10 Ideas for Personalized Wedding Favors

My husband and I had some fun recently while talking about what we would do differently if we were planning our wedding today.  One thing our wedding lacked was creativity, which did not reflect both our extremely creative personalities.  Wedding favors is just one area where there is quite a bit of opportunity to do something unique.  Although our wedding favors were personalized, I would definitely choose one of these wedding favors from American Bridal instead if I had a chance to do it all over again . . .

1.  Personalized Wedding Cake Cookies - Of course there are many other cookie shapes to choose from, but I find these cookies to be very elegant and they look like a delicious alternative to the usual mints and chocolates.


2.  Personalized Tree Bookmark - Although there are other types of bookmarks available, I like that this tree represents "a new beginning."  I also like that it is something that is useful for the guests, is suitable for both a man or a woman to use, and the personalization is on the label, making the bookmark something that the guests are more likely to use than a bookmark with someone else's names on it.

3.  Personalized Silk Fans - These would be perfect for an elegant outdoor wedding.  The names of the bride and groom, as well as the wedding date, are engraved right into the wood along the side of the fan.  These fans would be especially welcome during a summertime wedding.

4.  Personalized Coffee Wedding Favors - This is a unique idea that would most likely appeal to the majority of the guests.  There are different labels to choose from to go along with the season in which you have scheduled your big day.  They also are available in a variety of Cappuccinos, hot cocoa, and teas.

5.  Personalized Belgian Milk Chocolate Coins - I like these coins because they are very customizable.  You can choose the color(s) to coordinate with your theme plus 1 of 26 designs for the front with the names of the bride and groom and the wedding date.

6.  Personalized Bottles of Sunscreen - This is such a unique and thoughtful idea for any outdoor wedding.  It is something the guests can use during and after your wedding day.  I think they would look adorable with a satin ribbon tied around them.

7.  Personalized Honey Jars - This is an extremely adorable idea for a wedding with a country or a nature theme.  Although I would not choose this for an elegant wedding celebration, it would be very cute for a casual one.

8.  Personalized Playing Cards - This is a perfect wedding favor for a lengthy reception.  It would help to keep adults and children entertained during down times, plus your guests will think of you and your big day every time they pull out this deck to use in the future.

9.  Personalized Wildflower Seeds Wedding Favors - There are a wide variety of seed favors available, but something about wildflowers seems more carefree and happy to me.  This type of favor would be perfect for all seasons, except for winter.

10.  Personalized Sand & Shell Bottle - I saved my favorite for last!  These little bottles would be the perfect keepsake for a beach or destination wedding.  The personalization for these are done with a clear label, so that you can position your text with the bottles standing upright or laying on their sides.

What types of unique wedding favors have you come across throughout the years?

3 Things I Would Have Done Differently While Planning Our Wedding

Not one, but two of my baby cousins are getting married this Spring!  In fact, I just received the first invitation the other day and thought to myself, "How clever!  Why didn't I think of that when I was planning our wedding?"  This started me thinking about what I would have done differently if I were planning my wedding today.

We had a private ceremony and then a Chinese wedding banquet following it.  This was a very different experience for many of our friends, co-workers, and my husband's side of the family.  We should have embraced that more and made some of the important things, like the cake, wedding invitations, and flowers, less traditional and more trendy.

I asked my husband what he thought we should have done differently with our wedding and these were the top 3 things we would have changed . . . 

1.  At the time, I was thinking that the ceremony and reception were the most important part of the whole event and the invitations were just a formality.  I chose the least expensive ivory invitations I could find and had them printed in the standard black ink.  If I could do it again, I would have selected more trendy wedding invitations, like this Soiree Tri-Fold Invitation.  Its brushed gold metallic color would have tied in so well with the elaborate gold and red atmosphere of the Chinese banquet.  The invitations we sent out were just boring and did not relay to the guests what type of experience they could expect at the banquet.

2.  Since the wedding dress I had chosen was ivory, I just randomly chose teal as the accent color for our wedding.  When it came time to shop for a dress for my Maid of Honor, she expressed how much she did not want a teal dress.  So she ended up choosing a sapphire-colored dress, which looked beautiful on her.  The Best Man coordinated his tuxedo to match the dress.  Now looking back, we should have made our accent color sapphire blue, since it is both my husband's and my birthstones.  I also wonder if I should have asked my Maid of Honor to wear a sapphire blue cheongsam for her dress?  She would have looked stunning in one.

3.  We chose our wedding date for late October because the anniversary of our first date just happened to land on a Saturday.  That is still very special to me and I would not have changed the date for anything.  The problem was that the day was very overcast and windy.  All our photos were taken indoors in front of the arch that we had decorated ourselves for the ceremony.  If we could do it again, we should have found another setting, even it was indoors, to take our photos.  All of our photos are posed traditional shots without very much story behind them.

If your wedding has already taken place, what would you have changed about your big day?  If you are still planning your dream wedding, I would love to know about which parts you are most excited!