Wedding Advice - Here Comes the Blog » DIY wedding favors

Cheap Wedding Favors

Sarah — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:16:54 +0000

Just because you want inexpensive wedding favors doesn’t mean they have to look cheap. With these great ideas, no one will know how little you paid for each favor. Most can be found or made for under $2. Raid the dollar store and get some good ideas too. You’ll be surprised with you find there!

Bags of Kisses

Tie some Hershey’s kisses in silver or gold netting and finish with a pretty ribbon. If you’re getting married around Halloween, you can find all sorts of bulk bags and discounts too. Craft stores will have cellophane and netting along with an array of inexpensive ribbon.

Glass Coasters

You can find coasters with every design imaginable. Find glass coasters that fit your theme and then tie in a pretty ribbon around them, and you’re done.

Shaped Favor Boxes

For pennies each you can buy favor boxes shaped in everything from handbags to brides and grooms and more. You’ll have to assemble them yourself as they will arrive flat (thereby saving on cost). But if you enlist friends and make a night of it, you can have fun putting them together and filling them with chocolates or candies.

Handmade Bookmarks

If you’re on a budget, you can use watercolor paper or card stock to make elegant bookmark favors. Use fashion scissors that cut designs into the paper to do the edges. Punch a hole and tie a nice ribbon or tassel on each one. Then you can write something on each one, rubber stamp a design or stamp your monogram or the words “thank you.”

Magnets

You can find nice magnets at discount stores that go along with your theme. For a beach wedding you might have a starfish or sail boat. For a winter wedding you might have a snowman. Once you find the magnet you like, adhere it to card stock and double it up as a place card or tie a ribbon around it as is. They’ll look charming at each place setting.

Key Rings

Order key rings in bulk in a shape that matches your theme and color scheme. You can find them at discount stores, dollar stores and online in just about every shape and size. Choose the best quality you can afford.

Photos

You can do a lot with photos using your home printer. You can personalize mugs, mouse pads and more. Or, you can take pictures of memorable places in the town you’re getting married in and create cards or stationery.

Think creatively and you will find your printer is your new best friend. For a fraction of hiring someone to print photo gifts you can do it yourself with transfer and iron on paper.

Soaps

Soaps are a really nice item to offer as a favor. Many pressed soaps are so lovely that they look much more expensive than they are. Find them in a shape and design that matches your theme. Or, if you really want to get crafty and save money, make your own soap wedding favors. You can find soap-making supplies at discount stores. They have unique molds that will allow you to hand pour your soaps. You can do the same with candles if you like. And you can even add a scent or rose petals to make them even more unique.

The Ins and Outs of DIY Wedding Favor Packaging

Sarah — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:43:34 +0000

Before you decide if making your own wedding favors is the right choice for you, consider some of the finer points of the task.

You’ll need time. You can’t rush the assembly of certain do-it-yourself favor packaging. So plan to devote a few nights to the job.
Enlist help. If you’re doing it all by yourself it’s going to take longer than if you have a group of friends and family to assist.
Are you crafty? Some of the do-it-yourself favor packages are quite tricky to put together. If you don’t have patience to deal with this kind of craft, think about purchasing your favors ready-made.
Will the favors look professional when complete? Do a test run with a small batch of the wedding favors you intend to put together. Sometimes the packaging is flimsy and once you’re done bending down flaps, the box looks like it’s been through the wringer. If you don’t like the results, move on to something else.
Go simple. If you’re already stressed about other details of the wedding, don’t add one more thing to your list. Go with a simple favor that will not require hours of your evenings and weekends to complete. Remember, it’s the thought that counts. No one will know how much time you invested but you.
Think about cost per piece. If you can get the same thing ready-made for the same price, go for it. Your time is valuable and if the item is going to cost the same once you fill it, why not go with a pre-fab package?
Do a durability test. Put together one or two of the packages complete with filling and see how well it travels in the back seat of your car. After all, you have to transport your favors to the reception somehow and if they won’t survive the trip, wouldn’t you like to know ahead of time? Walk away from any favor that is going to spill, break, or leak. You just don’t need the headache.
Go with adorable packages that are easy to assemble. You can find boxes in the shape of brides and grooms that you can fill with candies easily. Use miniature glass bottles that you can fill with mints or gumballs. Just forego any tying of ribbon that could become tedious after the 87^th one.
Anything that takes just a few seconds to put together is your best bet. Think votive holders where you just need to pop in a candle. Or choose a silk sachet bag that you can fill with chocolates. Favor boxes that require you only to come up with the contents are also a great choice. If it’s a fill and go kind of favor, it’s a good idea.
Craft stores are a great resource for DIY wedding favors. You can find tins to fill with goodies, bubbles and swans that you can incorporate into the decor, glass containers of every kind that you can fill with things like heart-shaped candies or gumballs. Browse around. You’ll find that the wedding aisle has many bows already formed to save you time. Lots of shortcuts are there on the shelves ready for the taking.

Think about your time and resources before you plan to do your favors yourself. They’re a good, cost-effective idea if you have the patience and drive to complete them.

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Think Outside The Chest - Modern Favor Ideas

Kim — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:05:40 +0000

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 wedding favors 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 wedding!

Favor photo courtesy of the 2009 Weddingstar Catalog.

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Think Outside The Box - DIY Wedding Favor Ideas

Kim — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:32:35 +0000

Buying standard 2" x 2" x 2" cube favor boxes and adding embellishments is a great way to incorporate your style, theme, and color scheme into your guest party favors. Below you can see three examples of how to take a blank canvas and turn it into a one-of-a-kind favor for your guests to enjoy (photo courtesy of the 2009 Wedding Star catalog).

The example in the upper right corner shows how you can mix and match favor boxes to create an elegant and unique look that ties in perfectly with your color scheme. Best of all, this favor is affordable. The black and white favor boxes are embellished further with wedding words ribbon (faith, hope, joy, love and cherish) along with clear heart-shaped dazzler confetti pieces. Simply use a hot glue gun to secure the embellishments in place after you've filled the boxes with your favorite edible candy or other small gift for your guests.

The second DIY favor example in the lower left corner of the photograph shows a classic floral patterned favor box that is topped with the initials of the bride and groom. You can create the initials by purchasing textured paper at your local craft store and using letter templates and an knife tool to cut out the letters. Simply glue them to the favor box lid. Be sure to take the favor boxes to the store with you when looking for matching textured paper. Add a small piece of ribbon and heart dazzler for a bit of sparkle.

Add a Moroccan flair to your favors by dressing them up with some beading and gold roping that you purchase at a local craft store. The rich jewel tones add an elegant touch to the simple floral pattern favor box as shown in the bottom right corner of the photo. Jewels like the ones shown can be somewhat expensive so look for craft store sales and coupons to save some money.

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