Wedding Favors and Flowers

Wedding Favors - No Longer One Size Fits All

Traditionally, brides and grooms would buy single wedding favors to distribute to all of their guests.  But ordering a silver wine stopper when some guests don't drink alcohol, for instance, doesn't make sense.

That means you get limited as to which wedding favors you buy.  Usually, you're relegated to the almonds or candles - the one size fits all type of gift. But most brides today want to be unique with their wedding favors and gifts. 

It's your special day, but you also want to cater to the tastes of those helping you celebrate. You may even have children attending the wedding - and many companies now offer novelty items geared to younger guests, such as a Frisbee or activity book that act as great wedding favors.

One great thing about wedding favors today is that personalization has become very affordable. So you can individualize your wedding favors and personalize them to each guest, depending on your budget and time constraints.

Wedding favors today range from elegant and traditional, such as porcelain trinket boxes to the fun and whimsical - like Frog Tealights or Country Cow Candles. As a bride, you have endless choices as to the style and color of your wedding favor containers. 

Whether your motif is pear green or orange cream, you can find wedding favor boxes and bags to match your wedding hues. You can find wedding favors that range from cheap and plentiful to expensive and rare.

Some of the most popular wedding favors today are bottle stoppers, candles, photo albums, and glass coasters. Even edible wedding favors like chocolate dipped Oreos, fortune cookies, or exquisitely decorated caramel apples are gaining in popularity.

So don't get stuck in the old mindset of having to please all of your guests with one wedding favor choice - you have the option of diversifying your selection to please a wide range of tastes - while staying within your budget boundaries!

Jack-N-Jill Wedding Favors

Once upon a time men had bachelor parties full of alcohol and scantily clad women, and women had showers where they invited their friends and received gifts. Today times have changed and some of the women and men of this world hold a joint shower and hand out Jack-n-Jill wedding favors.

When arranging a co-ed party like this, it's always good to remember to have Jack-n-Jill favors for the guests, which are normally a small gift like a box of chocolates or sugar almonds.

Jack-n-Jill favors are a way of giving a keepsake to symbolize the sharing of your special day. A lot of people see them as an extra special something they can cherish about the evening's festivities.

Favors are also a way of thanking a guest for the wedding present they give you, and in many countries different variations of favors are given as a way of acknowledging the gift received and thanking the person who has given it, or the couple as the case may be with a co-ed Jack-n-Jill party.

A lot of people who hold Jack-n-Jill showers make their favors personalized so guests can remember the evening and everything it was about. You can now get personalized chocolate wrappers, mint tins, cosmetic bags, honey jars and even tea bags if that's your choice.

It's always good to think about making your Jack-n-Jill favors work with the theme of your party. For example, it would be strange for a visitor to receive a personalized box of tea bags if your party theme is sexy lingerie.

If you are wishing to spend a little more on your Jack-n-Jill party guests, you can always make a favors box. In the favors box you can put a few little things like sugared almonds, some chocolates, a personalized gift and anything else that you think your guests will appreciate.

Things used to be different with brides being surprised with showers and bachelorette parties, but these days the brides and grooms normally arrange this themselves. If the couple arranges the Jack-n-Jill parties themselves, it means they can make the day as they wish, inviting those they want with them, and offering the favors of their own choice.

Wedding Flowers - Can You Go Real Without Going Broke?

It's amazing how much some brides are willing to pay for their wedding flowers. If you're watching pennies, flowers can make a huge gash in your budget - especially if you don't use seasonal wedding flowers. 

Have you ever attended a wedding where the bride and groom have had to use cheap fake wedding flowers in place of real ones because they couldn't afford what they wanted?  Some silk flowers are affordable and beautiful.

It's a wedding planner's job to find deals and negotiate with vendors. If you don't have a powerful wedding planner, then you'd better become a take-no-prisoners businesswoman and get the wedding flowers you deserve.  

When you walk into a local flower shop, most will have a book you can see of previous wedding flowers and bouquets or arrangements they've done.  If not, walk out the door. 

They won't usually have prices on them, but when you start talking to the florist about your wedding flowers, you want to tell her up front that you don't have a big budget.  Don't give her numbers - just say, "small." 

Tell her you want to know what kinds of wedding flowers they can substitute for the ones in the pictures that look almost identical to the more expensive version.

Also ask about simplistic wedding flower designs - such as a pure cut bouquet.  If a florist has to create an arrangement, it's far more expensive to buy.  You might even get a book on how to create floral designs and then buy the wedding flowers and do them yourself.  

Wedding flowers can mean just a simple bridal bouquet or every other floral presentation you need - including groom and groomsmen boutonnières, corsages for moms, ceremony and reception décor, and a tossing bouquet if you plan to keep your own. 

You may have to pick and choose or forego certain floral arrangements.  For instance, if you can't afford lavish centerpieces, then use candles or other displays for your centerpieces and save the flowers for your bouquet and aisle décor. 

Or use the ceremony wedding flowers in your reception.  There's often a gap between the ceremony and reception, so someone could take the wedding flowers and arrange them on the tables for the reception.

Before you skimp and go with fake wedding flowers, understand that it sometimes costs more to go the fake route than it does to go real. 

Choose your wedding flowers with your color scheme in mind and be flexible when it comes to choosing the exact type of flower - if you're willing to take substitutes, then you'll find you can probably afford to have real blooms on your big day.

How Good Are Fake Ranunculus Wedding Bouquets?

We know artificial flowers have improved by leaps and bounds over the years but how do fake ranunculus wedding bouquets stack up against the competition?  Ranunculus (a member of the buttercup family) are only available in winter and spring so many brides to be are opting for fake ranunculus wedding bouquets.

Today the bouquets are made from silk and, although the quality can vary, they can be quite realistic. There are many pros to choosing fake ranunculus wedding bouquets. They are durable and you can prepare them many months in advance.

You have a lasting memento of your special day; you won't have flowers that may start to wilt or lose their petals and because ranunculus are very seasonal you will save a lot of money out of season when they become very expensive.

The cons to choosing fake ranunculus wedding bouquets are that when ranunculus are in season, the fake bouquets are not going to be much cheaper (for a beautiful looking one).

Also, if you are going to have photos taken close up, the fake ranunculus wedding bouquets can photograph poorly and people will clearly see they are not real. If you do decide to use fake ranunculus wedding bouquets then make sure you use a reputable company that provides high quality replicas, because the last thing you want is to receive a bunch of fake flowers that resemble a child's toy.

You may want to be innovative and try nestling your favorite fake ranunculus wedding bouquet in with real flowers when real ranunculus are out of season so you still get to have them on your wedding day and people will be less likely to know they are fake.

Remember - the flowers are only a small part of the day so they don't necessarily need to be real.  Flowers can help make your day special or they can cause a lot of stress, so this is why a lot of thought needs to go into your decision on whether to choose real flowers or a fake ranunculus wedding bouquet.

Either way, whatever you decide - fake or real - the most important thing is to enjoy your wedding day and make it a special one you will always remember.