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Unique Favor Ideas
Bells
My Mother and I are in the Handbell Choir. Since the Bell Choir will be playing at our wedding, we're giving out small bells as favors with cards attached that say:
These fleeting moments soon will pass,
no rice, seeds or balloons alas!
So take this tiny wedding bell,
a sign of love, you sure can tell.
Ring them loud and ring them clear,
when the Bride and Groom appear!
Bring them to the dinner too,
a kiss of love we'll share for you!
Kenny & Julia
Heart Shaped Boxes
My fiancé and I are going to make two different favors for our guests. For the women, I am going to buy little heart shaped boxes and cover them with the colors of our wedding. For the men, we're going to buy stogies (cigars), although we're not sure if they'll be the chocolate or smokable kind. We're also going to make our own labels for them with our names and wedding date.
Mini-notebooks
These mini-notebooks look like matchbooks. They come in a variety of colors and can be printed with a design, your names and the wedding date. Most mail-order invitation catalogs carry them. The way I see it, they're more practical than candy. Guests can use the notepads and they don't melt.
Origami Decorations
If you have the time and skill, check the library for origami books. Origami decorations can fit any theme. You can make origami boats, flowers, animals, etc. You can also have a paper folding party for the wedding attendants.
Wind Chimes
Our wedding favors are going to be mini wind chimes. We chose eight different styles, all dealing with love, and are putting them into mini gift bags. To personalize them we are putting tags on them addressed to each couple with a note of thanks, our names, and wedding date.
Binoculars
Henry and I are getting married with our reception on a boat. We're using mini fold-up binoculars (cardboard) as our favors/place cards. We'll be cruising from New Jersey to New York, past the Statue of Liberty, so the binoculars will come in handy for our guests! They cost about $2 each and come in different colors.
Women's Lace Handkerchiefs
My wedding has a Victorian theme. I found a place that sells women's lace handkerchiefs at very reasonable prices and bought enough for all the women invited to the wedding. My grandmother and mother can embroider, so they will embroider the initial of my fiancé's last name on the handkerchiefs in my colors. Each woman will receive one. The men will receive a bottle of beer from a local brewery with labels made from my computer.
Personalized Wedding Magnet
We are hiring a photographer that will make magnets for us. Instead of having a picture of the bride and groom - - the magnet will have a picture of each guest or couple. As the guests enter the reception, the photographer will take their picture. A sticker with our names and the date will be placed on the back of each magnet. The magnets will be ready to take home by the end of the reception. It’s a great personalized wedding favor that everyone will want to keep!
Chrome Cup and Dish
These favors can be used as a desk set or bathroom set when our guests take them home. We're engraving our initials and wedding date on the drinking cup and filling it with an array of fresh roses. Then, we're putting chocolate almonds in the dish and wrapping it up with clear, cellophane, ribbon and a message. The roses will act as centerpieces for the table and nice favors for all our females guests. The chocolates will be a nice treat for the men.
Miniature Soaps
I'm making miniature soaps to include in the hotel guest gift baskets and will probably give them out at the wedding along with the other favors. I bought unscented glycerin soap blocks, melted them in the microwave (you can also use a double broiler) and added food coloring and essential oils. Chocolate candy molds are great for making soaps, but I used small paper cups and filled them with about 3/4 to 1 inch of melted soap. The soap sets in 20 minutes- just tear away the paper cup, wrap in tissue or tulle, tie with a ribbon and you're done! You can make about 30 of these little soaps with 1 pound of glycerin soap (about $6)!
Origami Boxes
My fiancé is from Japan, and we wanted to incorporate any kind of Japanese themes we could. We made small traditional origami boxes using origami paper with traditional Japanese designs and will put Hershey hugs and kisses in them along with a small thank you note from us.
Chopsticks
I am getting married in August to a Japanese man so we are having his sister in Japan send us silver and navy chopsticks (our colors) and we are giving them to all our guests.
Watering Cans
We are having a garden theme wedding, so we are taking little watering cans with garden flower pictures on the sides, bought at a local store for 97 cents each. We are wrapping Hershey's hugs and kisses in tulle and tying them with ribbon. We are making little tags for the handle that say “Hugs and Kisses from the new Mr. and Mrs.”.
Victorian Fans
For my daughter's August, Victorian wedding, we are making fans out of old wallpaper sample books. We fold the sheet in half, then fan-fold them, put a thin strip of tape around the bottom and tie a matching thin ribbon into a bow. On some designs that are rather plain, we've glued halves of paper doilies onto the folded wallpaper sheet. You'd be surprised how beautiful some rather old fashioned gaudy print looks when made into a fan! We will give them out at the church, since it is not air conditioned.
Tape Cassette
Make a cassette tape or a CD of all your favorite songs. Then, decorate the jacket with a color photocopy of your wedding portrait. It was a real hit!
Miniature Frames
I am using frames as place settings and then mailing my guests a wallet size picture of themselves with the bride and groom which they could place inside the frames!
Decoupage Glass Plates
I was able to find glass plates from a Dollar Store for 3/$1.00. I decoupaged a torn piece of paper with "Love" written on it to the back, then sponged gold paint over the whole plate. They looked fabulous, were very cheap and had all the guests thinking they were taking $30.00 plates home!
Wooden Shoes
My fiancé is Dutch so we are using little wooden shoes (one per person) filled with 'droppies' (sour/salted black licorice candies that are popular in Holland and Germany). The shoes are Navy blue with gold and white and a little thank you tag with our names and wedding date.
Caricatures
We wanted our guests to have something unique, so we have hired a caricature artist to do caricatures of all our guests. Each couple or family will receive a caricature of themselves with our names and wedding date at the bottom.
English Crackers
I am incorporating some English tradition into my favors/table decorations - my dad is from England. I am going to have English Crackers on the tables. They are tubes covered in paper that two people pull apart (kind of like a wishbone). When it opens up it produces a popping noise and the person that holds the tube get the prizes inside. These are usually funny hats, fortunes, small toys or candy. I am going to tie navy ribbons around the tubes (my wedding colors) and place a clear label on them with our names and wedding date.
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