Photo on thumbnail courtesy of Swish and Click Photography.
When it comes to wedding planning, what items do you think of first? As you can likely imagine, there are a wide variety of tasks that’ll need to be completed during the planning process. Some of these are ones that you’ll take care of right after the engagement (touring/booking a wedding venue, enjoying your engagement party, etc), while others can wait until the big day gets closer (creating a seating chart, preparing a toast, etc). Nonetheless, they all serve an important purpose in the grand scheme of things.
For those that are visiting our blog for the first time, welcome to Madera Estates! Madera Estates is a luxury wedding venue located in Conroe, TX, just north of Houston and The Woodlands. Here on our wedding blog, we like to provide engaged couples with tips and tricks for bringing their dream wedding to life! Whether that be inspiration from past weddings held at our venue, ideas for selecting your team of vendors or a number of other wedding planning-related topics, there are plenty of things to talk about.
As mentioned in the opening paragraph above, wedding planning tasks vary based on when they need to be completed. In this week’s blog post, we’re going to be talking about one that you’ll likely find yourself completing roughly 2-3 months before the big day. The task that I’m referencing here is going to be the finalizing of your wedding favors. We’ll discuss a few different ideas for wedding favors and hopefully help you decide what you’ll want to use for your wedding. Time to talk about wedding favor ideas!
Utilize Social Media for Ideas and Inspiration
Depending on where you’re at in the wedding planning process, you may already know this, but it goes without saying that social media can be an excellent resource for ideas and inspiration. One of the obvious examples of this is in regards to the vendor selection process, as you can browse through the feeds of various local vendors. However, even with something like ideas for wedding favors, you can also use social media! Pinterest can be a wonderful option to utilize, especially if you’re planning on turning your wedding favors into a DIY project. Prefer to just purchase the favors so they’re all ready to go right away? If so, take a look around Etsy. You’ll find plenty of possibilities and we’re sure you’ll spot something that catches your eye! All in all, social media is a terrific tool for gathering ideas and inspiration for wedding favors.
Personalize Your Wedding Favors
One of the easiest tips we can provide you with in regards to wedding favors is to add a personalization element to them. Whether it be by means of including your initials, last name, wedding date or anything else, this is definitely something that you can’t go wrong with. In terms of the actual items that you’ll use as the wedding favors though, that is up to you and your partner! If you’re looking for an idea, think of things that are unique to you two.
DIY or Purchased Ready-to-Go?
We briefly highlighted our next point in the section about social media, but one of the first decisions that you’ll need to make in regards to wedding favors is whether you’ll make them a DIY project or if you’ll purchase them ready-to-go. Both can result in some memorable wedding favors and the decision really comes down to personal preference and a few other variables, such as:
Guest Count – Particularly with DIY wedding favors, you’ll want to consider the number of guests attending your wedding. The reason for this is because it will inevitably take some time to put together all of the favors. If you don’t have a lot of free time and have a couple hundred guests, it may be tough to go the DIY route. On the other hand, don’t hesitate to reach out to family and/or close friends to lend a hand with this if you need the help!
Timing – Down below, we will discuss the exact timing on when you should order your wedding favors. However, I also wanted to mention it here to ensure you have plenty of time available. We already mentioned this with DIY options, but even if you’re ordering them customized, make sure to communicate with the seller to ensure they’ll be ready to go in time!
All in all, there’s no perfect answer here that will apply to all couples, but you can safely say that beautiful wedding favors can come from each method.
Think of Something Practical
In addition to adding a personalization element to your wedding favors, you’ll also want to think of practicality and essentially, decide on favors that your guests will actually use. Luckily, when it comes to the idea of practicality, you have more than a few options at your disposal. With that being said, there are a couple of ways you could approach this.
Tasty Treat – When it comes to things that your guests will “actually use,” an easy answer would be to get a tasty treat that they could either enjoy later on in the reception or even on the ride home from your wedding. What “tasty treats” might you consider? Cookies and cupcakes are two you can’t go wrong with. Plus, you can incorporate the personalization idea too, whether that be on the packaging or the dessert itself.
Other “Practical” Wedding Favors – What else might fall under the label of “practical” wedding favors? Candles with a personalized label are an easy one, as everyone can find a use for those! Staying with the theme of food from above, how about a jar of jam with a customized label?
To sum it up, you can’t go wrong with something practical, as your guests will have no trouble putting it to use!
When Should You Order Your Wedding Favors?
As we wrap up this week’s blog post, we’ll take a look at this topic from a timeline perspective. On a separate note, speaking of timelines, if you don’t already have a timeline or checklist to work off of, we recommend getting that going! It’ll be a great way to stay on schedule throughout the planning stages. Now…back to the topic of this section: when should you order your wedding favors? We provided a baseline number of 2-3 months before the wedding in the opening section, but the truth is this number will vary based on whether you’re ordering them ready-to-go or if they’ll be a DIY project. In any case, regardless of how they’ll be made, we recommend avoiding leaving this for the last minute. You’ll have plenty of other things to tackle once the wedding day draws near and the more things you can have taken care of before then, the less stress you’ll have!
Still Need to Book Your Wedding Venue? Learn More About Madera Estates!
As we briefly mentioned in the opening paragraphs, our wedding venue, Madera Estates, is located in Conroe, TX. Having worked with hundreds of engaged couples over the years, we’ve had the opportunity to witness countless amazing wedding celebrations. From the beautiful ceremonies where the couples tie the knot to the fun-filled receptions that follow, it truly is a job that never gets old. With this experience in the wedding industry, we enjoy utilizing our blog as a resource and really as a platform for talking about different stages in the wedding planning process. If you’re interested in checking out some of our previous blog posts, feel free to click the link HERE.
Engaged and planning a wedding near the Houston area? First off, congratulations on the engagement! If you would like to learn more about our wedding venue, you’re more than welcome to click the link HERE to request a copy of our Investment Guide. It’s filled with information and details about Madera Estates!