Shopping for Wedding Favors (Bridesmaids Gifts)

Favors in America used to be more traditional, the customs leaned more toward bride's and groom's ethnic background. Many weddings would skip them outright. Nowadays, you could see them in the East Coast and West Coast big cities such as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles — and even more often in the American hinterland.

With today's American bride enjoying so much freedom wedding favors are expressive and expensive ... a way to express yourself, and improve your wedding theme. However, there are ways to procure great wedding favors and still save good money. To save money always attempt to buy gifts for favors in bulk (candy, potpourri, popcorn or cinnamon sticks examples of small consumable gifts). Buy homemade wedding favors. The main idea behind giving wedding favors is to have fun! So remember that your wedding favor boxes on't have to be expensive they just should be neat, attractive and if possible, personalized.

Presentation is everything ... now, and forever! Try biscotti wrapped in gorgeous tulle fabric that matches your colors. Or an aqua blue garganza favor-box. Offer edible favors: candy buffets, truffles, jelly bellies in personalized packaging. Offer practical favors: wine bottle openers to fit the big event. Mini-notebooks or personalized coasters, pearlized or satin finishes, silk flowers, and funky ribbons. Tiffany Blue theme-gifts get bigger and bigger. Here are some more widely accepted and recommended favor themes: Tiffany Blue & Tiffany Theme Wedding Favors, Las Vegas Wedding Favors, Homemade Wedding Favors, Fairytale Wedding Favors (What American bride doesn't dream of being Jewish Princess for a day or more ...) At the wedding of Nicole Kidman with Keith Urban, the butlers handed out personalized silver Tiffany clocks per one person with invitation!

How many wedding favors should you buy? Small favors, such as chocolates, almonds, or bubbles packaged in neat small bottles, chocolate wedding favors, tinned mints - buy them one for each guest. Or even one per couple for more expecive keepsake favors. How much should you spend on wedding favors? Spend on favors about 5-6 per cent of your total wedding budget. The choice of favor is totally individual! It could be anything the bride or groom wishes. Picture frames, jewelry as wedding favors. Boxes of chocolate as wedding favors. Bubbles as wedding favors, tin lanterns and chocolate, moss sachets and caramel apples, custom-labeled bottles of sparkling wine. Beach-themed favors are big time now. Brides and guests especially love practical or edibel favors, like wine bottle stoppers, decorative notebooks and luggage tags.

Do I have to buy my favors, or I can make my wedding favors myself? Well, since there is no way to distinguish between those gifts that are bought specifically for weddings and those that are not, unless they specially themed and personalized, you can "do it yourself" your own homemade favors. Also, the choice of places where favors or bridal and guest gifts can be bought is not limited to the wedding-favor store downtown off the Main Street. Most gift stores sell a lots of unlabeled products and will not mark items specifically as "wedding favors" but you still can get the idea: theme them (if you bought those small keepsakes in bulk) and personalize them. Voila! Now you have your themed favors, and you saved lots of dollars, since now your wedding favors are homemade and from the "do-it-yourself" variety!

OK, but what if I want to buy my wedding gifts? Where to buy favors for my wedding? Most of the time a bride will go online for favors. Most people in America buy their favors online. Here are a couple of popular online wedding favors suppliers: First of all, it is an Atlanta-run operation - MyWeddingFavors.com - sort of Favors Microsoft in the realm om Wedding Industry!

As the #1 ranked wedding favor site on the Internet (Google and Yahoo), My Wedding Favors negotiates the lowest pricing with all of the manufacturers and vendors. My Wedding Favors site offers this choice (and more): Unique Wedding Favors, Bridal Shower Favors, Beach Wedding Favors, Candle Wedding Favors, Place Card Holders, Elegant Wedding Favors, Personalized Favors ... Unity Candles, Flower Girl Accessories, Toasting Flutes, Wedding Cameras, Ring Bearer Accessories ...

The second one popular online wedding-shopping store is HansonEllis.com. (Bride's Magazine selected this shopping site as one of the American Best Wedding Web Sites. HansonEllis combines passion for excellent service and innovative products, which helped them achieve high recognition by one of the largest Shopping Newspapers in South Bay, California. Hanson Ellis site offers the following choice: Unique Wedding Favors, Theme Wedding, Custom Boxes, Bath & Soap, Assorted Favors, Edible Favors, Candle Favors, Personalized Gifts ... Placecards, D.I.Y. Favors ...