mom-6

The only favors I've ever seen have been the little bottles of bubbles to wave as the couple leaves for their honeymoon.

bearisgray

Or a little bag of candy wrapped in net.

Or bird seed to throw at the couple - wrapped in net.

butterflywing

these bubbles were at an outdoor wedding. very nice.

dmackey

I did the same for my son's wedding, but I added a picture of my son and DIL, and had a stamp made with "Justin & Sara, May 21, 2005" and stamped it on the bottom of the picture. I got the frames in bulk very cheap, printed my own place cards with a Claddaugh logo (we are Irish), and put the picture behind the place cards. Sara tells me that even 4+ years later, she often sees the frame and picture in her friend's homes.

So, that is one wedding favor that might have a life after the wedding, but I'm with everyone else. They are not necesary and a waste of money.

Do you "mature" ladies remember that favors were always a book of matches? I still have some that I saved. I think they lasted longer than the weddings they were printed for!

Diane

littlehud

No favors needed. I just want to be there to celebrate the wonderful day.

Leota

scrap the favors... they are not necessary even for a formal wedding. There's a book on Weddings on a Budget or something like that. When I got married, 31 years ago, I made the little rice sacks to put the rice that was to be thrown at us as we left...some people threw the bag and all...ouch :0

bearisgray

For those of us trying to declutter, you would be doing us a favor by skipping the favors.

quiltingfan

I vote for no favors. I wish they would not give favors out at birthday parties either. Where did that idea come from? Usually my kids come home with candy that they do not need. And I am left buying last minute stuff for my kids parties, they are never cheaper no matter what you put in them. Wish everyone would just save there money and not think that they have to give people gift for coming to a party that they were invited too. Just my thought.

jnebug

Our daughter is getting married in Oct and instead of favors they are also donating money to Cancer research and childrens hospital.So I totally agree with you.Donations to your favorite charity instead of favors.

JoAnnGC

When I lived in New York I worked as a Maitre d' for several years at the West Point Officers Club at the Military Academy and oversaw many weddings from very simple to very, very fancy and expensive. Since cadets come from all over the country as do their brides there are many regional and ethnic traditions that come into play when planning a wedding reception. I would say that it's about a 50/50 split on favors or no favors for the guests. I've seen favors as simple as a few Hershey's chocolate kisses wrapped up with tulle and ribbon to fancy silver picture frames from Tiffany's. I've also seen delicious-looking home-made Italian cookies packaged in personalized boxes, bottles of wine with personalized labels to commemorate the day and of course the traditional take-home boxed piece of cake (either bride's or groom's). I've also seen many "in lieu of..." cards instead of favors. However, there is no need to worry if you don't want this expense. Even at weddings where the cost was over $200 per plate for the reception many couples did not provide favors and I never heard a guest complain that there were none. It is true that favors were very often inadvertently left behind. The wait staff loved picking up those little boxes of chocolate at the end of the night! Whatever you decide, do it because you want to, not because you have to, and best wishes to both of you!