Wild Flowers & Tulip Bulbs
From Jami & Marvin
Since we're both working in agriculture, and we're having a relaxed outdoor reception under a picnic pavilion, we decided to give favors that will return to grow year after year. I found 2x3 1/2 inch wood chip baskets for $0.29 each at the local craft store. We're going to put a little Spanish moss and two tulip bulbs (for a fall wedding...lily bulbs could be used in spring) in each one. On each handle, we'll tie some thin satin ribbon (bought on sale for $0.50 per 10 yd spool) in various colors to complement the wildflowers used throughout the wedding arrangements. On a little business-sized card with a floral background, we'll have a special verse printed, and then attach wildflower seeds in small envelopes or jewelry-sized (2x3 inch) Ziploc bags to the back. The final cost should be ~$1.00 each. There's a company in bridal magazines that sells little white boxes with Spanish moss & two bulbs in each one, and it comes complete with a printed card. They cost ~$3.00 each, I think, and then you still have to buy ribbon to tie around the boxes (which they also sell, conveniently, for $20 per 50 yds, I believe). This is much more unique, and much cheaper.
Sunflowers
My daughter and her fiancé are both reside in Kansas but will be married in the brides home town in Pennsylvania. Since the groom is a native of Kansas we decided to bring "little bit of Kansas" to PA in sunflower favors. We cut one hundred 5 inch sunflowers out of 1/2" pine. They were stained on the back and sides. The fronts were painted in with simple tole-paint shading. Two opposite petal were drilled and coiled wire was used as the hanger. A stem of wheat will be threaded down through the wire coil after they are placed on the table. I tried to attach jordan-almond / tulle to the wire but it made the flower top heavy; so instead, the candy will sit in front of the sunflower. (white candy, white tulle, dark green ribbon). A fancy "Thank you from Scott and Julie" label was placed on the back. The cost of these was less than 50 cents each. If you can get scrap wood, the only expense is the paint, candy, netting, ribbon, and wheat. These would make beautiful fall favors.
Potpourri & Soap
From Julie
I used a bar of soap, a rose shaped floating candle, potpourri, sheer ribbons, and a bottle of gold spray. I lucked out on getting all the materials on sale. The soap originally was $2.50/piece at Bath & Body Works but I got them for $.99 on sale. I got the floating candles from Michael's craft store for $.50/piece on sale which cost $1.50/piece originally. The potpourri were also from Michael's which cost $1.50/2.4L bag on sale and cost $3/bag originally. The spray cost about $2.50 and I used it to add sparkle on the candles. I got 160 soap of different flavors from Bath & Body Works at their spring sale. Since I bought so many, they gave me 200 clear rectangular plastic bags, ribbons, and little gift cards. I tied the already beautifully wrapped soap with a matching color sheer ribbon and put it in one side of the bag. I put a handful of matching color potpourri on the other side and a candle on top of the potpourri. I tied them up with a thin ribbon and the gift card. The gift cards were beautiful, all I needed to do was writing our names and wedding date in side. It looked like a $5-7 favor but only cost $2. Everyone loved it and thought it was very useful.
Herb Favors
As I am an avid herb gardener and had a summer wedding, I chose to make herb vinegar as a favor. I bought 15-4 liter jugs of regular vinegar. I used herbs from my garden. For bottles, I went to the recycling depot and bought different styles of wine/ice wine bottles for $0.25/each. I borrowed a wine corker from a friend. Then I bought wine corks, small canning labels, canning wax, peppercorns and lemons. I heated the vinegar to sterilize, cooled slightly and added the herbs. The vinegar sat in a dark room for 2 weeks. I then strained the vinegar to ready it for bottling. I sterilized the bottles, added the strained vinegar, added a fresh branch of a herb, a few peppercorns and a string of lemon zest for decoration. The bottles were corked, and then the top of the wine bottle was dipped in melted wax (mainly for decoration). Ribbon the color of the wedding party was added around the neck and added the canning label which had our names and wedding date scripted. This project requires a bit of planning and time. I had to plan 4 months in advance for my herb garden. I spent 4 hours sterilizing the vinegar, 3 hours scrubbing the used wine bottles, 4-5 hours (with the help of my attendants) sterilizing bottles, corking and added decoration. The effect was worth it. Cost per favor, around $1.
Hearts will Grow
From Deborah and James
Home made (environmentally safe) favor and seat card combo from Deborah and James I combined a lot of great ideas I gathered from all my wedding favor searches. I plan to make my own wedding favors that also are my seating cards. I have an old cookie cutter in the shape of a heart (about $1, after Valentine's Day they will probably be on sale) and I have a recipe for hand made paper (took shredded paper out of recycling bins at work so it's free). While making the paper I will add lavender seeds (lavender is my wedding colors and scent) to the pulp then put the pulp into the mold. Your end result is your own botanical, environmentally safe, ready to plant heart. Hot glued to the middle of the heart is a small strip of paper that with my computer I will add the person's name and table number (in a nice fancy font of course). The heart needs to sit in some type of stand so I made that out of card stock ($$ ?). The card is folded in half and stands upright like a t-pee. I will print on the front of the card a poem: A marriage is a relationship which needs proper nurturing and love much like these precious seeds. To represent the life long commitment we have made to each other, please plant and care for these flowers so it, too, will grow and thrive as our love will. On the back of the card: instructions- We hand crafted this heart and the lavender seeds are with in the paper so please just tear the heart in several pieces to spread our love all over and plant 1/4 in. below soil. Water it and watch it bloom. Thank you for sharing our special day and remember this joyous event when you smell the sweet lavender! To attach the card stand to the heart, simply just make an incision to the middle of the top of the card stand. Now insert the bottom of your heart and there you go. A free standing, poem attached seating card that also serves as an original favor!
Bed of Roses
From Inna, San Diego, CA
I am making little bead roses. When we were having our long-distance relationship, my fiancé always brought me a single dark rose. Now that we live together the roses are not so frequent, though I don't mind since we share the budget. The wedding will be wine in color, so I am using wine seed beads for the petals and green seed beads for the leaves, on red and green wire. The stems are wrapped in green embroidery floss to hide the wire, and a small thank-you note is attached by matching ribbons. The flowers are easy to make if you know basic bead-weaving.
Simplicity of the Flower
From Andrea A
We had a small champagne picnic brunch at our wedding in February this year. We didn't have tables set out with names etc, my mother made several large padded calico picnic blankets for the guests to sit on. One of the blankets was used as a guestbook (we had a permanent marker there for messages from our guests). The whole wedding was centered around my love of daisy's and the simplicity of the flower. I purchased some flowering daisy plants and planted them in medium sized terracotta pots. The pots were placed around the blankets and the food server. For favors for the guests I found some spice-bottle size bottles and filled them with gourmet jelly beans. I then hung these around the sides of the daisy pots by poking sticks in the dirt and tying them with raffia. Each bottle had a little card attached to it saying "It takes a bride and groom to make a marriage, but it takes family and friends to make a wedding. Thank you for your company, gift and good wishes on our wedding day". It was a wonderful day that started early and continued on into the wee hours of the next morning. I wouldn't change a thing about my wedding day, even the fact that I had no bridesmaids
Favor and Centerpiece Combination
From Luanda Diaz
I browsed dollar stores until I found something I couldn't believe. For 99 cents each I bought a pretty frosted glass thin vases. I chose the red frost to coordinate with my fall wedding theme. My neighbor gave me a jar of gold acrylic paint. I used the paint to add small details to the vases. I put some inexpensive silk flowers in the vase. At a table for ten if these favors are put closely together the flowers blend in beautifully and create an attractive and inexpensive centerpiece.
Terra Cotta Pots & Wildflower Seeds
From Emily
In keeping with our outdoor wedding and in an attempt to give a practical favor, we are using little 1 1/2 inch terra cotta pots (from Michaels $0.39 each), which will have little bags of wildflower seeds inside (I am buying seeds in bulk and using little craft baggies). The whole thing will be wrapped in a tulle circle (from the Ultimate Wedding Mall- about $11 for 100) and tied with ribbon. We will make little tags for them on the computer and print them on card stock- the front of the tag will say "Thank you for sharing our special day" and our names/date, the back will have planting instructions. Total cost of each favor will be about $0.85 to $0.95.
And the Seed Becomes the Rose
From Kristy and Brent, May 1999
I ordered two pounds of mixed cosmos and poppy seeds on-line ($40). Bought six 6-in. x 25 yard rolls ($3.00 @) of tulle in lavender, pink and white and 3 rolls of 144 ft. curling ribbon ($3.00 @) in same colors plus silver. (Colors for wedding are lavender and silver.) Cut tulle into 6-in. x 6-in. pieces. Using three pieces of tulle overlapped and in various color combinations, wrapped one teaspoon of seed and tied with two varying colors of curled ribbon. Finally, tied to "packet" of seed was a verse from "The Rose" printed on heavy stock light lavender paper:
Some say love, it is river that drowns the tender reed
Some say love, it is razor that leaves your soul to bleed
Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless, aching need
I say love, it is a flower and you its only seed.
(Plus our special note.) Thank you for sharing this special day with us. Plant these seeds and think of special times in your life while enjoying the beauty of cosmos and poppies.
Bells, Wildflower Seeds, and a Brass Watering Can
From Kiwi
As we leave the church I have heavy cardstock dye-cut hearts with two jingle bells tied on with ribbon with the phrase "As the bride and groom depart, ring the bells with all your heart" calligraphied, for all the guests to ring as we leave. At the reception I have little decorated envelopes of wildflower seed for each guest (will attach a phrase of some sort eventually) and also candied almonds for each guest wrapped in tulle to symbolize the bitterness and sweetness of life. The seeds ties into the whole thing because my wedding is on mayday and my centerpieces are brass watering cans filled with silky and little cream flowers. (I also have a miniature brass watering can for the top of the cake filled with flowers). The cost of the bell things: $12 (180 medium size bells - already had the cardstock - $.33 for a spool of ribbon) - Cost of seed things: $15 (Seed $2.5 a lb envelopes $5) - Cost of the almond things: $30 (tulle $3 - almonds $27)
Candles in Terra Cotta Plants
From Nicole, 6-5
We made candles in mini terra cotta pots. They cost just over $1 each including all supplies. We spray painted the inside of the pots with gold to accent the candle flame, then turned them over and spray painted the outside various colors. We then painted details on them individually (flowers, squiggly lines, vines, etc). Then placed a wick holder over the hole in the pot with a piece of clay to plug the hole, melted paraffin wax and added scent and poured them into the pots. We chose these because we are having a country garden theme.
Botanical Greeting Cards
From Katie
I'm going to be using some of the "Garden Greeting" cards as "reverse place cards". (I'm doing a buffet brunch with no formal seating chart, but I want people to be able to pick up their cards as they walk in and use them to mark where they're sitting, so other people can choose seats accordingly.) The cool thing about these cards is that they have wildflower seeds mixed into the pulp, so people can take the cards home and PLANT them! I'll have to come up with some sappy verse to put on the card as a 'thanks for coming' message - something about love growing like the flowers, or vice versa. =) A package of five blank cards with machine-made envelopes runs about $12 US, so it ends up being about $2.50 a favour. But again, they're doing double duty, and I think the sheer novelty of it will make them go over well. I picked them out because wildflowers are going to be the major floral decoration at my wedding (it's a medieval theme), and because I couldn't come up with any medieval-ish favours that didn't look totally cheesy.
Watering Cans
From Dawn & Michael
Originally, Michael and I weren't going to do favors, but his aunt offered to do the favors for us since she's very 'crafty' and enjoys making things herself. So, since we're having the reception in a barn, she bought small galvanized watering cans from the Oriental Trading Company ... and is going to wrap candy inside tulle and place them inside the can. In order to save her money, though, we decided that we would only pass these out to the women at the wedding (I don't think men would care either way ;) -- I didn't want her to have to pay for 200 favors.
Wildflower seeds in a glassine envelope
From Angela & Jeramy
I am making our favors...wildflower seeds in a glassine envelopes (ordered from back of Martha catalogue). I am folding the opening over, punching two holes, and tying an organza ribbon through the holes. We bought a bulk bag of seeds, so they are running approx. 75 cents apiece, with bags and ribbon. I am putting them in a basket by our guest book with a poem next to them on an easel:
Our Gift to You
Take a packet of seeds to plant in a row
Just as our new life begins They too will grow
They will see a lot of sun and just as many showers
And as our love blooms so will they flower
Thank you for sharing the joy of our day
Starter Flowering Houseplants
From Andrea & Ralph, 9-4, Alberta, Canada
We are using starter flowering houseplants. They will be about 1$ each after ribbon and that tag thingie. It was my idea since Ralph has such a green thumb. We are buying them from a garden center.
Bonsai Trees
From Jenny & Rodger, 5-29
our ceremony will be in a state park - I found little juniper bonsai trees in ceramic rectangular trays with rocks for $5 each. We'll do one per couple. If people don't want to hassle with a bonsai, at least they have a juniper bush to plant in the front yard
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