Cheap Wedding Favor

For some couples, one of the most important task when they are planning for the wedding is to save money. In fact, a wedding can certainly cost you a lot of money. You should consider various ways to save money if you have a relatively tight budget.

You can save money on your different wedding items. You can try to save money on your wedding venue by considering the number of guests carefully. You can also save money on your wedding invitation by searching for some discount item. There are also ways for you to save money on your wedding. Favors.

You may think that the best way to save money is to prepare wedding favors for only some of the guests. However, this is not a right attitude to save money. Your guests are coming to your wedding to bless you. You are also trying to share the joy with your guests. There is not point for you to just prepare wedding favor for some of the guests.

In order to save time, you will need to have a budget plan. You should understand that wedding favors can be something very expensive. Of course one of the ways to save money on this issue is to search for some discount items.


Some couples will tend to think that discount items are not something good. There would like to make the wedding favor elegant. As a result they may not want to take are look at the discount item sections of some online shops. In fact, some discount items can really be very elegant. However, you must spend some time to search for it. There are some shops which will offer beautiful and elegant discount items.

In fact, you can also be able to search for some cheap wedding favors from the superstores. You can purchase some inexpensive chocolates or cookies as your gifts to your guests. You may think that it will make the gift look cheap! However, you can make it very elegant if you can pack it well. You have to spend some time and put some effort of the packaging if you would like to make it elegant.


You can purchase some beautiful bags to and put the cookies in them. You may even try to create a small paper box yourself as the package of the wedding favor. Adding a gift tag to it is certainly a perfect idea. There are a lot of ways to make the package and gift elegant. However, you will not be able to do it if you are reluctant to spend your time to do so.

If it is possible, you should avoid purchasing the favor which bear a wedding theme. It will be a lot more expensive for you to purchase cookies in the shape of a wedding gown. It is very true that it can be a lot more meaningful if the gift bears such themes. However, you need to think about your budget before you make the decision of purchasing.

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Write Lovely Favors for Your Wedding Guests

You can write or put together some lovely favors as thank yous to your guests. Even better, you can get your wedding guests to write some wonderful things for you that you can merely compile. People like receiving little books that are personal.

• Write a book of Wedding Guests: List the friends and family members who were invited to your wedding and say something wonderful about why you're grateful for each of them. Print it out (half sheet sizes), "bind" it with ribbons in your wedding colors and you have a wonderful gift.
• Solicit Love Stories: Gather love stories from your ancestors or from other older successful marriages. Try to find out what made those marriages work (you don't need to know them if they have a great story). Put them together with pictures of the couple and give people some new love stories to read and live into. This is a book that certainly everyone in your families is going to be thrilled to receive. (Be a little careful here. Pick longer marriages and older couples, you don't want to make friends who are single feel left out.)
• Assemble a cookbook from your community: Solicit recipes from all your guests. It'll be good for you to have as you're starting out your married life. And I haven't met anyone who doesn't like to have new foods to think about, whether or not they cook. And this might be a great chance to get Aunt Millie's snickerdoodle recipe!

Then help make these gifts meaningful by talking about their meaning at your wedding ceremony. Include your commitment to your community in your wedding vows. Then enjoy the support you've created as you live into the marriage of your dreams.

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Handmade Soap Makes Great Wedding Favors

There is no reason why you cannot make your own wedding favors and have them turn out just as beautifully as if you purchased them from an expensive wedding store or planner. However, by creating your own handmade wedding favors, you can save a great deal of money and have complete control over the creative aspects of your project. This can be very handy if you are on a budget and is a great way to get friends and family involved in your wedding.


Favors for wedding and bridal showers can be as simple as you like. One of the most interesting types of favors that you may consider making is handmade soap wedding favors. Handmade soap makes excellent favors for weddings, especially because you can completely customize the favors that you make, giving the guests to your wedding a unique and exciting gift that they can cherish for a good long time.

On the outside, the soap making process may sound like a truly impossible endeavor to you, but there are actually easy ways for you to turn basic soap making supplies into some truly beautiful handmade soap favors. If you make use of glycerin soap base, for example, you can find yourself creating beautiful and functional wedding favors in no time at all. These personalized gifts are truly ideal for favors both for weddings as bridal showers as well.

You can buy soap making supplies either from your local craft store, or over the internet. All you need to get started is the glycerin soap base, molds to make the shapes of the soap and essential oils, colorants or other additives to add your own creative flair. The actual soap making process only takes about three simple steps. The first step when it comes to soap making using glycerin is simply to melt the glycerin soap base. The second step is to add the colorants and the scented oils. If you plan on adding anything else to your soap, such as dried herbs or oatmeal, do so now. Finally, you are going to want to pour the soap into the molds, allowing each bar to cool and harden completely.

For simple decoration, wrap each individual soap wedding favor in butcher paper or wax paper, and use some ribbon or some raffia to tie it all together. You may also consider designing the packaging a different way, just make sure that you customize it to suit your wedding if you want to create a truly memorable favor. If you are a little shy about the “doing it yourself” aspect of handmade soap wedding favors, you may be able to buy a kit that will walk you through the entire process a lot more simply than if you were to buy the material separately.

Handmade soap makes excellent favors for your wedding and for your wedding shower as well. If you are looking for a way to create a truly memorable gift, this is absolutely the way to do it.

By: Jeffrey Dorrian

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Your Own Unique Style is The Best for Celebrate Your Wedding

Every bride dreams of having a special wedding celebration, it’s the definition of special that may vary from bride to bride. When I got married I knew that I wanted the atmosphere and décor to be a reflection of my own personal style. The big challenge for me was; what was my personal wedding style? Sure, I knew my colors, chocolate brown and scarlet red, two sensuous shades that have always spoken to me. And I was also confident that I wanted our wedding to be a really fun and fabulous night for everyone in general.

Now, I know that you are probably thinking, “Who doesn’t want their wedding to be fun?” but what I mean more specifically by a fun and fabulous night is that I wanted our guests to experience that awesome, magical kind of fun that you can’t plan on just any old night out. It was important to me that instead of memories of me cutting a cake, tossing a bouquet and otherwise basking in the spotlight, our guests left with memories of dancing to their favorite music, enjoying delicious and unusual delicacies and reconnecting with old friends and family. I had little other wedding planning ideas past these, but these I was sure of.

I was a very fortunate bride-to- be in that I have experience in event planning, not tremendous experience, but enough to feel that I was starting this process with an advantage. And unique to many other brides, without panic.
So I carefully and thoughtfully began, step by step, to formulate the decisions that would define the atmosphere and décor of our wedding in a way that would help it to stand out among the typical cookie cutter wedding reception that we have all come to tire of. I would love to share some of my tips, techniques and advice that allowed me to plan and execute the wedding of my dreams and even enjoy doing so!

Tear Sheets
Congrats! You are engaged! Now run immediately to your favorite newsstand and buy every bridal magazine! WAIT! There are so many more resources out there than every bridal magazine. I suggest buying two bridal mags to get a read on what the trends are in the wedding industry. Are brides going for traditional gowns? What are your contemporaries doing for favors? Find the look of invitation that most catches your fancy. Scour the two magazines you choose for whatever peeks your interest and then tear, tear, tear! Move on then to the interior decorating magazine you picked up with your latest issues of “Modern Engaged Bride-to-be”. And then pour through an issue of “Real Simple” or “Fine Cooking”. These are magazines dedicated to the finer aspects of living and celebrating life and they offer great insight into chic and distinctive ways of hosting a spectacular event. Lastly go through your favorite home catalogues, mine is Crate & Barrel. Tear out the pictures and advice that speak to you and along with the pages that you favored from the bridal mags and lifestyle publications begin a wedding production binder. Spend some time with these images and ideas, envision how you could incorporate them into your ceremony and reception and give yourself a little time to think on it! Before you realize it, your style will begin to rise to the surface.

Book your locations
While you are mulling the images and ideas over and over in your mind, begin making appointments with ceremony and reception locations. While you factor in cost, layout, capacity and availability, keep in mind the mold-ability of the location and how you could incorporate your pages from your production book. Is there a great built in fireplace that you could fill with candles? Is the décor shabby-chic just like your favorite catalogue? Are the draperies inspired by your favorite destination? Make mental notes of the design influences in the space you are checking out, you may be able to play off of those features in a way that makes HUGE impact! Once you find your locations, the remaining decision fall into place much more easily.

Invitations & Dress
Not many wedding planners would likely group together two such major event aspects like stationary and wardrobe, but for style purposes – they work well together. Keep in mind that both areas will complement the style of your wedding but are typically considered separate areas of the event. Well, they are and they’re not. For one, the invitation and dress set the tone of the event. By choosing the best wedding stationary and wedding gown, you can bring together all of the aspects of your wedding style that you have selected. If your décor is a sleek and modern white wedding staged outside under a tent of glowing Chinese lanterns, your perfect invitation, menu and escort card could be printed on delicate rice paper featuring the Chinese ideogram for love. Your ideal dress may be a gauzy and simple boat necked gown cinched sharply and intentionally at the waist with a silk obi. This complete look, preceded by the invite and completed by the décor, harmonizing food and drink and capped off with arrangements of cherry blossoms and votives, will be breathtaking! Pulling off your wedding style is as simple as minding your details and keeping in mind that every decision is an opportunity to make a statement.

Food, Drink, Tunes & Favors
The final details to incorporate into your fabulous event are the guest’s favorite! Perhaps you have chosen a location at a beach club. Your stationary could feature a save the date “flip flop”, a lobster embossed engraved invitation and escort cards of painted seashells. Your dress is a simple silk bias cut sheath, with a gorgeous cowl neck accented with a designer flat thong. Imagine your guests enticed by the scents of lobster hors devours wafting though the air and the whimsical sounds of a steel drum band. You could have your signature “beachcomber” cocktail passed on trays with mini umbrellas in them! This is the making of a memorable event! As your loved ones depart they can take with them his and hers flip flops in the colors of your wedding, wrapped in a beach towel monogrammed with your wedding date and a message of thanks! The trick to adding the best details to any event is to ignore the pressure to make a decision and think of a natural choice. Sure, the websites and magazine might suggest favors for a wedding being hosted at a country club, but those favors wouldn’t incorporate the feel of your event. Use your imagination. If you decide that you would rather have centerpieces of hurricane vases filled with shells and candles rather than flowers than you can make it happen! Shells and candles are easily obtainable at craft stores such as Michaels. Another cute centerpiece idea for a beach wedding is a aluminum sand pail with shovels filled to the brim with garden roses according to your colors. What an impression you would make!

I hope my approach to wedding planning has given you a decent jumping off point. There are a few more areas to tackle, like wedding party plans and transportation… Look for my next article dedicated to bridesmaids, groomsmen and carting them around. There I broach the subjects of shopping for flattering dresses in bulk and censoring the Best Man’s toast!

Good luck, enjoy and follow your heart. It will lead you right to your style!

By Ellen Preimesberger

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Why Don't Choose Chocolate For Unique Wedding Favors

There are many reasons why a bride might choose chocolate wedding favors for her reception. They’re typically very affordable, come in a wide variety of flavors, look beautiful and festive, and let’s face it, who doesn’t love chocolate?

But wanting to have chocolate wedding favors for your reception can leave you scratching your head as to what you should actually choose, and how chocolates can be presented at your reception in a beautiful and appropriate manner.

Choosing these favors will depend on many things, but probably your budget more than anything. There’s no limit to the amount of money you can spend on designer bonbons and truffles and other gourmet items, so it’s a good idea to have an actual budget in mind before you even begin shopping around.

You might also want to give some consideration to the theme and tone of your wedding and reception. Is it a very formal affair in an elegant banquet hall or a more casual party? If it’s formal and traditional, then typically you want chocolates that are just as elegant and indulgent. Most chocolate makers have packages that they make up just for weddings, usually a small collection of bonbons or truffles that comes in beautiful boxes. They may be decorated like little tuxedos and wedding gowns. They may be heart-shaped and hand decorated with your names or initials. Some may offer just one very exquisite or decadent chocolate in its own mini tray or foil, and be wrapped with a bit of tulle and ribbon.

Other small treats may be a few chocolates stacked on top of each other to resemble a wedding cake, again, in its own mini tray and ribbon or a small clear box. There are also chocolates in the shape of a letter which is usually in a clear plastic bag and tied with an elegant ribbon.

However, if your reception is more casual then your options can include treats such as chocolate covered pretzels in a small box. If you’re both sports loves, there are chocolates shaped like golf balls, soccer balls, bowling balls, volleyballs, baseballs, and virtually any other sporting ball you can think of.

For those who love casinos or who are planning a Vegas-themed wedding, some chocolate wedding favors are shaped like large dice or like poker chips.

For beach wedding favors, you can find chocolates in the shape of seashells. Some bakers can offer to make just plain squares of chocolate that are stamped with your name or initial.

When opting for chocolate wedding favors such as these, be sure to dress them up with a personal touch. If the box they come in is rather plain, wrap it in beautiful wrapping paper and large ribbon from either your paper supply or fabric store, in a color that matches your reception’s theme.

And of course a very affordable and unique option for chocolate wedding favors is personalized candy bar wrappers, which usually come in a wide variety of designs and styles. These can match your wedding’s tone, whether elegant and traditional or fun and whimsical, and can also provide a nice keepsake for an album or scrapbook.

As more and more chocolate makers realize the popularity and versatility of chocolate wedding favors, you may see that you as a bride have more and more options available to you when it comes time to choosing just the right chocolate favors for your reception.

By: Linda Ellison

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Feel Like a Movie Star on Your Wedding Day

What person doesn't want to feel like a movie star? A Hollywood glamour wedding theme will help you feel just that way, and give an elegant and fun style to your wedding as well.

Think about old-fashioned Hollywood, and the excitement of the red carpet. After all, if there's any day you should act like a star, it's your wedding day!

Bride: Look for bias-cut dresses with v-necks and fish-tail hems. Designers to look at include Jenny Packham, Badgley Mischka, Amy Michaelson, and Monique Lhuillier. Satin is a classic fabric, and chandelier earrings are a must.

Groom: Black tie or white tie – go for the classic Fred Aistaire look, complete with sharp, pressed clothes and neat haircut.

Groomsmen: Black tie or simple one-button dark suits.

Wedding Colors: Silver, white, black, and blush pink.

Flowers: You'll want to look for classic flowers, such as roses, peonies, and lilies.

Try arrangements composed of just one flower, such as all rose bridesmaids' bouquets, or an elegant bunch of calla lilies for the bride. Consider wearing a flower in your hair for that

Music: A swing band is perfect for this type of wedding. You could also hire a dance instructor to teach your guests how to do the lindy hop and the Charleston – perhaps at the rehearsal dinner.

Invitation: Look for ones that echo your theme.

Setting: An old art deco movie theater, particularly if it has a large lobby, is a perfect setting. If you don’t have one of these in your town, look for an old-fashioned formal restaurant or supper club, like the 21 Club, or a grand ballroom at a hotel.

Transportation: Drive away in a vintage Rolls Royce Phantom convertible. Or, just enjoy being chauffeured in a limousine.

Special Touches: Name your tables after classic Hollywood stars, or romantic movies. Give your bridesmaids high quality feather boas.
Consider wearing a feather and rhinestone hair accessory, a la Josephine Baker. If you're renting your dance floor, ask for black and white checkered.

Source: Nina Callaway.

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Own Your Wedding

In an ever-evolving society where traditions and culture continuously merge, wedding etiquette continues to be a shape-changer. While there are some traditional rules that the bride and groom may want to stick to, a cookie-cutter wedding complete with a toy bride-and-groom on top of the cake may not be what the bride and groom’s memories are made of today.

The wedding is yours and yours alone.

Here are a few tips on how to make it your very own …

1. Write your own vows….Many brides and grooms from a variety of backgrounds, cultures and religions have chosen to write their very own vows or to interweave those vows with traditional vows. Have a serious discussion with your rabbi, priest or official of the wedding. Make sure the vows he or she uses are the ones you want to hear and are the ones that you are willing to say. If traditional vows or slightly altered vows don’t say enough, perhaps you and your groom should consider writing a few words of your own which either you may repeat to each other or ask the minister or official to say. Additionally, you may choose a variety of readings, scriptures, poems or songs to incorporate in your vows to make them your very own.

2. Keep your bridesmaids, grooms and other friends and relatives apprised of wedding news. Create a website which they can regularly tap into to catch up on any changes, schedule announcements, registration locations (either on-site or via internet.) Send a flurry or cluster of emails to bridesmaids to keep everyone in contact with each other concerning flowers, dresses, measurements and other tidbits of fun gossip to keep everyone on the wedding track. The same goes for groomsmen and any other member of the wedding party you’d like to keep updated. The website may also include maps, directions and even local points of interest for guests arriving from out of town.

3. On the day of the wedding, instead of asking guests to sign a traditional guest book, hand guests a small note card and pen. Ask each guest to write something noteworthy either about the bride or groom, or request that each gives their advice for a long-lasting, successful romance. Ask guests to drop them in a basket or a colorfully-designed box which may be collected. Paste the note cards into a wedding album later for some sage advice to turn to later.

4. On the wedding day, don’t forget to continue the color and theme of the event into the restrooms if possible. Colorful linens, small paper finger towels, soaps and floral arrangements will help create consistency. Add a bowl full of mints to the ladies’ room and flavored toothpicks to the men’s rooms. Inquire with hotel or location managers before placing any arrangements in restrooms, which may be used by those other than your guests.

5. If children are attending your wedding and reception, create a kid’s corner with games and balloons to keep them busy while parents relax briefly. Or tie a balloon to each child’s chair so they can recognize their own seat. Or if a child’s area isn’t easily created, choose a small gift bag of treats, small toys and games to keep them busy while seated at the reception.

6. Be sure to check out the lighting of both your wedding and your reception. While a disc jockey can provide some additional lighting such as a spinning mirrored ball, a hotel or event manager may be able to add some additional overhead lighting along with a spotlight or twinkle lights to add drama to the event. If ambient light is your only choice, look into the cost of candlabras or a varied group of candles in the same color scheme to add both additional light and ambiance. The feel will be more romantic. A hurricane lantern in the center of the table surrounded by a spray of petals will also create a low-cost but romantic ambiance.

7. If your wedding is being held outdoors in an open space, you can create the feel of shifting the actual ceremony to a more relaxed feeling by renting tents and canopies for the reception. Hang lanterns from trees with small candles inserted for a lovely evening of ambient light provided by the stars and candlelight.

8. If the bride and groom and guests must be transported from one location to another for the reception, look into various kinds of transportations. Horse-drawn carriages may be the call for an elegant wedding. Even golf carts, decorated festively, can be an easy way to move guests from a lawn wedding to an indoor reception.

9. If your guests need a little additional entertainment at the reception, create an ongoing slideshow or video that can be played back to back in a corner of the reception hall or against a sheet-covered wall in the corner of an outdoor wedding. The video or slideshow should include photos from the bride and grooms’ childhood and clips from their college life, dating life and snippets of adventures with friends and family.

10. Create a signature drink for the wedding by incorporating colors and flavors that are reminiscent of the theme. A Carribean wedding may include a rum drink with a fuschia-colored crushed ice added to it. Be sure that all drinks may be served virgin as well so that non-drinkers don’t feel left out.

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Unique Wedding Favors - How to Find Unique Wedding Favors for Your Wedding

Wedding favors have become an integral part of a wedding. And many brides, and couples, search for unique wedding favors which will make a statement and from which the guests will remember this wedding with fond memories.

So when you’re planning your wedding, one of the decisions you’ll undoubtedly need to make is in the selection of wedding favors for your guests - and what better wedding favors than heirloom wedding favors. These small gifts are a wonderful way to show your guests that you appreciate them coming to celebrate your special day and to say a small, personal “thank you” to your guests for their attendance, their friendship, and their wedding gifts to you.

No longer limited to weddings for the wealthy or well-to-do, unique wedding favors can now be ordered from a number of sources, including online companies, for a fraction of what they once cost. Even a modest or small wedding can be made much more special by providing thoughtful and even unique wedding favors for the guests.

Wedding favors are typically small but thoughtful items that serve as a memento of your beautiful day. Traditional items include things like ornate bottle-stoppers, cake servers, and serving spoons. Such items are intended to be a keepsake for the wedding guests rather than something they will actually use in everyday life.

Some couples, however, will choose wedding favors that serve double duty as a reminder of the event as well as a useful item. Small picture frames, decorated place card holders, lovely candy dishes, pen and pencil sets, and other such favors fall into this category. Edible wedding favors such as mints or candies in an attractive tin are also available. The choices are truly limited only by your imagination.

Typical wedding favors come with traditional wedding theme designs including bells, doves, hearts, flowers, and flowing ribbons, but can also include more modern motifs like dolphins. With the more costly but far more personalized option of custom ordering, virtually anything is possible.

The most important consideration is selecting wedding favors is to remember that these are items meant simply to say “thank you.” You’re not going to find the perfect item that will please each and every guest at your wedding, but a little thoughtfulness will result in favors that will at least let your guests know that you’re thinking of them. The guests at your wedding are primarily your family and your friends, and they will invariably appreciate a small souvenir of the event.

Wedding favors should not be confused with the traditional gifts provided by the bride and groom to members of their wedding party. It is proper to provide the bridesmaids and groomsmen with a more personal and separate gift. Anything that says you appreciate their friendship and participation in your special day is appropriate for these close friends or family members.

Your wedding is undoubtedly one of the most important days in your life and all of the planning that goes into this momentous event reflects that importance, helping to make your special day a beautiful experience for all involved. Selecting the perfect wedding favors - unique wedding favors - can help make that dream of beauty and perfection into a reality!

by: Brigitte Smith

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