What are your thoughts on wedding favors?

Personally I think they are a waste of money. Most people leave them behind unless it’s edible and even then many are still left behind. People really don’t want a bunch of little trinket things to take home so spend the money on something else.

Waste of money and unnecessary. Most guests leave them behind anyway. Tell you daughter to skip them!

Honestly I felt the same way and I’m the bride! I decided on 1 edible favor that ties in with my theme. Easy and not that much money wasted.

Edible favors or no favors in my book. In my opinion, the most pointless favors are the cheesy "key to my heart" bottle openers and don't get me started about the worst of all: koozies. Whenever I attend a wedding with koozies as the favor, I take one to be polite and then throw it in the trash when I get home. Donuts, cookies, or chocolate on the other hand...bring it on! But I wish people would just stop with the koozies already. I feel bad for the couple because they probably don't realize that guests are taking their koozies to be polite and tossing them in the trash hours later.

Bartender, event staff, day-of coordinator, (unofficial) wedding planner, and current bride-to-be here! Good wedding favors generally cost about $5-10 per person. If you have 100 guests, that means spending an average of $750 just on wedding favors. At the end of the night about 75% of wedding favors are usually left over and thrown away. So, to put it bluntly, you've just thrown about $550ish in the trash. There's always the option of buying something from a dollar store, but people can tell where those came from and it can be a bit off-putting. I personally like the idea of baked goods of some sort if the bride and groom really want to have wedding favors. Baked goods get left behind significantly less often and can always be used in another way if they're not all taken. I've seen couples give the rest of the baked goods to event and venue staff, which generally does some awesome things for morale. My fiance and I have decided to forego wedding favors because our budget is pretty small and that's one more thing for us to try and worry about. Additionally, from what I've heard, most people don't really expect them anymore.

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I saw these today when looking online for wedding inspo... photo strip bookmark sleeves AND fridge magnets. Both super cheap and great ways for guests to bring the strips home with them and actually see them everyday!!!

-Magnetic Fridge strips: https://www.etsy.com/listing/212497281/vinyl-magnetic-photo-booth-frames-for?ref=hp_rf-2&frs=1

-Bookmark sleeves: https://www.etsy.com/listing/216167081/bookmark-sleeves-with-inserts-for-photo?ref=hp_rf-1&frs=1 (i think they sell these on Amazon too)

I think a lot of people don't care for them if they are not useful in anyway. So i am doing little jars of honey and if anyone leaves them behind , i am just going to take then home with me because i love honey. So i picked something that i woudl continue to use after the wedding in the event they are left.

Professionally-speaking, I have went to enough tradeshows & events to walk away with everything from pens to notepads to t-shirts, cups, mugs... enough "stuff" where it was fun at first to scout out, but I just ended up donating things or refusing them over time (I'm very selective now! lol) So I can see how wedding favors could quickly add up in a similar way.

If you think a favor would add in a meaningful way to your event, do it. Personally, I gravitate to anything that's really unique or different, something edible (doesn't have to be stored for a long period of time), or something useful (read: won't end up unused and thrown in a junk drawer.) There are also alternatives, like a charitable donation or putting the budget towards a send-off snack, cup of coffee or other soft drink at the end of the night that I think also add to the experience in a different way. And if nothing else, cutting the favor entirely can save a couple of bucks, which is never a bad thing.

I bought personalized stemless wine glasses as favors for my upcoming wedding reception. I had a saying printed on the glass that is a nod to my dad, who passed away a few years ago, and will be part of a series of small ways that I wanted to include his memory in my special day. I will likely plan to have them presented on a table near the door at our reception facility as a departure gift, as opposed to having a favor automatically at each person's seat. It will make our tables less cluttered, but also, if anyone doesn't want one for whatever reason (doesn't drink wine, has too many, under 21...), then they don't have to feel pressured to take it on their way out or awkwardly leave or "forget" it at the dinner table.

I agree with you, we’re not doing them. In my opinion, our crowd will appreciate an open bar more than a trinket with our wedding date on it!