Wedding Favors & Wedding Planning

Your wedding favors can cost a substantial amount, especially when you add in the cost of packaging and decorations. Times this by a very large guest list and you could be facing a very big bill! But there are ways in which you can save money on your wedding favors as long as you begin looking for your favors early in your wedding planning .

Firstly do some research on the cost of favors and the various favor stores available to you. The majority of wedding favors retailers are online these days which provides you with an easy way of comparing stores. Check out stores which offer discounts, incentives and special offers, all of which can save you a substantial amount on your favors budget.

Making your own favors is often cheaper than buying ready made versions from favor stores. Custom cookies for example are a popular favor at the moment, but they are expensive. Making your own at home will save you money and give you unique favors personal to you. Just make sure you don’t try to do anything too elaborate or above your own capabilities.

If you are having a large wedding with a long guest list then look for wholesalers where you can save money by buying in bulk. The prices on offer at a wholesaler are often much cheaper than those in retail stores, although you will have to adhere to a minimum spend amount or quantity. Don’t worry though if you end up with more than you need, it gives you the chance to make some money back by selling them on.

Supermarkets are a good place to find wedding favors. Things like candles, coffee, tea and chocolates can all be found in store and will cost you less than buying the same product from favor stores. Things like tea and coffee will need to be decanted into small packages, however this is not difficult or time consuming. Other stores to consider for favors are gift stores, stationers, craft stores and department stores, particularly around sale time!

Be innovative with your packaging. In some cases consider whether or not you actually need packaging. Candles for instance look nice with just a piece of ribbon tied around them with your favor tag on. Packaging can contribute heavily to your budget and when you add in the cost of decorations as well, it can instantly double the cost. Reducing the amount of packaging you use also has an environmental impact.

During the second half of your wedding planning you will be mainly concerning yourself with the smaller details and finishing touches of your wedding day. These decorative elements also include your wedding favors, however these little gifts should be one of your first concerns as they can prove a little tricky to perfect.

Finding the right wedding favors can leave many brides frustrated and overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choice that is available on the market today. Add to that the endless amount of suggestions for homemade wedding favors and for most brides the task of picking the best can seem a fruitless one! However, if you approach your favors in the right way and early enough in your wedding planning you can achieve beautiful favors with a minimal amount of fuss.

To being with you need to go back to your wedding budget which you should have drawn up at the start of your planning and refresh your memory as to how much money you set aside for your wedding favors. This figure needs to be realistic and calculated on a per head basis rather than assigning a lump sum. It also needs to include packaging, decorations, tags, shipping (if buying mail order) and any applicable taxes.

By the time you come around to buying you favors you should have a much better idea of how guests you will need to buy for, so you can adjust the budget should you need to claw back some money because of an overspend elsewhere, or because your original budget was not enough.

Now you need to find wedding favors which coordinate with your wedding style or theme if you are having one. Discount any that do not match and which you do not like. Next you will need to consider color choices and eliminate those that do not coordinate with your wedding color scheme or which cannot be packaged to fit in.

Finally, you need to discount any that you do not like yourself. Weddings are full of the personality and taste of the couple who are getting married, that is what makes them so unique and personal. This same principle needs to be applied to your favors as well, so if you do not like it or would not appreciate receiving it yourself, take it off the list.

All things being well you should now have a list of potential which is more manageable. Assess your budget once more and consider how you will package and present your favors to your guests. Boxes, bags and tins can add $ to the cost but will help towards making your favors that little bit more unique and personal. In some cases a simple ribbon and tag is sufficient, so think carefully about how you want them to look and what you can afford to spend.

The final choice then is really down to you, it maybe that one particular favor stands out above the rest, or two or three seem to be what you are looking for. Remember, you don’t have to give each guest the same thing, and in the case of couples it can be nice if each of them receives something different. Shop around for deals and check out wholesalers if you need to buy a very large quantity, it can save you far more money than buying in bulk from favor merchants.

It may seem to most that the only place to purchase wedding favors is through online specialist favor stores. However, it is worth considering other alternatives and if you begin looking for your favors early on in your wedding planning you may well find great ideas in the most unexpected places!

Choosing favors for your wedding can take time and much research to find the perfect type for your special day. Online stores offer by far the biggest range and choice but you may notice that the majority of sites are all offering the same wedding favors. If you do decide to purchase through them it is a good idea to take some time researching prices, offers and quantity discounts to get the best deals.

If you have plenty of time to go to shopping before your wedding day, then there are other places you can visit to find your favors. Here are a few suggestions:

Wholesaler – you may well have a food and drink wholesaler near to you and they are possibly the best place if you need to purchase a large quantity of favors. Wholesalers offer goods in bulk quantities at much lower prices than retail stores so you can save yourself many dollars within your budget. Typical wholesalers are food and drink and giftwares.

Supermarkets – these days supermarkets offer much more than groceries and you can pick up favors such as candles, mini soaps, coasters and mini vases. Aside from these you can also pick up packets of coffee, tea or hot chocolate which you can decant into separate favor sized bags or boxes at home. They also a good place to purchase mini cakes which you could decorate at home.

Gift Stores – these maybe slightly pricier than favor stores or other options but they can hold some hidden gems and if nothing else they can give you some ideas. If you catch them at the right time then visit them when the sales are on for some clearance bargains. It is also worth enquiring about a discount for quantity purchase, you may be surprised at how accommodating some stores can be.

Dollar Stores – the opposite end of the scale to gift stores but none the less they are great places for picking up candles, candle holders, mini photograph frames and small decorative objects. Just be mindful of quality and it is probably best to steer away from edible and beauty items unless you are sure of the quality.

As your wedding planning gathers pace you will eventually come to the moment when it is time to consider your wedding favors. Whilst choosing the type and style of your favors is a hard enough task, knowing where to shop for them can prove a difficult choice too!

It is important that when you begin your shopping you not only stick to the budget you set out at the start of your wedding planning, but that you also make sure you order your favors in time for the wedding day! Ideally you should begin looking for your favors around six months before the wedding and aim to have ordered them by at least six weeks before.

These days most brides will purchase their wedding favors through online stores. There are many sites dedicated to favors and most will compete with each other in terms of price, discounts and offers. Check out two or three of these and take note of what their shipping terms are, minimum order levels for discounts and any special offers they may have. Many sites will also tempt you to sign up for their newsletter which may also carry a further discount code once you have signed up. Signing up for newsletters is a good idea as you will be informed whenever there is new stock, new offers, discounts and sales, meaning you can take advantage as soon as they become available.

Another way to purchase your wedding favors is to shop on your local high street. Some larger bridal stores may stock a range of wedding favors, whilst stationers, gift shops and dollar stores are all good places to find things suitable as favors. Be careful with dollar stores as sometimes the quality of the product is not always that good.

Supermarkets are another place in which wedding favors can be found. Think about gourmet teas, coffees and other foods such as chocolates or candies. Non-edible items such as candles or mini soaps can also be purchased relatively cheaply from supermarkets and you don’t need to worry about them arriving in time for the wedding!

If you are having a very large wedding and need to purchase favors for a large number of guests then wholesalers are your best option. Whilst many favor stores will offer quantity discounts, wholesalers can offer you better prices on large quantities and with cheaper shipping costs. Do some research online for favor and gift wholesalers, whilst locally you may find wholesalers for a range of goods such as giftwares and food and drink.

If you become a savvy shopper you will find that you can stretch your wedding favor budget beyond your expectations and achieve stunning, memorable favors that your guests will delight in.

Wedding favors are an important part of your wedding celebrations. These simple little gifts are a token of thanks to your guests from yourselves, for joining you on your special day. However, when many couples begin their wedding planning they fail to include them in their initial wedding budget.

There are those that do put them in of course, but the figure they apply is hopelessly unrealistic and they end up having to find extra funds later on to make up the difference. It is true that when you begin your wedding planning you will probably have no idea what your wedding favor will be, let alone an idea of how much they will cost. But there are ways to apply a figure to your budget which will be realistic and which will allow you a wide choice of favors and packaging when the time comes to purchase them.

As you work your way through your wedding budget you will probably be researching prices for various things either by a direct call to vendors or through the internet. This same method of research should be applied to your wedding favors. As most wedding favors are sold online it is a simple task to visit a few of the large favor sites and to gauge an idea of cost.

It is always advisable to work on a per head basis when estimating the cost of your favors, rather than applying a lump sum from your total budget. The majority of wedding favors fall in the $2 to $3 price range, but you will also need to add in the cost of packaging, decorations such as ribbon, tags and labels, shipping and taxes. Many vendors offer discounts for bulk purchases and free shipping on orders over a certain amount.

Whilst these offers are certainly worth considering you shouldn’t take the potential savings off your budget as you do not yet know how many favors you will need to purchase. If you have already drawn up your guest list then you can take the number of guests on it as your starting point. You don’t have to give favors to those who will sit on the top table as it is traditional to give them more expensive gifts as a thank you.

Typically you can work out the cost of your favors by adding together the cost of the favor, the packaging and decorations together. Shipping is generally a fixed price so find this out and divide the figure by the number of favors you will need. If you know how much any applicable taxes will be, do the same again. This will give you a price per head for your favors, which you can then multiply by the number of guests to give you a figure to enter on your budget. As you received replies to your invitations you can adjust this figure according to the number of acceptances.