Selecting Wedding Favors
When selecting favors for your wedding there are a number of factors you should consider before making your final decision. Some couples do not give enough consideration to their wedding favors and this is quite unfortunate because the wedding favor is the one part of the wedding which your guests will take home as a reminder of your wedding. A well chosen wedding favor can result in your friends and family members remembering your wedding day more fondly than they remember other weddings they have attended simply because they see or use your favor often and it automatically triggers memories of your wedding day. However, couples who do not put much thought or effort into the favors they distribute at the wedding may find their guests discarded their favors soon after the wedding. This article will discuss some of the factors to be considered when selecting wedding favors. These factors should include price, usefulness of the favor and appropriateness of the favor. Considering each of these elements carefully will help the couple to make a wise choice when selecting wedding favors.
Price is one of the most important factors a couple must consider when selecting wedding favors. This is so important because the price will often dictate the quality of the favors. While you can purchase some great favors at a very inexpensive price, there will likely be a great deal of comparison shopping involved to find the best deal on the favor. There will also likely be a great deal of research involved. For example you may find that items such as picture frames are out of your budget range but you may find other great items such as candles are well within your budget. You may also be pleasantly surprised to find out that although picture frames available from one distributor are too expensive, another distributor has enough picture frames in their closeout stock for you to purchase favors for your wedding. It is just important to remember to not be too disappointed about the items you cannot afford and to instead focus on finding the best favor you can afford.
Another factor to consider when selecting wedding favors is whether or not the favor will be useful to your guests. This is very important because favors which are useful are often much better received than favors which the guest cannot use. For example many guests will find items such as picture frames and candles to be useful but will be less impressed with favors such as figurines of a bride and groom. These may be very pretty but many of your friends and family member likely have a collection of similar items from other weddings they have been too and may simply not have room to display these favors. As a result the favor may wind up in a box in the attic or may be thrown out shortly after the wedding.
Finally, a couple should carefully consider the appropriateness of a wedding favor when making their final decision. This is very important because you do not want to give your guests a favor which they will think is inappropriate. Fortunately, when it comes to wedding favors just about anything is considered appropriate. From candy to office supplies and from statues to books just about anything is appropriate for the wedding as long as it reflects the theme of the wedding, reflects the underlying theme of love or is even just something which the guests can use and will appreciate. For example you can certainly give out dictionaries as wedding favors. Your guests will not likely be offended by this favor but some of them may think it is a little strange. However, if you give each of your guests a copy of a book filled with love poems no one will think it is a strange idea for a wedding favor at all. Perhaps the best way to determine whether or not a wedding favor is appropriate is to think about what you would feel if you were given that same item as a favor at another wedding.
Your Wedding Reception Food
Something that people often remember when they go to a
wedding reception is the food, whether it’s good or
bad. Something to consider when you are choosing your
wedding menu is your guests.
Yes, it’s your wedding but you are spending a lot of
money so you want people to like what is being served.
Here are some tips so that people enjoy your reception
food.
Give them a choice -
It’s always a good idea to offer your guests a choice
on what they would like to eat for your wedding
reception People may have food allergies, so this way
they can choose what they would like to eat. Two
choices is enough.
Keep it simple -
Just because it’s not something fancy, it doesn’t
meant hat it won’t be good. If they are faced with
something that they aren’t sure what it is, they may
be reluctant to eat it so don’t go for things that
people can’t identify.
Keep it clean -
Everyone at your wedding reception is going to be
wearing their best clothes. You want to stay away from
food that is very messy or could cause stains that
will be hard to remove.
Remember, you are going to be wearing a white dress.
The last thing you will want is to have something
spill on it that may ruin it, or will be very
noticeable.
Think about what you have had in the past at wedding
receptions, and what you liked or didn’t like about
them. That will help you plan your own wedding
reception menu.
Introduction to Weddings
The wedding is a ceremony that is celebrated anywhere in
the world. Different cultures have different ways of
performing this but all of them have the purpose of
formalizing a union between two individuals.
Originally, weddings were meant for a union between a man
and a woman only. However in recent years, there have been
parts of the world where same-sex marriages are allowed.
This still sparks controversy among the majority of the
population but this is something that has definitely
changed the way how people look at this ceremony.
As mentioned earlier, weddings are celebrated differently
by different cultures. While there are those who only
choose to have a simple ceremony, other cultures make a
banquet out of it. These large celebrations can last up to
several days.
Also, each culture has its way of performing the ceremony.
Sometimes, traditional ceremonies are combined with
religious practices that make for a truly unique wedding.
But things somehow change and there are newer practices
followed by couples in their wedding.
In past, the couple took a very active role of planning
their own wedding. Today, wedding planners make it
convenient for couples to plan their wedding by leaving
everything to the planner. All the couple has to do is
provide their budget and their vision for the wedding and
the wedding planner will do the rest.
However, no matter how uniquely different traditions hold
their weddings, what remains constant throughout the world
is that the couples are the stars in this ceremony.
Unique Wedding Favors for Each Table
Although it is not very common, some couples may opt to provide unique wedding favors for each table at their wedding. The more standard practice is to give each guest the same favor but if the centerpieces will vary from table to table the couple may want to vary the favors as well. This is a great idea for a couple who cannot settle on one overall theme for the wedding. They may choose to have a different theme for each table and as a result may also prefer to have a different wedding favor for each table. This article will take a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of offering unique wedding favors for each table at your reception.
One of the most obvious advantages to offering unique favors at each table is it prevents the couple from having to select just one wedding favor. There is a wide variety of wedding favors available and many couples have a great deal of trouble selecting just one favor. This may be because they are not agreeing on which favor would be the most appropriate or because they each have several different favors which they really like and are having difficulty narrowing down their options. For either of these cases, the idea of giving different wedding favors at each table is a great idea.
Another advantage to giving unique wedding favors for each table is that the couple can branch out and either choose several different themes or one overall theme which they vary slightly from table to table. This can make the process of shopping for wedding favors a lot more fun for couples who enjoy doing this. However, couples who feel stressed out by the process of selecting wedding favors would be wise to simply stick to one wedding favor because the process of selecting several different favors can make the planning exponentially more stressful.
One of the major disadvantages of offering unique favors at each table is the couple will not likely be eligible for bulk order discounts. Many wedding favor manufacturers are often willing to offer discounts to couple who are ordering a large number of the same favor to distribute to all of their guests. However, couples who are ordering different favors for each table will likely not qualify for these discounts. Most weddings have approximately 8-12 people at each table. This means the couple will not be ordering many of each favor and will most likely have to pay full price for each one.
Another disadvantage to providing unique wedding favors for each table is it can make setting the tables more complicated. If each table will also have a unique centerpiece and the wedding favors are designed to match the centerpiece, special care must be taken to ensure the correct favors are placed at the correct table. This may be obvious if the favors are unwrapped but if they are wrapped it can be incredibly difficult. Someone familiar with the favors and how they were wrapped should oversee the process of setting the tables to ensure the correct favors are placed at each table.
Another disadvantage to giving unique wedding favors to each table is it may create discontent among the guests. For example some guests may feel as though the favors given to one table are nicer than the ones given to the table at which they are seated. This is not a major concern as most guests will not make these types of comparisons but if the couple is concerned about this possibility they may wish to keep the wedding favors the same for each table.
Buffet Table Activities
Most wedding receptions include a buffet-style meal where everyone stands in an enormous line waiting while those at the food table decide if they want Italian or Ranch dressing on their salad.
There has to be a more unusual way to get people to their food, and a faster one at that, right? There are several fun options you can employ to feed your guests quickly and with a minimum of groans of hunger.
Here are some fun options.
One of the most popular is the number system. Each table is assigned a number and the MC or DJ calls numbers at various intervals. The people at that numbered table then find the buffet and begin their feast. You can place the numbers in a variety of locations. For the most utilitarian version, just place the number in the flower arrangement on the table.
Some brides don’t like this look of numbered table as if at a convention. In that case, you can put the numbers under the flower arrangements, or under the chairs. If you have place cards at the tables, you can write a small number somewhere on the card so people know which table they’re sitting at. For a fun variation, you can have the florist play around with the table floral arrangements. If the arrangements are going to have a dozen flowers, you could have the florist add one extra flower to table “one”, two extra flowers for table “two” and so on and make the guests figure out which number table they are based on how many extra flowers they have in their arrangement.
The flower method could be cost-prohibitive, of course, if you have a large guest list and many tables.
Now, if the number system doesn’t thrill you or make you think “unique”, there are other options. Each table can have a color and the DJ simply calls out the color name. Depending, again, on how many tables you have at your reception, you could coordinate the tablecloths with the color of the table. So you might have white, pink, lavender, beige, and yellow tablecloths, and the guests sitting at that table simply move to the buffet table when the color of their tablecloth is called.
Another popular option for moving people easily to the buffet table involves having a little fun with your guests. You provide each table with a buzzer, either a bell like you might find at a store, or a small silver bell. Just something they can buzz or ring. The DJ or MC asks a trivia question, or a question about the bride and groom. The tables buzz in with their answers. The guests at the table with the first correct buzzed answer move to the buffet table. You repeat the process until everyone is finally on their way to getting some grub.
The trivia method is an especially fun way to help guests to get to know one another, as they might have to work together to come up with an answer. If your guests are hungry, you’re sure to hear muffled groans and sighs of exasperation. But even with the small complaints, this is always a crowd pleaser because it’s fun and gets everyone involved.
Now, this next option is fun but can engender a bit of jealousy sometimes. When people get their place card, whether it’s placed on the table, or they pick it up when they look at the seating chart, you can put a number on it. But not everyone at the same table will have the same number. If you have 1 guests, for example, you might choose to have 1 people at the buffet table at a time. So each person would be assigned a number 1 through 1.
In the same scenario as above, the DJ or MC will call a number and those numbers will head for the buffet table. There are sure to be more than one person from each table heading for the buffet table, but the guests at each table won’t get their food at the same time.
This staggered feeding can be fun or a nuisance, depending. It solves the problem of half the room being finished with their meal while waiting for the “later” table to finish theirs before the festivities start, but it can also mean that one or two guests might be long done with their food (or wanting to head back for seconds) when others at the table haven’t even eaten yet.
Unique Wedding Favor Ideas
Planning a wedding can be a very stressful event but there are some aspects of planning a wedding which can be a great deal of fun. Selecting wedding favors can be one of the aspects which can be fun. Many brides and grooms may spend a great deal of time, energy and money planning on the location and the food for their wedding but they may not realize the wedding favors they give out can be a very important part of the wedding planning. This is because the wedding favor is the one item the guests take home and will therefore be the one item which the guests remember for the rest of their lives. For as long as they have your wedding favor, it will serve as a reminder of your wedding day. Keeping this in mind you will want to select a wedding favor which is truly unique.
Books can make a really unique wedding favor. Most people do not think of giving books as wedding favors but they can make great wedding favors. This is especially true if you select a book which either suits the theme of the wedding or a book which is a good representation of the love you and your new spouse share for each other. For example a book of love poems which you and your partner find particularly inspiring can make a great wedding favor.
Charitable donations made in the name of your guests are another unique idea for a wedding favor. Traditional wedding favors include knick knacks or other items which are not very useful. These types of wedding favors often become clutter in the homes of your friends or family members or may be discarded after a short period of time but a gift such as a donation to a favorite charity is likely to be more special to your guests.
Items such as t-shirts with the name of the bride and groom and the date of the wedding also make unique wedding gifts. These are not common but they are certainly a gift which will serve as a reminder of your wedding day. Your guests will not likely where their favors while they are out running errands but they may where them around the house. You can make these gifts more personalized by choosing colors specifically for each gift or giving different styles of t-shirts to different guests. You can even use permanent marker to write a brief message to each guest on the shirt to make the gift more special.
Another unique wedding favor idea is a gift of spices. This can work well with your theme if it focuses on cooking or may be appropriate even if your wedding does not have a particular theme. Try attaching a ribbon to each spice with a short note about how love is the spice of life. This play on words can help to make the favor appropriate for a wedding. However, it is also a gift your guests are likely to appreciate because it is really something they can use. Unlike many other types of favors which may not be very useful, a favor of spices is a great idea which is both unique and useful.
A final idea for a unique wedding favor is a bottle of you and your new spouse’s favorite beer. Many brides and grooms give their guests small bottle of wine or champagne as a wedding favor. However, if you are not a big fan of wine or champagne and much prefer a nice cold beer, you can use beer as your favor instead. This will be considerably more affordable and will likely be a more accurate representation of your personal style. If you plan ahead you may even be able to have the labels customized to include your names and the date of our wedding so your guests will think of your fondly when they enjoy their beer.
Tips on Buying an Engagement Ring
The engagement ring is given by a groom to-be to his future
wife as a symbol agreement of marriage between the two of
them. Its use dates back to the time of the ancient Romans
when men gave their future brides, not a fancy ring made of
expensive metal, but an iron hoop.
It’s a good thing that times have changed now and that
engagement rings already have a touch of class in them.
However, buying one can be a confusing task for the man,
especially if he has no idea about rings and even precious
metals and gemstones. Here’s a guide to help the clueless
men out there.
1. Take the girlfriend out shopping. While shopping for
other things, the man can try bringing his girlfriend
somewhere near rings are being sold. Pass by a shop and
pretend to look at them. More often than not, the woman
will give her opinion on what she thinks looks best among
those on display. This will give the man a hint on what to
buy.
2. While number 1 is lame, the man can also look into his
girlfriend’s sense of style. If she likes fancy dresses,
then the man should get a fancy ring that will surely,
well, tickle her fancy. Otherwise, a simple ring will do.
3. But if all else fails, it would be better for men to
bring their girlfriends along when buying the ring so men
can be sure what their women will like. However, they
should at least find creative ways of doing this rather
than simply saying, -Come on honey, let’s buy you an
engagement ring.-
Fun Wedding Music Activities
Music is as much a component of a good wedding as food and drink. You can have a wedding without music, but it’s likely it will seem a little quiet and dull. So whether you have a full live band, a string quartet, a DJ spinning tunes or recorded music from a boom box, it should be included.
But music’s not just for dancing. There are a myriad of activities you can plan around the music that will add an element of fun to your wedding.
One popular idea is to play musical chairs. Sure, this is a fun kid’s game and you don’t want to insult your guests in any way, but you can have some fun with this version of musical chairs. The chairs can be just about anything, from chairs lined up from the food tables, to the floor, if you think your guests might be open to sitting on the floor (and then having to get up and down again). One fun option is to use the men as the chairs – they kneel on the floor, with one knee on the floor and the other bent. The women sit lightly on the men’s’ knees as they are playing musical chairs. When either the man or woman falls down, that couple is out, until one couple is left.
Some brides and grooms like to play musical chairs in order to give away the table centerpiece, which many guests like to take home. Instead of assigning a number and awarding the centerpiece to the person in possession of that number, you have each table play musical chairs until the person left standing is the one that gets to take home the centerpiece.
How about a rousing game of “name that tune”? This is a game that’s best for a smaller, intimate wedding where everyone knows the bride and groom well. Prior to the wedding, whoever is planning the wedding should get a list of favorite songs of both the bride and groom. Create a CD of those songs, and then create a game of “name that tune”. Guests can be divided into teams and then be played just a small snippet of each song.
After guests hear that first snippet, they can then “bid” on how quickly they can name the tune. So one group might say they can name the tune in 1 seconds, while the other group might say 5 seconds. Once one group has bowed out, the other group will then have to “name that tune”. This is a fun game that gets everyone involved and which the bride and groom are particularly delighted by.
Depending on the style of the wedding, there are many fun games you can play to get the bride and groom out on the dance floor. Now, if this is a very large and very elegant wedding, this option might not work since there is certain decorum to maintain, but for a casual, fun, family-centered wedding some of these games can be fun.
If guests want to “call out” the wedding couple onto the dance floor, they can be asked to get out on the dance floor themselves first and hula hoop or perform their own version of a break dance. Much in the way guests sometimes have to “perform” to get the couple the kiss this is another way to get the guests involved and having fun in order to create fun wedding memories for the bride and groom.
Easy Wedding Favors
While wedding favors may be one of the simplest part of planning a wedding, they can also be the part of the wedding which is often left until the last minute. This can make shopping for wedding favors quite stressful. However, fortunately, there are a number of different options for wedding favors which are very easy to do at the last minute. This is important because it can take a great deal of stress out of realizing the wedding is rapidly approaching and wedding favors have not yet been purchased. This article will provide a few simple ideas for really easy wedding favors.
Using flowers as wedding favors is undoubtedly one of the easiest wedding favors you can give to your guests. There is virtually no preparation involved in this wedding favor and depending on how many guests you have at the wedding you may not have to order the favors well in advance. You might consider giving your guests a single red rose as a favor. This is extremely appropriate because a rose is a symbol of love. It is also very easy because it does not have to be wrapped. You can simply purchase one rose for each guest and have a member of the catering hall staff or a friend or family member place one rose across each place setting after the tables have been set for the wedding. You can also select a flower which is used in your centerpiece and instruct your florist to place one flower at each place setting when they arrange the centerpieces.
Candy can also be an extremely easy wedding favor. There are a number of ways to give candy as wedding favors such as giving each guest a small tin or basket filled with candy. However, there is an even easier way to give candy as a wedding favor and also help you to save money on centerpieces. This can be accomplished by using large bowls filled with different types of candy as the centerpieces on each table. You can then provide each guest with a small bag and a note encouraging them to enjoy the candy in the centerpiece. Your guests will fill up the bags with the candy in the centerpieces making this an extremely easy gift which does not involve wrapping a favor for each guest.
Pictures frames are a very easy wedding favor especially if they are used as place card holders. Pictures frames are often used as wedding favors but must people spend a great deal of time wrapping each favor individually to create a beautiful presentation for the guests. However, this is not the only way to give a gift of picture frames. Wrapping each frame individually can be very time consuming and can create a great deal of additional stress for the bride and the groom if they are struggling to get a lot of last minute things done in the days before the wedding. However, if you use the picture frames to hold the place cards, you do not have to worry about wrapping the favors for your guests. This makes it significantly easier to give a favor of picture frames.
One final idea for a very easy wedding favor is to give each guest a digital photo of themselves at the wedding. You can accomplish by hiring a photographer to take a picture of each couple as they arrive at the wedding reception. You can request that the photographer bring a high speed printer along to print the photos out quickly. This way you can distribute the photos before your guests begin to leave the reception. This is a great idea for a wedding favor because your guests will likely be dressed up and will appreciate the opportunity to pose for a professional photo. You can even ask the photographer if it is possible to put together a quick slideshow presentation which the guests can view after all of the photos have been taken. This way the guests not only get a personal memento of the wedding but they also get the opportunity to see how the photos turned out for all of the other guests as well.
Cheap Wedding Favors
Depending on the size of your wedding the budget for your wedding favors can be very important. This is important because you may be planning on allowing for one favor for each guest or one for each couple. Whichever you decide to do, if you are having a large number of guests it may greatly impact the amount you can afford to spend on each favor. If you are only have a few guests you may be able to splurge on more expensive favors. However, if you are having a large number of guests on a limited budget you should consider searching for cheap wedding favor ideas.
Candles are one of the simplest ideas for cheap wedding favors. You can find simple candles available at very affordable prices. You might even consider purchasing personalized ribbons to tie pretty bows around the candles. These ribbons can usually be ordered and may include your names and the wedding date. This may sound like a pricey item but if you purchase these ribbons on a reel instead of precut it can be very affordable. A simple taper candle tied with your personalized ribbon can be placed at each place setting to create a really inexpensive wedding favor.
Candy is another cheap wedding favor idea. You find a number of different ways to give out candy as an inexpensive wedding favor. One way to do this is to purchase a pretty fabric and some ribbon, cut the fabric into small squares, put a few small pieces of candy on each square and pull the corners together and tie with the ribbon. This is not only a very inexpensive wedding favor idea but it is also a very simple idea which can be assembled at the last minute. Another way to use candy as a wedding favor is to purchase small tins and fill them with the candy of your choice. You can purchase the candy in bulk to keep the price down and separate the candy into small portions for each guest. A final way to give candy as a wedding favor is to buy candy bars with personalized wrappers. The wrappers can include your name and wedding date and even a picture of the two of you. This can be very affordable especially if you are ordering in bulk and are only using one design for the wrappers.
Packets of flower or vegetable seed also make great wedding favors which are also very inexpensive. You can stack up a few different types of seeds and tie each with a ribbon to create an attractive presentation which will not blow your budget. Another way to give flower or vegetable seeds as a wedding favor is to put the seeds in a small pot. The pot does not have to be big enough to grow the flower or vegetable it is merely a symbolic gift so it can be rather small. The pot only needs to be large enough to hold the packets of seeds. This is important because small pots can be purchased rather inexpensively while larger pots will be significantly more expensive.
Another great idea for a wedding favor which is also very affordable is pen with the names of the bride and groom as well as the wedding date inscribed on the pen. These can often be purchased for very little and can be paired with stationary and a note encouraging your guests to stay in touch. This is such a great idea for a wedding favor because it is something your gests can really use plus by including some stationary and a note encouraging the guest to stay in touch you are letting them know you truly value their friendship. You might want to even consider including a self addressed stamped envelop with the favor so your guest will be more likely to follow your suggestion and send you at least a short note after the wedding.
