fan of either personalized wedding favors because they just have that extra special touch or favors that incorporate edibles such as jordan almonds or personalized M&M’s inside beautiful favor boxes.  I love the latter because they are usually very affordable since you assemble the boxes yourself. 

So if I had to choose 3 from the above photo, these items would be my picks:

1) The adorable neopolitan striped boxes in the upper left corner that feature a chocolate stripe, a pink stripe, and a floral stripe in the middle.  They are perfectly sized to hold a good amount of candy or mints and they come with the ribbon.  You just need to fill and assemble the DIY favor boxes to present to your guests.

2) The heart-shaped measuring spoons in a pink box with a personalized hang tag in the bottom row center. Each of the spoons feature a clever little saying like A Dash of Kindness or A Spoonful of Laughter.  They are the perfect personalized pink wedding favor!

3) The chocolate and pink polka dot wedding cake candles in the center of the collage.  I love these whimsical three tier cake candles and they fit the color scheme perfectly!

With a little imagination and creativity, you can put together unique, fun and affordable favors that utilize galvanized or painted tin pails.  Many online vendors sell these miniature pails that usually stand about 2″ tall.  You can find them in either the silver galvanized color or in a painted white or pastel color.  They are a perfect container choice for casual events such as a spring, garden, or beach theme wedding.  Here are a couple of my favorite ideas for the pails:

Perfect for a garden wedding, the first look shown in the photograph utilizes a miniature metal watering can that is embellished with personalized ribbon (available in 27 colors) and decorative tin flowers (available in pink, orange and lavender).  Simply purchase the cans and then choose a ribbon and flower color that coordinates perfectly with your wedding.  Use a hot glue gun to create a look similar to the one shown in the photograph.  Fill the pails with a short stem cutting of your favorite flower such as a colorful Gerber daisy, rose, or carnation.

To create the second look in the photo, a silver metal miniature pail was filled with 3 colorful lollipops chosen to coordinate with the event colors, along with a ring of satin ribbon and a felt flower embellishment (available in pink, blue, green, or lavender).  You simply use hot glue to hold the ribbon and flower in place.  The little handles on the pails make it easy for guests to tote their adorable little favors home with them.

The final idea that I love is for a beach wedding.  In this case, white metal pails with handles have been filled with blue gummy whales.  The pails were decorated with blue satin ribbon and a miniature starfish that was glued in place.

No matter how you decide to decorate your pails, you can either place one at each individual place setting at the reception or display them on a table near the entrance/exit with a sign that clearly encourages your guests to take one home with them.   Pails are versatile so let your creative juices flow and you are sure to come up with a wedding favor that your guests will love!

Photos courtesy of the 2009 WeddingStar Catalog.

Wondering what to do with a hexagon-shaped box?  Wonder no more….hexagonal boxes can be used to create elegant wedding favors for just about any wedding theme or color scheme.  In the photo below, simple diamond patterned quilt favor boxes in a hexagon shape are used to create some fabulous looking personalized favors.

The upper right photo in the collage shows an affordable way to personalize your hexagonal shaped favor boxes.  Simply purchase custom imprinted favor ribbon in a color that goes with your color scheme.  Normally the ribbon can be imprinted with the bride and groom’s name along with the wedding date.  Also purchase some simple favor hang tags that say something like “Thank You for Sharing in Our Special Day”.  You can usually get about 25 of these classic thank you tags for under $5.  Tie the tag onto the box using the ribbon and consider using a little dot of hot glue to keep the ribbon in place on the box.

If you are having an autumn wedding, bring the fall colors into your favors through the use of ribbon and organic elements.  For the look in the photo, twigs from a local craft store (you could use ones from your yard too) were used along with a brown satin ribbon and gold organza ribbon.  Leaf-shaped paper cards were cut-out of green cardstock and hand-written with the word “Thank You”.  You can also find personalized leaf-shaped cards at Wedding Favors Unlimited.  They come in 4 different colors including brown, green, and red making them a great choice for fall-themed wedding favors.   You can personalized them with your names and date or your monogram.

Finally if you are looking to add a little glitz and glamour to your wedding favors, you can use crystal dazzlers, mongrams and a flashy bow like the ones shown in the photo on the lower right corner.  Kevin and Amber used their initials on the box for a personal touch that wowed their guests.  These do-it-yourself favors are a more expensive, but highly elegant option.

Photo courtesy of the Weddingstar Catalog.

You may have seen my earlier post (aqua blue box ideas) where I suggested using treasure chest boxes for a shell themed wedding favor OR a blue chest with white ribbon for a Tiffany blue color scheme or a Something Blue wedding theme.  Here are some more fun ideas for using a chest-shaped box to create one-of-a-kind favors for your wedding guests.  Start with a simple treasure chest-shaped aqua blue favor box and embellish it for your wedding theme or season. 

To create the vintage look in the upper right corner of this collage, look to flapper girls of the 1920’s or Victorian hats worn in the 1800’s for inspiration.  This box was created using simple white feathers, ribbon, and natural floral components that can all be purchased at a local craft store.

For the splish splash beach-themed wedding favor on the lower left corner, you can create a sand surface in any pattern you choose by artfully placing on white glue and then sprinkling it with artificial sand or brown glitter.  For the sand castle, use card stock to make a cut-out and glue it to the chest after you’ve sprinkled it with “sand” as well.  You can buy miniature seashell decorations at a local craft store as well.  Simply glue them on to the treasure chest with hot glue.

If you are dreaming of a white Christmas, these snowflake adorned treasure chests might be the answer.  Simply cover the lower half of the chest in white glue and sprinkle with artificial snow to create a glimmery effect.  Then add a die-cut snowflake or snowflake dazzler.  The perfect favor choice for a winter wonderland wedding!

Favor photo courtesy of the 2009 Weddingstar Catalog.

One of my favorite do-it-yourself favor box choices for weddings are treasure chests.  You can embellish these simple boxes with ribbon, mini seashells, hearts or flowers, and personalized stickers or hang tags to create a one-of-a-kind favor for your wedding guests. 

This beach treasure chest was created using an aqua blue favor box, white “From The Happy Couple” ribbon, and starfish shaped stickers that are imprinted with the bride and groom’s names along with the wedding date.  All of these items can be purchased at Wedding Favors Unlimited. 

I suggest filling the boxes with seashell-shaped chocolates nestled on a bed of paper shred (as shown in the photo) or your favorite candies such as M & M’s in an aqua and white color scheme.

Using the same aqua blue treasure chests, you can create an elegant favor that would be great for a “Something Blue” wedding theme or chocolate and aqua colored wedding.  To create the look shown in the photo, you print out your favorite quote on a clear vellum strip and wrap it around the base of the treasure chest.  Then you wrap the white satin ribbon tying a bow around the chest in the other direction.  Use hot glue to add a heart-shaped confetti dazzler to the center of the ribbon bow and voila, you’ve got beautiful party favors for your guests.

Photos courtesy of the 2010 WeddingStar catalog.

If you are having a beach wedding or seaside event, then you’ve realized that there are endless possibilities when it comes to wedding favors.  In the photo collage below, I’ve pulled together some of my favorite choices that cover the gamut of beach styles from casual to elegant. 

Having a casual beach wedding?  Flip-flop themed favors are the perfect choice  for a casual wedding.  Choose from personalized lemonade packets, luggage tags, notebooks, and place card holders that all feature a flip-flop motif.  And don’t forget about the margarita or cosmopolitan drink mix favors.  Personally, I can’t think of anything better than digging my toes into the sand, kicking back on a chaise lounge and sipping a margarita on a sunny beach in Mexico.  Aaaah, wish I was there right now!

Want a more upscale feel at your beach wedding?  Favors featuring a seashell motif can have an elegant feel if you choose the correct item.    I suggest glass coasters, candles, or Adirondack chairs that can do double duty as the place card holder.  You can find hundreds of favors online that incorporate a seashell theme including several of the items in the photo below.

Personalize It!  I always think that adding your names and wedding date to a favor makes them extra special for your guests.  When it comes to personalized beach wedding favors, there are many great options including candy jars that you can fill with your favorite candy (like gummy fish for example) and then add a personalized sticker with a palm tree or flip flop design.  The margarita or lemonade packets that I mentioned previously can also be customized with your names and date.  But I have to say that my favorite personalized favor for beach weddings are the miniature bottles of sunscreen.  They come in tons of color and theme choices and best of all, their labels are printed with your names and wedding date.

Beach Wedding Favors from Wedding Favors Unlimited

Taking a simple 2″ x 2″ x 2″ white or ivory favor box and adding your own special touch enables you to create unique one-of-a-kind favors for your guests.  In the photo below (from the Wedding Star catalog), you can see four ways to transform a simple ivory favor box into something truly special.  These ideas are great for butterfly, Spring, green and destination weddings.

The top left favor was created by taking a white floral embossed gift box and embellishing it with a white hydrangea bloom and hand-painted butterfly.  This delicate and beautiful favor will look amazing on your garden party or spring/summer wedding reception tables.

Simple green bear grass is tied in a unique pattern around a cubed gift box to create the favor on the top right corner of the photo.  It takes a bit of practice to get a grass pattern that you like, but it is well worth the effort.  What a great favor idea for the guests at green or garden weddings.

Bring some urban sophistication to a modern wedding with the sculptural ribbon design like the one shown in the lower left hand corner.  A simple white favor box is first wrapped with double-sided brown/green ribbon and then the ribbon is cut and starched to create the center portion (which is pinned to the box).   Modern. Fresh. Unique.

Travel stamps are used to create the “return to sender” favor in the lower right corner of the photo.  You can find small travel stamps at your local craft store.  Stamp your honeymoon, wedding ceremony or destination wedding location all over the gift box.  Tie with simple package ribbon or yarn for a whimsical touch.  We recommend using plain favor boxes (non-embossed) so that you can get good contact with the ink stamp.