Wedding Resources

What is the best or most meaningful favor or gift you have received as a guest at a wedding?

I ask this because I've been doing a lot of favor planning for my wedding lately and have asked and answered a couple of wedding favor related questions on here today. I got to thinking and wondered what YOU have received, what you have brought home and used or enjoyed. Was it a food item? Something sentimental? What are some of the favors you received that you didn't use or enjoy?

Public Comments

1. I really liked these mochi favors (a very local and Hawaiian favor). As a guest the ones I enjoyed the most were food. I already have enough trinkets that the favors I don't look forward to having are the ones that'll collect dust on my bookshelf. Chocolate is always a great way to go!
2. I haven't been to any weddings that had favors per se. However I was not a fan of tulle circles filled with either potpourri or birdseed, both of which were supposed to be thrown at the couple as they left the reception.
3. Well the one i liked the most, was actually this little silk white rose with the name of the bride and groom written in cursive on the edge of the out petals. They were really close friends of mine and it just seemed so nice! The one i didnt like was at my cousins wedding, she had these cards kinda shaped like credit cards, with the picture of the bride and groom on them. It said on the back: David and Jamie Don't you wish you could have this kind of love? I thought that that was kind of tacky and...well...frankly kind of rude
4. I've never been to a wedding where I got a gift from the bride and groom, but my niece recently with the thank you cards sent a wedding photo in them that was nice. It was just a small wallet size.
5. Honestly, I haven't received anything as a favor that really stands out. I got married last June and I gave heart shaped cookie cutters and personalized golf tees. The cookie cutters were cute and something that people can use instead of put them up and collect dust. The golf tees went over extremely well! My husband is a golfer and they are able to be used too. We've had many comments on them and they were a lot of fun to decorate with.
6. I am getting married and have an Italian theme and am giving oil and balsamic vinegar.
7. small white vase with a pink rose in it. I really enjoyed it.
8. I hate bells. I have like 30 of them, and friends always get offended if you get rid of them. I seriously have a drawer of bells. I like getting candles, photo holders or frames, candy is always nice. I had a friend do chocolate covered strawberries. I did these: http://www.cassianicollection.com/images/5613.jpg Got the stars and the moons. Used as a place card holder, but they can be used to hold a photo later when the people take them home. Most seemed to like them (plus they were a decent price)
9. The best wedding favor I've ever gotten from a wedding was an adorably wrapped piece of gum that was cleverly folded into the napkin. I thought it was very creative, immediately useful, I'm sure very cost effective for the bride, and its stuck with me for years.
10. A donation to a charity.
11. i have a drawer in my buffet filled with wedding favors. votive candles, homemade c.d.s, fancy notebook/pen, you name it, its in there! all except one! a very dear friend of mine passed away three years ago, she had a massive heart attack and was gone in the blink of an eye. when her daughter married last year, our favours were a copy of a wonderful letter from the heart and stroke foundation thanking her for the donation in memory of her mother! and wishing her a very happy wedding! she took the money she would have spent on favours and sent it all to the charity! i wish more brides would do that, its a wonderful idea. the charity was thrilled and so were all her guests! failing that i suppose the next best thing is something edible. wishing you a very happy wedding.
12. I loved getting Vosges chocolate in a Chinese take-out style box at a formal wedding and getting local hot sauce at a southern wedding. I didn't use 2"x3" empty picture frame I got once. And I didn't enjoy a ceramic statue thingy I received on another occasion.
13. At my friends wedding they donated to a childrens cancer hospital and they gave out little cards saying so. I know it's supposed to be rude and tacky to do this. But I thought it was rather sweet, it was the hospital that treated the groom when he was a child and had Leukemia. Also their shower they had these little "gift registry" cards sitting on a table if you wanted to take one home. I did and when I went to the website, it redirected me to the hospitals website on the page for donations. I just thought it was neat. I don't really care much for favors, this was the one that really stands out in my mind though. I do like candles and some type of food is always good. As for favors I've received that I didn't like are: wine stoppers, small bottles of crown royal. I don't drink so those two are useless to me. The wine stopper is in my junk drawer and I think my ex took and drank the crown royal. I also never really cared much for plants. They always die on me heh. I got a tree sapling once and followed the instructions to planting it, it's now the saddest looking thing I have ever seen.
14. I once received a silk rose as a favor, which was pretty but basically just a dust collector. One couple gave a chocolate truffle in a little box; kinda boring but still cute and simple! The one I liked the best was a beautiful (real) silver bud vase. I can't remember where I put it though! :-(
15. My best friend had a few pieces of fudge in some very pretty boxes. That was the best. Also, someone else had a candy table, where we could make our own favors, and the other good one was cookies. The worst have been, votive holders with the bride and grooms name, small picture frame that was holding our place cards, what am i supposed to do with that. It matches nothing in my house, and also a starfish was one favor I got, It's been in my glove compartment for 6 months
16. Consumables in any form and presented any way - mints wrapped in a piece of tulle, tootsie rolls in organza bags, Jordan almonds, chocolate spoons - all were loved! Nicest idea, I thought - a packet of forget-me-not seeds. Most elaborate and treasured - a porcelain statuette about 10 inches high - kind of a freeform style of a couple kissing - it's gorgeous. Best ideas I've seen on answers - a wine bottle stopper (you can get the tops in all sorts of designs), and the cookie cutter heart - which can be presented a whole bunch of different ways. Have liked any and all favours we've gotten over the 20 weddings we've been to!