My sister is getting married in may and we are seeking inexpensive favors.
ideally it would be:
-inexpensive
-clutter-free (consumable or actually usable)
-eco friendly (basically not trash)
-large enough to print on or small enough to attach to a 5x7program or place card

I would also appreciate feedback on things you do NOT want to receive at weddings.

any ideas would be appreciated there is no real theme but the colors are jewel tones

I've seen seed packets with a poem attached-- those would be useful and eco-friendly. (I don't know the poem but you could probably Google it.)

There are tons of ideas here on the Craft Sayings bridal board: http://www.craftsayings.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=9&sid=ad93bbc5e28d3f7e4dd18486dace37ad


Personally, I do not like: plastic bells (what the heck do you do with those afterwards?) or little plastic containers for candy that are shaped like hearts or shoes or some other wedding thing (again, clutter).

HTH!

At one wedding recently, there was a big bowl filled with individual sticks of gum in it. They all had a tag on them that read something like, " Happily Stuck together for life, Brenda and Mike" It was kind of cute!

I also saw one that had tea bags but I forget the saying on the card.

You can also make homemade white chocolate rose lollipops, wrap in cellophane with a pretty jewel tone ribbon on them for each place setting. Relatively inexpensive, consumable, no waste and minimal trash to toss. ( wrapper and ribbon)

OR, if you are using any candles, why not wrap a pretty votive candle in colored netting, tie with a pretty ribbon and a tag that says something like, Mike and Brenda, light of your life....light up your life or something.....

I got a chocolate bar once that had the couple's name and wedding date on it. I liked that because I could eat it. I don't like anything I can't use, but I'm also particularly irritated by "stuff" in my house.

At my wedding, I bought spoons, tulle, blue and pink ribbon and candy kisses and made a small saying on cardstock.

Put 2 candy kisses on the spoon, wrap it in a small piece of tulle, tie it with the ribbon and attach the saying around the ribbon before closing it tightly. The guests loved them and they were all taken when the reception was over so it was a hit.

Good luck and let us know what she comes up with!

~Chocolate is the way to go. Full sized bars often go on sale at drugstores for 3/$1 and sometimes 4/$1! Or you could go smaller with individually wrapped Ghirradelli or Dove squares. Both are fabulous and Dove's are actually called "Promises". I don't know anyone who doesn't wanna take home some chocolate.~

For my brother's wedding they did sugar cookies, decorated in a wedding theme.

Homemade mints are good too. Just wrap a few in tulle and tie with a ribbon.

Or just skip the favors completely. As you've discovered, it's tough to pin down something useful and affordable. Many of our guests had to fly down for our wedding, so we were careful not to burden them with additional stuff when it was time for them to fly home.

If your sis is set on having favors, I vote for chocolate!

Here is a site where you can make your own custome candy wrappers:
http://desktoppub.about.com/od/candywrappers/Candy_Wrappers.htm

At ours we did Hershey;s kisses with this saying: He loves me, He loves me not, He loves me so, We tied the knot. Then our names and dates.

We didn't give out favors, but simply each guest received a small note card that read "In Lieu of Favors, a donation has been made to The American Cancer Society in honor of our Guests.".
I think we donated $100 or so, but it wouldn't have to be that much at all. And you could donate to any charity you wanted.

I dunno, I just liked that idea as I've never really liked the whole favor thing.

Oh! another idea... our best friends gave out a Tree in the box. http://www.treeinabox.com/

GL!

We didn't give out favors, but simply each guest received a small note card that read "In Lieu of Favors, a donation has been made to The American Cancer Society in honor of our Guests.".
I think we donated $100 or so, but it wouldn't have to be that much at all. And you could donate to any charity you wanted.

I dunno, I just liked that idea as I've never really liked the whole favor thing.

Oh! another idea... our best friends gave out a Tree in the box. http://www.treeinabox.com/

GL!

Beautiful ideas! So much more meaningful than "stuff"

new poster here.... if you decide to go with chocolate there is a coupon floating around the internet for a free choxie bar from target. most targets will let you get a few at a time. don't know how big the wedding is or if you would be comfortable with getting that many for free but it's an idea. if you want something edible how about a small bouquet of cookies?? i believe wilton makes a wedding cake cookie cutter. you could also add some flower or dove cookies. wilton's website has dough recipes. the cookies could be made ahead and frozen. i buy a cookie icing at ac moore that is pretty good. i usually warm it a bit and brush on with a pastry brush. then you could even use edible markers to decorate the cookies.

sue

We didn't give out favors, but simply each guest received a small note card that read "In Lieu of Favors, a donation has been made to The American Cancer Society in honor of our Guests.".
I think we donated $100 or so, but it wouldn't have to be that much at all. And you could donate to any charity you wanted.

I dunno, I just liked that idea as I've never really liked the whole favor thing.

Oh! another idea... our best friends gave out a Tree in the box. http://www.treeinabox.com/

GL!


This are lovely ideas....
I was going to suggest cookies(of course).....easy to do-fun to do as a group and can easily be personalized-the couple's names, wedding date, etc, very inexpensive as well....and who doesn't like cookies?

The most unusual thing I ever received as a favor at a wedding was....a small fancy jar of homemade jam. This was all made by the "Husband to be"

Everyone loved the thought that went into the favors.

At my wedding, I bought spoons, tulle, blue and pink ribbon and candy kisses and made a small saying on cardstock.

Put 2 candy kisses on the spoon, wrap it in a small piece of tulle, tie it with the ribbon and attach the saying around the ribbon before closing it tightly. The guests loved them and they were all taken when the reception was over so it was a hit.

Good luck and let us know what she comes up with!

I did this also.

I bought little pewter frames online for $.88 each. The frames were the same size as business cards. I printed the place cards on business cards, put them in the frames, and used those for the favors. I know people from work still have the frames on their desks.

but anything edible gets my vote. especially cookies.

There are TONS of inexpensive ideas here (http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?board=97.0), if your sister is into making the favors herself. The people over there are unbelievably creative.

i have to keep in my my sis is not as eco minded as i am most of you are, and her beau is not at all. so i have to kind of sneak it in, in a sense so that they dont even think about that part

this is our list so far including what you guys have suggested,

chocolate/ kisses ( i am considering a candy Bar where a variety of wrapped candies would be in bulk and folks could scoop some out into a take out box)
cookies mmmm
charitable donation ( i dont think my sis would go for it, i like it though)
tree in a box ( i love this! but its too much $$)
honey in little jars ( either local or from localharvest.com)
individual cocktail mix,coffee or tea packets that are personalized (my DHs fav)
tea bags (possibly organic) with a flavored honey stick (my personal fav)plantable paper ( i dont think she'll go for it)
bottle opener key chain
frames (always a nice option)
giant lollipops that can be printed with programs and seat # on the label ( i liket his one)
fortune biscotti ( i gave this for christmas one year)
no favors ( our mom would not go for this)

wow thats a good long list

My neice did the spoons with candy kisses.
Bridegroom made tags that s here are some kisses from the new Mr and Mrs.
Fiances neice did the candy bars with their names and wedding date on wrappers from the computer.

Do you have a friend or relative that can make mints. A lady at church made these for our wedding and we had small candle holders on each table filled with them. The flowers I bought were fake and I used them for the table setting and the flowers for our mothers to wear. My mother in law still wears hers at Easter.
We cooked all our food the day before and then put it in warmers the day of the wedding. The reception and wedding were at the church.
My SIL made our 3 tier cake and it was beautiful not only because she did such a great job but because it came from her heart.

At one wedding I went to the bride asked that everyone who came bring a dish of some sort. She provided the ham and the chicken. It was a great idea and so many different types of food.
Her parents bought the soda and had tea and coffee.

We did chocolate bars with a custom wrapper - we ordered from here:

whimsywraps.com (can't post URL's yet, sorry! )

The cost for just the wrappers is pretty reasonable as it comes with silver foil, and I didn't have the hassle of having to try and design something, print it and cut it out. We bought the chocolate bars from Costco and did the wrapping ourselves - it was easy and didn't take too long.

Oh, and we chose "Runaway Bride" - our guests thought it was really cute!! :)

I definitely think something edible is the way to go.

We did our whole wedding on the cheap. We bought small kraft envelopes and stamped a flower garden on them, and bought wildflower seeds (like a pound of them...we had tons left over) and filled them. We also did betas in bowls for our centerpieces, and guests took them home as well.

We also did betas in bowls for our centerpieces, and guests took them home as well.

This is a wonderful idea!

There are TONS of inexpensive ideas here (http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?board=97.0), if your sister is into making the favors herself. The people over there are unbelievably creative.

ok this site ROCKS not just for this, but i love to craft and i am already hooked LOL

The favors at my wedding consisted of a piece of cardboard covered with cheap metalic paper from the dollar store, with two tealight candles inside, wrapped in cellophane with a ribbon and a poem about "lighting love" or something attached to it. I don't really remember if these went over well, but I don't think they cost me more than $10 for about 50 of them.

Another thing I've seen is cookie cutters tied together with a recipe for "Lovers Shortbread" or something similar. I've also seen chocolate turtles.

they have decided to go with, printed m&ms with their names on one color and "finally" on the other (they have been dating for like 12 years) probably in a glassine envelope with a seat chart label or a tiny favor box with the same label