Archive for January, 2011

10 Things Not to Give Out As Wedding Favours

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

The tradition of giving out wedding favours is a real old one. Blame it on the European aristocrats, While porcelain, crystals and precious stones were the practices of the old, the modern-day brides & grooms have evolved into more practical beings. The new trend in wedding favours: practical, memorable and personalised. However, there have been quite a few slip-ups over the recent years. Maybe they did not heed the advices of bridal boutiques. Or maybe they just wanted their wedding favours to be truly unique. If you do not wish to be belong to this wedding favour-disaster clique, note the top ten no-nos in wedding favours.

10. Laptop sleeves
If your guests consists mostly of young laptop-toting professionals, then this may seem right. However, if what are the grannies going to do with this? Turn it into a heating pad?

9. Pen
Yes, it is too conventional — exactly the reason why it is on the list. If you cannot help it, at least make the pen more personal, such as engraving your names of faces perhaps.

8. Cheese Grater
Like what is the point? You want to give the things something memorable and special, not something they might hang in the kitchen. Cheese graters are unique, yes. But wedding favour material? Uh.. NO.

7. Pizza slicer
Wedding favours ought to be romantic. Not traumatic. Pizza slicers are downright un-romantic. And scary at that. Try something less terrifying. Perhaps a pot of flowers would be better.

6. Potholder
The potholder is useful. The potholder may be ideal for gifts as well. But as a wedding memorabilia, it sucks.

5. Shower curtain
Now this is the perfect example of a tasteless pricey wedding favour. If you really feel the urge to give out something which your guests might use inside the bathroom, try a shower cap or a soap. That’s a league beyond shower curtains.

4. Mirrors
When your guests receive mirrors as wedding favours, for sure, they are going to wonder what exactly is that you want them to do with it. It’s a confusing gift. Remember that wedding favours reflect your personality. Just imagine what mirrors would say about you.

3. Feather duster
This is worse than a mirror. It is tasteless, and well, plain crazy. It is indeed a useful household tool, but it completely defeats the purpose of having wedding favours. It completely takes out the “romantic” in wedding favours.

2. Matches
First of all, just think, what would the guests do with those matches? Even if you give away velvet-boxed matches wrapped in silk ribbons, it still would not work. It is NOT special and NOT memorable. Even you would not know what to do with it, right?

And at the top of our list:

1. Butcher’s knife
The butcher’s knife is scary, horrible, morbid and absurd. It is a wedding. The guests are supposed to leave the gala happy and weepy (in some cases), not mad and confused. Unusual may be the trend nowadays, but going overboard won’t make your wedding day as great as it should be. Instead of these weird items, why don’t you try sweets instead? Try those yummy wedding cakes in Toronto, daintily wrapped in little boxes. Although it won’t last so long, at least you know that you made your guests quite happy with such a wedding favour.

Wedding Favours Should You Choose

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Today, it may be difficult to imagine a wedding without wedding favours. Once, long ago, wedding favours were not an integral part of the wedding reception, but today many guests look forward to receiving sweet souvenirs of the special day. Wedding favours are small tokens of appreciation provided by the bride and groom for the wedding guests to take home and treasure – either forever or for that evening, depending on the type of wedding favour provided (a lot of wedding favours are edible). Wedding favours are used to show the couple’s appreciation and gratitude toward the guests who have come from all over to share the special day.

Wedding favours have become an important detail in the planning of the wedding reception. A lot of thought can go into choosing wedding favours, but it should never become a daunting task. The tradition of wedding favours has been around for centuries, although in recent years it has become very prominent in western societies. Historically, it is thought that the very first wedding favours were sugar cubes. Today, wedding favours come in all shapes, sizes, and materials. It is important for the wedding favours to be memorable and thoughtful.

For the bride and groom hoping to be quite stylish, it is important to stay aware of the seasons latest wedding favour trends. The best way to do this is to keep abreast of all the wedding and bridal publications as well as the many Internet resources. These resources can help choosing spectacular, interesting, and exciting wedding favours very easy – and affordable. Many of these websites and publications offer readers special pricing since wedding favours are usually purchased in bulk (about 100).

When choosing wedding favours, you should always think about the budget you have allocated for them. Some couples will spend quite a bit on wedding favours while others have a very limited budget. The number of favours that you need will always depend on the amount of people attending the wedding. It is also important to remember that no matter what your budget, wedding favours do not need to be expensive or extravagant. However, it is a good idea that your wedding favours fit in with the overall theme and colour scheme of your wedding.

Wedding favours can be ready made items or customized favours; it just depends on what you want to do. Customized wedding favours often add a more personalized touch to any wedding and are also an excellent way of saving a little money. Many hand-made or custom-made favours are a creative and personal way to give a little thanks to your wedding guests. Popular wedding favours include food items. Small boxes of chocolates, mints, fudge, sugar-coated candies, and other food items are the most common wedding favours. These are usually packaged in beautiful boxes or small gift bags. It is also becoming more and more popular for couples to make a donation to their favourite charity in lieu of a wedding favour.

Memorable Wedding Favours

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

To those who may not be aware of the significance of wedding favours, they are those little, keepsakes or mementos, given as a gesture of thanks to all wedding guests by the newlyweds. Although, not really necessary, wedding favours have now become very popular and a must have item for any theme-orientated, wedding today. Wedding favours have been around for centuries and have been part of weddings of many different cultures. In order for guests to remember the occasion each wedding favour is usually inscribed with names of the newlyweds and wedding date. The very first wedding favours that were distributed to guests were in the form of small crystal, gold or porcelain fancy boxes. These contained chocolates, bonbons or other confectionery items. Such gift boxes were then known as ‘bonbonieres’ and were generally given only to the elite among the guests.

Over the years, the popularity of wedding favours has grown significantly among couples who are today much more creative and discerning in their choice of wedding favours. Today, the variety of wedding favours is so large that even small budget weddings can find wedding favours to suit the style and theme of such weddings. Some of the most sought after, items include picture frames, sachets, chocolate covered almonds, wine stoppers, coasters, personalised mint tins, themed favours, personalized souvenirs and more. There is also a significant demand for the creation of wedding favours to match themed weddings. A few of the most common and popular ones include destination themes, poker themes, beach themes, Asian themes, spring themes, garden themes, winter themes, and a lot more.

The reason why the range and possibilities of wedding favours are limitless is because despite the creative concepts specified by the bride, groom or wedding planner, there are countless more creative ideas that can be developed for unique wedding favours. The truth is that when confronted with such an exhaustive range of wedding favours, many couples have a difficult, if not confusing, time selecting ideal favours for their Big Day. However, the important thing that must be kept in mind is that the wedding favours that you gift to your guests must be a reflection of the style and personality of you and your partner. The type of wedding favours you give is not really important, as long as it can evoke memories among guests about the wedding couple, the day they were married and the fun-filled, experiences that guests enjoyed on that day.

The importance given to wedding favours is so great that it has virtually become an industry today. As such, there are thousands of people engaged in the creation of wedding favours, as well as numerous retail outlets, marketing such items and other wedding paraphernalia, around the globe. Apart from being creative in form and nature, wedding favours are today being given utility value. For example, candles with holders, coasters, wine glasses, etc. In this manner, the wedded couple will be remembered each time such wedding favours are made use of. Just like a diamond, weddings are also forever. Wedding favours play a great role ensuring they stay that way, i.e., in the minds of honoured guests for a long, long time.