Wedding Favors Etiquette

For instance, some of the questions couples have today about wedding favors is whether they're even necessary, if they should be given to children, how they should be given out to guests and how much should be spent on them.

Do We Have to Give Out Wedding Favors?
While wedding favors etiquette today says that favors are not absolutely required, they certainly may be expected. So even though you don't have to give wedding favors, many of your guests will be expecting to receive one anyway, simply because it's a tradition and favors are also a token of appreciation from the couple, so it's not really recommended that you don't have wedding favors at all or some of your guests may actually feel slighted or think you to be rude by not giving them.

Wedding favors are such a simple and thoughtful way of thanking your guests for coming to your wedding and offering them a keepsake of the occasion. And while you should try to visit with each guest individually during the reception to express your thanks for their attendance, it may not always be possible, especially if you have a lot of people attending.

You may make the effort to visit with each guest but you may simply run out of time or some of your guests may need to leave earlier than anticipated before you've had a chance to reach their table. But if you've adhered even loosely to some wedding favors etiquette and provided just simple little wedding favors at your guests' place settings, they'll know their attendance at the wedding was appreciated even you don't have time to make a personal visit with them.

Wedding Favors Etiquette for Children
If children will be at your wedding and reception you can give some extra thought to what favors you should give to them. Traditionally, children receive the same favors as the adults, but some couples may choose to give the children a more age appropriate favor or simply provide something extra to keep them entertained during the reception.

For instance, most favors are simply left on the guests' tables at their place settings. If you only have one or two children that you know will be attending, you can simply place an extra kid-friendly favor at each place setting. A good example would be a coloring book and small box of crayons that you can pick up at a discount store for just a few cents each.

If you plan on having a large number of children in attendance, you can reduce the additional expense by omitting the adult favors in place of the kid-friendly favors at the children's place settings.

Wedding Favors Etiquette for Distributing Wedding Favors
The simplest and most convenient way to distribute your guests' wedding favors is to place the favors at each place setting before the reception begins. If you have access to the reception venue the night before, you can set the favors out at the place setting when you decorate. Some reception halls may have staff members that will be happy to put the favors out while they are setting the tables. Or, you may ask a friend or family member to visit the reception hall for you earlier in the day to set up the favors before the guests arrive.

For guests who were not able to attend your wedding or reception but sent a gift in advance, you may want to include their wedding favors in with a thank you note for the gift.

Keeping Down the Cost of Wedding Favors
Weddings favors can run into the hundreds of dollars if you're not careful, especially if your guest list exceeds 50 people, which a lot of times they do. One of the main reasons so many couples consider not giving wedding favors is because they're working with a limited budget and they want to keep the costs down.

But it's important to remember what wedding favors are meant to be and that they do not have to be extravagant or expensive. In fact, a simple flower can be quite inexpensive yet still expresses your appreciation for your guests.

So set a budget for what you can feasibly spend on your wedding favors and then look for ideas for favors that will fit into your theme, express your appreciation to your guests and still stay within your budget. If you use your imagination and do some research, you're sure to find some great deals that will allow you to give your guests beautiful keepsakes that they'll want to take home without spending a fortune on them.

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