F is for Favors #atozchallenge

There are favors at the wedding and favors at the reception.

Wedding favors are typically bubbles. Your guests get them as they exit the ceremony area. Some places allow birdseed, confetti, glitter, or other such items. (Rice has been found harmful to birds, and thus has been outlawed in many areas.)

Wedding bubbles come in a huge variety of containers. There are different toppers, there are heart shaped bottles, and there are even ones that look like champagne bottles. If you’re going this route, you should buy in bulk.

A note on customization- very few people are going to save the bottle of wedding bubbles. It opens and gets soap all over those labels for which you paid extra. The guests already know what wedding they are at. These favors are an ideal place to save money. Dollar stores sometimes have a case of 100 bubble bottles for $1. Or check out the deals at http://refer.orientaltrading.com/pu354

The pictures at that bubble-blowing moment are going to be of the bride and groom having bubbles blown at them. Little white bottles are not the focus. It’s easy to get caught up in the cuteness.

Consider that some guests won’t even take the bubbles. I’m not kidding about that. Wedding bubbles are blown by the “fun, extrovert” guests. I’ve seen it time and time again. If you are not inviting children, and everyone on the list is a conservative introvert, it’s possible that you’ll be left with a basket of soapy bottles that no one used. Know your guests. Or, if you really want those bubbles in the pictures, ask/guilt a few people beforehand. “You’ll blow bubbles for the pictures, right?”

Then there are favors at the reception. Here’s where I’ve seen several couples go way overboard. “Some people didn’t even take them!” Hear that cry of bride B. She spent $50 on wedding favors PER PERSON. Don’t ask me why. But she did. The favors were custom made boxes with a copy of the engagement photo, filled with custom candies, and sitting on a plate next to small bottles of wine with custom printed labels.

Before you think about how nice that sounds, reread her cry. “Some people didn’t even take them!” How much are you willing to pay for something that your clean up crew (which might be your wedding party, depending on how you plan) has to chuck out with the trash?

With the trash.

Trash.

Okay, now that you know this, you are ready to shop for those reception favors. Those cardboard boxes don’t look so bad.

Except someone has to assemble them. Keep this in mind, too, when deciding on your wedding favors. Unless your bridesmaids are especially crafty, you might be pushing the boundaries of friendship when asking them to assemble 100 of those little things the weekend before the wedding.

Tomorrow I'm going to talk about glitter.