Weddingbee Blog

Now that you have an idea of what it’s like in Polebridge, maybe you can help me figure out which of the following favors from the funky Polebridge Mercantile would best serve as a memento for our guests.

Our maximum budget is $500, which equates to $5 per person (for 100 guests max), though it would be nice to spend less and still give a nice gift. We’ve got several options in or around that price range…

1. Homemade cookies!
The merc makes a LARGE variety of deeelicious cookies (not pictured). And at 3 for a dollar, they are a steal. We could easily package these up in some cellophane with a ribbon or a custom sticker and give them to guests. Everyone loves cookies… but they wouldn’t last long!

2. Photo Coaster
Personally, I like coasters, but I know they aren’t for everyone, and some people are very specific about using coasters that look good in their house. These photo coasters are cute souvenirs but at 5 bucks a pop, they are so expensive that we could only afford one per guest. Is one coaster kind of lame?

3. Body Products
A company in Whitefish makes a variety of body products that are branded by the Polebridge mercantile. They include shea butter balm, healing lip balm, and Jojoba bath bar. They’re all about $5 a pop, which is at the high end of our favor budget but we could potentially get a bulk discount. We could offer one type of body product OR an assortment and allow guests to pick one.

4. Photo Magnet
This $4.50 photo magnet is perhaps more accessible than the coaster. Everyone has a fridge, right? And it’s sort of a classic kitchy souvenir, but not particularly personal. I did buy one for myself before I left!

5. Drink Cozies
For only $3, our guests could have one of these Polebridge-branded beer cozies! Too bad we’re having kegs…

6. Polebridge Coffee
The merc offers a delicious Polebridge blend of coffee. I think this 8 oz bag was above our price limit, but we could potentially offer a slightly smaller quantity and stay in budget. We could also pretty easily add personal touches to these bags. Mmm, coffee.

7. Montana/Glacier Wildflower Seeds
I like these flower seed packages, even though they’re not Polebridge-specific. I believe that the mercantile sells a variety of these seed packets for $2.50 each, which would mean that each guest could be given as many as two packs.

Now, while I would love to give something purchased from the mercantile to be locally supportive, my wedding planner can get these flower seeds wholesale. The packets themselves would run between $1.10 and $2.50 apiece, depending if the price is retail or wholesale.

The retailer, Created by Nature sells a large variety of Montana and Glacier National Park-specific seeds that also come in mixed boxes for a discount and in lovely “seed garden” packages that I think would make great favors. The Montana one even sort of matches our color scheme!

I’m a little confused as to the pricing of the boxes and seed gardens though, they seem to be listed at two different prices on the retailer’s website ($6 vs $12 and $7.50 vs $15). I don’t know what’s up with that - maybe a 1/2 off sale? Needless to say, as cool as they are, they’re kind of pricey. Hmm.

My top three favor contenders are (in no particular order):

• Polebridge cookies, packaged in cellophane with a ribbon and tag
• An assortment of body products, probably just with original packaging
• Montana flower seeds, possibly a box/set (depending on price) or 2 packets repackaged in brown baggies with stickers

Those are my thoughts.