Wedding Favours??

MissK

Hi just picked out venue for wedding and setting a date. so I was doing a budget and was wondering is it ok not to do wedding favours??

catho_monster

defo ok not to, imo.

i mean, if you have money left over at the end, and can think of something special that would add to the day, then by all means...

but really, how many people are going to notice you didnt have favours - and of those people that noticed, are they really going to get annoyed that they didnt get an individually wrapped chocolate?!

barbiegirl

Honestly wedding favours are a waste of money. The only good favours are practical (like fans at ours cause it was so hot in Italy) or charity ones like my friend did giving to Alzheimers assoc. other than that people aren't interested and don't notice :-)
Put the money saved into your honeymoon :-)

rediguana

Favours are a waste of cash. We got married in August and we didn't have any. I seriously doubt anyone noticed or cared. Until shortly before my own wedding, I had never even heard of a "favour", and my fiancee had to explain it to me.

bensoneb

Just in case you do have money left over and want to get some favours, there's plenty on ebay or websites in UK that don't cost alot. I found a favour that was an 8" long-stemmed rose in a plastic box but the flower head was actually a candle. Each box had a thank you note attached to it. I had them placed just on the female plates at the meal and didn't give the men anything. I think they cost around €1.50 each so it didn't break the bank and all the women loved them. They're plenty more nice ones just as cheap!

Having said that, favours are not mandatory so it all depends on budget, etc. The rule is to suit yourself!

seamus

They're a complete and utter waste of money.

I was at a wedding where the favours appeared to be some form of disc, wrapped tightly in paper and with the Bride & Grooms' names on it. By the time the dancing came around, they were being used as coasters by many people and by the end of the night, there were a pile of them left on most tables.

Closer examination revealed that they were in fact mint chocolate discs. For eating

Femelade

My friend got married and they donated to 2 charities (the irish cancer foundation and the irish heart foundation - as her husbands parents died of these conditions) they had cards saying so on each table.

misssaucie

My brother and his wife got married last August and hired an excellent wedding planner and she said that favours are tacky and out of fashion at the moment. Also you will be wasting your money most people leave them behind on the table at the end of the night.

MissK wrote: »

Hi just picked out venue for wedding and setting a date. so I was doing a budget and was wondering is it ok not to do wedding favours??

StroppySu

I didnt want to do favours as they are a waste of money, but my fiance did... so we compromised and we're giving the money to charity instead. Much better idea in my opinion... but then i am a bit biased!

bensoneb

seamus wrote: »

I was at a wedding where the favours appeared to be some form of disc, wrapped tightly in paper and with the Bride & Grooms' names on it. By the time the dancing came around, they were being used as coasters by many people and by the end of the night, there were a pile of them left on most tables.

Closer examination revealed that they were in fact mint chocolate discs. For eating

I actually think this is appalling. Whatever people think of favours, if the couple went to the trouble to giving each person one, then I think people should have at least had the decency to open them to see what they were. What they would do after that with them would be their own business of course....

seamus

Well this is the thing, the way they were presented, it wasn't actually clear what they were or if they should be opened. I imagine most people didn't even realise they were wedding favours. Although they were wrapped in paper, it wasn't clear that it was for unwrapping - that perhaps they were pieces of wood with a decorative covering...to be used as coasters.

Toots

So another important point to consider would be to make sure that you pick something your guests will know what to do with. I'd say those mint things probably cost a fair bit, but it was a bit of a waste if nobody knew what to do with them.

I've seen some totally pointless crap at weddings. Best favours I've seen were either the charity ones, a cousin of mine made a donation to the Ulster Cancer Soc, and they sent him out loads of those little ribbon pins in blue and pink. Each female guest got a pink one at their place and the males got a blue. There was a card on each table explaining that a donation was made.

Another good one was when my OH's brother got married just before Christmas and they put a candy cane at everyone's place. Very simple, very cheap, and a massive hit, especially with guests who had children kept them amused during the speeches. This would only work at a Christmas wedding though.

Personally I'm in two minds about doing the favours. I think if I do, it'll be if I've got money left over at the end, and they'll be charity donations.

trixie666

I dont think there is a real need for favours, nobody expects them really. Its a personal choice. For my own wedding i bought mint sweets in bulk from cash and carry, and got some voile from dress shop, then i had my bridesmaids help in putting them together and we tied them with bows. For 250 favours it only cost us €40 all in, plus us girls had a good laugh making them!!

embee

At my cousin's wedding, she had little packets of wildflower seeds, they were the same wildflowers used in the bridal bouquet and in the centrepieces for each table.

She said they cost next to nothing - all she had done was the little card envelope things they came in, she'd written the date of the wedding and their initials.

Flowers are growing in our garden now, every summer

MJOR

not having them!!

Seoid

I'm actually glad to hear so many people not bothering with favours.
Little chocolates are nice but I don't think that it's worth the hassle or that most people would notice if there weren't any, since they often don't remember them anyway!
If you've got an idea for something different it can be very nice (I like the seeds idea mentioned above and a friend of mine printed romantic sayings and quotes on scrolls, which could at least be a starting point for people who don't know each other). But I'm glad to see most people don't think it's necessary as I don't plan on having any.

MariMel

I have decided not to have favours for my wedding. My brother got married last year and my son and my nieces and nephews went round the tables and collected the favours that noone wanted......
8 months later and I have just finished using the votive candles my son collected so many!!!

We have decided to do small personal gift bags for the children instead and a donation to a charity.