Back on the favor bandwagon...

The last week or so there has been a lot of talk on the wedfo that I participate in about wedding favors. Even though I had (and still do) intended on making OOT guest totes, filled with some essentials for the OOT guests, I had sort of steered towards donating some dough to a charity in honor of our guests in lieu of a favor. But as I have made a list of the items to include in the tote (the hand screenprinted tote itself, a homemade lavender soap, sunscreen, NH postcard, NH map, Lakes Region tourism info) I had considered including maple sugar candy too. After pricing it online, I can get 100 pieces (shaped like leaves!) delivered for $43. I don't know if you're familiar with the cost of maple sugar candy, but that's good! So now I am leaning towards getting the candies, wrapping them individually in wax paper and a wedding label, and using them as favors for the reception. Sound good?

Wedding Favors....

Latest idea for a wedding favor is, no favor. Instead of having an actual, tangible something-or-other for favors we'd have a pretty notecard informing our guests that we have, in lieu of a favor, donated money to our favorite fund (ie, a conservation fund, an environmental fund, an anti-prop 8 fund [prop 8 is a proposition in CA that has banned gay marriage]) in the name/honor of our attending guests. ...and then of course, we would make a contribution to said fund(s).

I think this would make the DIY process that I anticipate being great before the wedding less so and save the guests from having to take home some lame token that will end up in the trash in a few months anyway.

I came up with this idea (conclusion?) form wedding blogs/forums that suggests the least liked items by guests were monogrammed/personalized favors with the hosts' info stamped all over it and the most liked items were snacks (cookies, candies) and donations.

All this said, I do still anticipate creating OOT totes for those OOT guests.

Favors and such....

Trying to think of some ideas for favors. Roger had mentioned using dried lavender for our arrangements/bouquets (as I don't want the expense of real flowers, and I think it may be difficult to get cotton bolls/branches. Plus, I have been having a hard time trying to think of ways to incorporate lavender color into the whole celebration.) and we thought it would be cool to have something screenprinted as a favor. So I am considering screenprinted sachets, that are "fill your own" with lavender.




I also like the idea of having OOT (out of town) guest favors (perhaps to be given out at my folks' home on Friday evening). I had considered these local soaps from Cardigan Mountain Soapworks. She will custom a scent, wrap and message for us for $2 a bar, and I love that they're a local item.



I am thinking we could also get inexpensive small tote bags, screenprint something on them, and include the soap, a local info notecard, and a couple other local/OOT interest items. (Perhaps a photo I have taken of Alexandria, made into a card.)

I wouldn't want it to get ridiculous with the expense, but I do think it's a really nice token for those who are traveling so darn far for this whole shebang.

Let me know what ideas you have.
Especially if you can think of any other possible screen print favor ideas or inexpensive items that would be practical in the OOT tote.