Favours.

Sadler32

Ok guys,

I have a question. What should I get the guys at my wedding as wedding favours.
The women are sorted and looking for the men now.
I have searched the internet and keep comming back to shot glasses....

Is that too tacky.

You opinions and thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

solerina

I have been to approx. 20 weddings in the past 3/4 years and at only one of them were there favours...I don't think anyone looks for /expects them anymore and certainly wont miss them if there are none !! I certainly don't want/expect favours, just a fun day and a good meal with decent wine !!!

D3PO

personally i think favours are a waste of money. Nobody really cares about them and they arent missed if not there.

I argued unsuccessfully with my wife that it was just a waste. After the fact she agreed with me that it was completly lost on the guests and a waste of time, effort and money.

It wasnt that I wanted to cut the budget or anything as we spent nearly €40k on the wedding so the cost of the favours was negligible in the scheme of things in our case that said I didnt see the point in wasting money for the sake of it either.

I know its not what you asked but I'd say dont spend money on favours.

kkcatlou

While I agree with the above posters, I do think favours are worthwhile when they are either handmade or represent something important to the couple in their lives (tied into an interest or place or something like that).

What kind of budget do you have, and what are your general interests? I have seen favours for guys range from packets of crisps (you can get these personalised) to small bottles of spirits. Is there anything specific to the area you are from? Any product it's famous for that you could get a small sample of?

Sadler32

I guessed it was going to go this way. I have been to a few weddings recently and a couple had favours and others didnt. I dont really expect to see them at a wedding.

I just wanted to give something out. As you say the cost of the favours are insignificant. My budget is around 50k, but comming in around 30k. Got some amazing deals and everything is our first choice.... Except for our venue. When we went to see our first choice veue it was such a let down. Then we found our perfect one.

Solerina thanks for the input, I am starting to realise that they are not expected. I just want to have all the finishing touches. Like for all the women at the wedding we will have a yankee candle to say thank you from the bride and groom....


The comments are appreciated, we might yet decide not to go this route....

D3PO

Sadler32 wrote: »

Solerina thanks for the input, I am starting to realise that they are not expected. I just want to have all the finishing touches. Like for all the women at the wedding we will have a yankee candle to say thank you from the bride and groom....

Thats exactly what my wife said. Including buying special boxes of men in tuxs and women in dresses to hold the favours and double as placecard holders.

I can bet you one thing. If I polled the 162 people that attended my wedding I can be sure that less than 10 will remember either what the favour was or what kind of packaging it was in despite the lovely finishing touches we put in place.

re the yankee candles. I can also bet you that when you leave after the reception there will be candles strewn all over the tables and carpets. Yes some will be safely tucked into handbags but a large amount wont.

Im not trying to put a downer on your idea Im just letting you know whats likely to occur.

Sadler32

yeah getting that impression. Its more a sense for us that we have done what we want, lol.

Sure if the candles are left over, they will always get used...

Stepping Stone

I have been to weddings where there were favours like sugared almonds, which were deeply unpopular and others where there were jelly beans/ two chocolates and these were much better. Most weddings don't have them though.

The single best wedding favour that I ever got was from a Christmas wedding. The bride is quite artistic and we all got hand made, ceramic Christmas decorations. They were really lovely. I think about that couple every single Christmas when I look at the tree.

I would honestly say that unless you have something very cheap and easy like food or something handmade that will last, I just wouldn't bother.

Milly33

Think of something your man likes or is associated with as such.. My cousin had soaps and alan keys which were actually quite usefull there is always need for an alan key.. that or chocolate never goes to waste

Tarzana

D3PO wrote: »

I can bet you one thing. If I polled the 162 people that attended my wedding I can be sure that less than 10 will remember either what the favour was or what kind of packaging it was in despite the lovely finishing touches we put in place.

Exit polls at weddings, will this be the new fad? :pac:

Here Comes The Trio

Attended a wedding as a guest at the weekend and the favours were scratch cards, the €1 all cash silver ones, in a little envelope with 1c coins in each so we could scratch it. €1.01pp+the cost of the envelope. This isn't really gender specific so maybe you want something more masculine but we loved them!

whiskeyman

I just don't understand why couples waste money on favours.
No one I know cares about them, and I've been to so many weddings where I've seen them left behind / on the floor at the end of the night...
Just put the money back into the food / drink / entertainment budget to ensure your guests have a good time.

Tarzana wrote: »

Exit polls at

weddings, will this be the new fad? :pac:

Imagine if weddings had airport like buttons at various stages!!

Sadler32

Thanks for the comments.
Yeah getting that impression that nobody cares about them, but there are the odd few. We are trying to keep things traditional, the way it used to be done. So many old Irish traditions had been lost.

Thats why with the favours want to get something useful, the scratch cards have come up as few times and people seem to like them.

As for putting it into the budget for the food and drink, it wouldnt go very far, we spent 80euro on the favours for the women, so only looking to spend that on the men.

We are pulling out all the stops. Only our closest friends and family are comming to the reception, so we have a good chance at pleasing most of them.
As long as the drink flows a good time will be had by all.....

mrsbyrne

Sadler32 wrote: »

Thanks for the comments.
Yeah getting that impression that nobody cares about them, but there are the odd few. We are trying to keep things traditional, the way it used to be done. So many old Irish traditions had been lost.

Thats why with the favours want to get something useful, the scratch cards have come up as few times and people seem to like them.

As for putting it into the budget for the food and drink, it wouldnt go very far, we spent 80euro on the favours for the women, so only looking to spend that on the men.

We are pulling out all the stops. Only our closest friends and family are comming to the reception, so we have a good chance at pleasing most of them.
As long as the drink flows a good time will be had by all.....

Why do you think that wedding favours are "an old Irish tradition"?

Sadler32

I didnt say they were an old irish tradition.
We are using old irish traditions at our reception.

Just saying that favours were always there, just recently they are hit and miss. Some people have them some dont. Some people like them, other hate them.....

BabysCoffee

I love favours and I appreciate the effort that goes in to them. My fave favour was a newbridge silver christmas ornament!!1

pwurple

Sadler32 wrote: »

Just saying that favours were always there, just recently they are hit and miss. Some people have them some dont. Some people like them, other hate them.....

Really don't know if that is the case. There may have been a tradition of gifts at parties within the aristocracy. Certainly no tradition of it within ordinary weddings, until the Wedding Fayre or Wedding Expo was invented I'd say.

smaoifs

We decided against favours and just used the money we had budgeted for favours to make a donation to a local charity. They provided cards then for each table stating a donation had been made to mark the occasion.

pooch90

I handmade our centrepieces, little Hessian wrapped jars with wax seal of our initials filled with paper and button flowers,encouraged the guests to take them with them. Men and women took the lot, the men used them as buttonholes and the women had handbags full of the jars leaving. Multipurpose.

(Excuse the messy house, wedding DIY bomb site!!)

BabysCoffee

pooch90 wrote: »

I handmade our centrepieces, little Hessian wrapped jars with wax seal of our initials filled with paper and button flowers,encouraged the guests to take them with them. Men and women took the lot, the men used them as buttonholes and the women had handbags full of the jars leaving. Multipurpose.

(Excuse the messy house, wedding DIY bomb site!!)

I'm sorry but I don't understand what these are and what guests would take them for?

mrsbyrne

Sadler32 wrote: »

I didnt say they were an old irish tradition.
We are using old irish traditions at our reception.

Just saying that favours were always there, just recently they are hit and miss. Some people have them some dont. Some people like them, other hate them.....

Favour were definitely not "always there".it's s fad imported from US 10 years ago.

Toots

smaoifs wrote: »

We decided against favours and just used the money we had budgeted for favours to make a donation to a local charity. They provided cards then for each table stating a donation had been made to mark the occasion.

Some of them also provide those little pins or keyrings etc.

Irish Heart Foundation do a variety of stuff, the little trolley tokens are actually something people would use, although maybe not just for the guys, although my husband always has one on his keyring.
Alzheimers Association has the same type of selection. Loads of charities do them.
You may be able to find a charity that does little chocolate boxes with a couple of sweets in them or something. I know a massive amount of favours are usually left over after weddings, so even if the guests don't use them at least someone will benefit from them.

Electric Sheep

pooch90 wrote: »

I handmade our centrepieces, little Hessian wrapped jars with wax seal of our initials filled with paper and button flowers,encouraged the guests to take them with them. Men and women took the lot, the men used them as buttonholes and the women had handbags full of the jars leaving. Multipurpose.

(Excuse the messy house, wedding DIY bomb site!!)

Am I the only one who thinks that is the funniest thing I ever read?

Faith

mrsbyrne wrote: »

Favour were definitely not "always there".it's s fad imported from US 10 years ago.

I remember going to a wedding 20 years ago and there was a little box of sugared almonds at every guest's place. I remember because I didn't know what sugared almonds were, and I was disgusted when I bit into one!

We're not doing favours, but if we were, we'd have these:



They're cake pops. I'm an avid baker, so they'd be really appropriate for us.

Shot glasses are not useful, or wanted by the majority of people. If you're determined to have favours, go with something either unique or edible.

pooch90

Electric Sheep wrote: »

Am I the only one who thinks that is the funniest thing I ever read?

Why?
They actually turned out really nice and people appreciated the fact that effort had gone into them, more than the manky little chocolates you see walked into the carpets at the end of the night.

BabysCoffee

pooch90 wrote: »

Why?
They actually turned out really nice and people appreciated the fact that effort had gone into them, more than the manky little chocolates you see walked into the carpets at the end of the night.

They are very personal to you so obviously you would love to take them home.

But seriously why would anyone else take your centre pieces?! What would they do with them?

I've also never seen chocolates walked in to the floor. Chocolates at a wedding are generally gobbled up.

Gatica

I agree, of all wedding favours, I find chocolates to be the most "useful".
There's already a thread on favours somewhere and while some people like the personalised small touches, I think the vast majority wasn't too bothered about someone else's wedding date inscribed in some small decoration.
Having said that I think Yankee candles and Christmas decoration sound like a better idea.
We thought of doing his/hers favours, lavender sachets for the ladies and dinky cars for the lads. Didn't bother in the end, plus now I'd say they'd have been left behind anyway.

amdublin

I love the little box of leonidas chocs.

Plus I've said before I love the Yankee candles or a Christmas decoration (I was at a wedding where they were Newbridge silver!!! One per couple)

Teyla Emmagan

I don't like favours much at all. And sorry OP, but I'm not mad on your yankee candle idea either. Yankee candles are a bit love em or hate em.

Do they still make polaroid film? Could you get someone to take a photo of each guest and their partner on the way into the reception (say) and present them with a photo of themselves to bring home? If you got a frame for each, I think that would be a lovely momento of the day. You could write up a small tag for each beforehand 'with thanks to Sue and Jane from John and Mary for sharing our special day with us' and send them home with something to put up on their mantlepiece. You could hire yourself a teenager and have them assembled during the drinks reception and then put on each table for when they come in for the meal.

I just think most favours get forgotten/tossed in a drawer (because most of them are rubbish). So if you are going to go down that route it's worth doing it properly. A decent black and white photo of your guests in a silver frame, say, could look really classy and be something they'd actually want to display at home.

pooch90

The paper flowers are actually cute on the mantelpiece/on a shelf.
They weren't meant to be favours but I didn't need to bring 60 of them home so was delighted people liked them and wanted to keep them as a memento of our day.
There were 3 left the morning after.
It was the parents generation that went and took ones off other tables too, my 80 year old aunt was ready to fight for them!
We had no real flowers at all in our wedding, I made my button bouquet and bead bouquets for the BMs.


The way we did our photo booth was a black backdrop and the photos were taken by the photographer, we encouraged people to do a fun one with props and then a serious one. Certain friends took the opportunity to get an engagement style pic done, others a family portrait. They will all be able to download the photos later.
The frame is a nice idea.

Not a fan of Yankee candles, think they are just too much money for what they are. Also, buying a newbridge trinket for every guest will cost a bomb.
The chocolates can be horrible if they are cheap and if you spend an pile of cash on Lily O'Briens or similar, if there is cake and dessert, surely it's just a waste of money too?

Vojera

For ours we handmade little felt teddies. They were all taken home and we even got photos of some of them in their new homes. As it was an Easter wedding we also had chocolate chicks and bunnies (Milkybar and Smarties), which were all eaten.

Having favours is completely optional, imo. I've never remarked on the lack of favours at a wedding. But if you're doing it, either go with something edible (except sugared almonds, gross!) or something unique.