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The short of it : yes open bar and PLENTY of great food and music is enough.
I'm not doing favors. In my opinion, they are a waste of money, people could care less about having a 'keepsake' from your wedding (unless it's Aunt Birtha who keeps everything!) and almost every time, people forget to take them.
Every wedding I shoot, whether it is a bottle of wine, chocolate candies, incense sticks, or expensive embellished picture frames.....there's a table left full of them at the end of the night. A planners main jobs at the end of the night is "Making sure guests take their favors". What a waste.
I know it's fun to be crafty, and that's totally cool. No disrespect to all those fabulous favor creators out there, but for me, it's a lot of effort and $$ and totally unecessary.
But I do have to admit, as a vendor I've been able to re-gift quite a few lovely favors that were left over. 
p.s. I am doing welcome baskets for all of my out-of-towners (which is the majority of my guest list). Which is also why the favors got the axe.
I'm not doing favors. I repeat I'm not doing favors. It seems like there is a lot of pressure to do them, all these websites that sell them, fabulous discussions of creative favors on Weddingbee, my mom has asked me at least twice. I've wavered once or twice. And I keep reminding myself I'm not doing favors - because it was the first thing I decided. I've never really enjoyed a favor I've gotten at a wedding or kept one. Maybe its just my personality - but isn't your wedding supposed to reflect your personality? Of course I've never gotten something as creative as some of the stuff here. But I won't be that creative, I could definitely use the money elsewhere, and I think very few guests will notice it. Especially with open bar their senses should be dulled enough to forgive me.
Anyways - maybe OOT bags, no favors, open bar.
I'm not doing favors either. I think they are generally a big waste of paper and other resources. I would never even think twice if I went to a wedding without a favor.
Hello. I know how tight a wedding budget can be. But there are affordable favors you can give out go online & check out personalized shot glasses they are about 68 cents a piece. I went to a wedding & they had these. Hope i helped...
I really don't think you NEED to do favors. As glittergrl said - often they are wasted and not appreciated. And they can be sooo expensive.
I guess you just have to decide whether you think your guests will care. Most probably won't, but there may be a few that notice. If you think it might be a problem perhaps you can do something cheap and easy - we're growing seedings which is basically costing us about $0.25 favor (and we are only doing 1 favor per couple). Also my mom is making fudge to give out as well. I'm thinking neither of these options are going to work for us as it seems like you have limited time and desire to DIY.
Another option could be to have a candy buffet with a few different types of candy and some small bags to put them in. There will be less wastage as only guests who want a favor will take them - which means you can purchase less and save money. Also, you can get some pretty cheap candy at bulk store.
Either way I wouldn't worry about it. The favors are overrated really :) and the few people that might notice will soon forget. I can barely remember any favors I have recieved at weddings!!
Good luck and let us know what you decide!
no favors here either! I agree that most people dont keep the favor unless it's edible in which case... it doesn't last.
We're technically not doing favors. We're doing a candy buffet and our "favors" will the bags/boxes that the candy can go in. At a table of 8, we're going to put maybe 4 bags in the middle of the table and then the rest at the candy buffet/cake table. My cousin had soooo many red boxes with golf balls and tees left over that when I brought up the topic of favors to my parents, they immediately both said "No!"
I'm not doing favors! My friend who's wedding I went to about a year ago did not do favors either. I didn't even notice until I got home (and I only probably noticed because I am planning a wedding myself) and I definitely did not miss getting a favor!
I'm also not planning on doing favors. I think it is a lot of money to spend on something that won't last and is often left on the tables. I'd rather put the money into OOT bags which I have found are usually very appreciated.
I'm not planning on doing favors; instead I bought 144 votive holders with candles that I am using as decorations and at the end of the receiption anyone who wants one or two can take them. I've never wanted any of the things I was given as favors at weddings and I'm pretty sure they've all been thrown away. Spend your money on what people will remember and appreciate!
Nope- no favors here either.
We decided instead to indulge our guests with scoops of frozen custard in cones at the end of the night in lieu of favors. (wedding in florida- custard coming in from grooms hometown in Wisconsin!)
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While I love reading here about people's creative favors, I agree with the sentiments above -- unless you put that creativity into thinking about what people might really use or appreciate, most people don't do either. I did like receiving flower bulbs in pretty, rustic bags at the last wedding I went to. But other than that, I can't remember a favor I've ever received that I liked/used, and I feel guilty throwing them out. We're not having favors at our wedding. I guess my favor to my guests is throwing them a great party -- and not cluttering up their house with junk they won't use and will feel guilty about throwing away later.
As a final point, I've often felt that favors are one of those things that are pushed on brides as something they "need" by the wedding industry to guilt them into spending more.
Again, no offense to brides who are doing favors -- there certainly are exceptions to the rule, like the one I mentioned above.
About half of the weddings I've been to didn't have favors and my FH and I didn't even notice until we started planning our wedding. I wouldn't worry about it. If your guests are having a good time, they won't even notice.
Unless you have something really unique that you want to share with your guests, I say skip them. Nobody wants a 3x4 picture frame with butterflies on it. I don't think guests will wonder where their favor is.
As of now, we're not planning on doing them.
I totally agree with sdbride. Whenever I go to weddings, if there is a favor, I usually end up critiquing it, thinking what a waste of money it was. But, there have been weddings where the bride and groom skipped out on the favors, and I didn't even notice. Personally, I wasn't going to do favors, but I think I may hand out parasols and fans (but only b/c of heat concerns). My wedding planner told me that's the first place she cuts when budget is an issue. She said that the guests' favor is a free meal and booze. Hope that helps :)
Thanks for all of the advice! I am going to not do them.
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wedding favors are totally cheesy... so I wouldnt worry about it one bit. I never take home the 'favors' at a weedding. ie- the two peas in a pod salt and pepper shaker or the perfect match matchbook.. no loss, go on and spent money else where
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No favors here either - I have been to a ton of wedding and I can't even remember what the favors were. All I can remember is that I usually throw them out (Sorry).
My mom kept trying to push favors on us. After my brother's wedding in October she realized that many of them were left on the table. The wait staff said they were to be thrown out if someone didn't take them. My fiance was happy to scarf down as many caramel Hersey kisses as possible :) We tied all of the bows for favors the day before as a family so that was kind of fun... otherwise doesn't seem worth the stress. Have to agree with granitebaywed that people tend to critque them and they end up becoming just a novelty.
A9C4F612-CA35-448D-BBD8F4524B6CCEAD.jpg (32.1 KB, 56 downloads) 2 years old You must log in to post.
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I don't really have a budget in the technical sense of the word, but after buying the honeymoon, things are getting tight. I am considering not having favors but am rationizing that by having an open bar. FH and I hate beer and wine and would like the option of having mixed drinks.
The favors I was orginally going to have are going to much more expensive than I thought, and other ideas are too expensive or too much DIY for me and the time I have.
So, back to the questions: are any of you thinking about not having favors? Is feeding them dinner and providing them with good alcohol enough of a thank you?
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