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When it comes to wedding favors, Mr. Warbs and I come from different camps. I think that it’s nice to give our guests something to remember our wedding by. He thinks that favors are unnecessary because nobody ever keeps those things and we can put the money towards something else. I do agree that most favors are disposable and probably do get thrown out. I’ve only been to a few weddings and I definitely didn’t keep the favors. Hell, I don’t even remember what the favors were. Mints? Candy? Beats me.
So, if we’re going to give our favors, we want them to be something that our guests can keep for a long time. And since we’re having a loose bookish theme, it would be great if the favors could have a literary theme. I thought bookmarks would be cool. Cheap, compact and they’re even in our wedding colors. Win!
“Turning Leaves” bookmark favors from Weddingbee Favors
“Lucky Elephant” bookmark favors from Weddingbee Favors
But, as much as I love bookmarks, they do tend to get lost easily. Or maybe that’s just me? Let’s just say I found an old bookmark I got three years ago in one of my young adult books. Google led me to some other pretty awesome ideas of couples giving books as wedding favors.
The couple gave a copy of their favorite book to guests.
Image via theknot.com / Photography by Julia Newman Photography
Image via Elizabeth Anne Designs / Photography by Zofia Photography
I even found a link to my old boss’ blog!
Each guest got to pick their own book.
Image via athousandscreamingrabbits.com / Photography by Lesley Lukens Photography
Books as favors that also served as place cards. Genius.
Image via Amorology / Photography by The Image Is Found
mage via Amorology / Photography by The Image Is Found
How awesome is this?
Image via Amorology / Photography by The Image Is Found
I think books would make for some pretty awesome favors. My mind is already running through which books to pick for each guest. But, if we end up going this route it could get pretty expensive. As much as I love this idea, Mr. Warbs brought up a good point. The money could be used somewhere else. I do have some other ideas that I’m still tinkering around with (cheesecake anyone?), but for now I’m stuck on books.
Do you have any unique favor ideas up your sleeve? Share them with the hive!
I’m going with a vintage theme…as our favor we are giving out antique looking skeleton keys that are actually bottle openers! 
We decided to do a candy buffet for our guests with 10 of our favorite sweet/salty treats. I shopped the after halloween sales and borrowed a lot of the glassware. All in all, I think we paid about $130 for our candy buffet, so roughly a dollar a guest.
But I do looooove the book idea. So awesome.
What about making a donation to a library? You could get some cheap paper bookmarks printed saying you did so. They might not keep it, but they’ll likely remember you made a donation.
Bookmarks are nice, and books are a cute idea that I’ve never seen done before! But if you really want your money to be well-spent (as in, your guests will definitely take them home or enjoy them right away!)… go edible!!
We didn’t do favors. Most weddings I go to actually don’t have them either, and I’ve never missed them.
My local library does a book sale twice a year where paperbacks are 50 cents each on the last day. They’re usually in pretty good condition, and the money goes straight to the library, so that would be an awesome way to get book favors if your area has something similar.
Hi Melody!
Glad you liked the book idea. It didn’t cost us much, to be honest. We spent a few months visiting dollar bookstores. You can usually find some great titles.
My sister married recently. She had a old carnival themed wedding, with cotton candy, a candy buffet, a juggler, popcorn machine, et al.
Non
Who was the bee that donated books to the Children’s Hospital on behalf of the guests? I can’t remember but I thought that was a neat idea.
But seriously? I think if you’re going to do a favor it should be edible. I’d rather not have a favor than get something I’d never use and will toss when I get home. But something to nibble on is always a winner!
we love wine and are doing something similar to the wine ceremony at our rehearsal…. so we went and made our own wine for the adults and cream soda for the kids (or non-drinkers) made our own labels and all! i love it!
We’re doing a Dia de los Muertos wedding. For our table cards we’re using Loteria cards (mexican bingo cards aka Lottery). So for favors we’re going to get each a lottery ticket and put it in a pretty envelop with their name. We’ll wish them great luck as we have been lucky in love or something like that. We haven’t figure out the wording yet. We think food is boring since the whole wedding will have food. And yeah favors usually get forgotten pretty easily. So at least the fun of scratching a lotto ticket is memborable and hey someone might win! Your book idea is cool too. Is it expensive?
We’re having a Sunday brunch reception, our “favor” is a custom crossword puzzle with pencils w/our names & date. Total cost? $60… so about 45¢ a person.
I love the books/bookmarks idea - but I was worried that only a few guests would be interested in them. Also, pricey - unless you went down a second hand route? Good luck deciding!
We’re looking into doing a photobooth so our guests-they can keep a strip of pics for their favor!
@AshleyLynea: That’s a really cool idea! Bottle openers are really popular too.
@crisss99: A donation is a really nice gesture!
@Mrs. Spaniel: I know a lot of people have edible favors. I just want to do something a little more thematic. Plus, we’re already having a plethora of sweets and snacks!
OMG how awesome to get a book as a favor!
The autumn leave bookmark’s been my favorite for months, but I know we can’t afford it 
I love your ideas, but I agree with several previous posters - if you want to be sure your guests will like them, go edible. I’ve never kept or used a favor from a wedding, unless it was food.
We’re doing a candy bar and letting our guests load up on sugar
I would love to get a book. And unlike personalized tchotchkes, it can be donated to a library if the recipient doesn’t like it. Dover books has great, inexpensive options, or secondhand books can be cheap too, as someone else mentioned above.
@Non Talbot Wels: Hey Non! I thought it was an amazing idea. We’ve hit a few dollar bookstores in our area too. They didn’t have good selections though. Did you shop in the OC?
@Cara: That’s pretty creative and tasty!
@icetea: Lottery scratchers are fun ideas. Especially if someone wins! The price depends on the quality of books I buy, I guess. Dollar bookstores would probably be my best bet.
@Laura: That was our first idea too! Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for us to get a photobooth. It’s a really fun idea though!
Melody,
At the time, we were fortunate to have a dollar bookstore just down the street from us. It’s not there anymore. I think there may still be one or two dollar bookstores in Long Beach.
Non
I love this idea! i’ve been struggling with the favours, I really dont want to give people something they wont use, being a non trinkety person myself that crosses off a lot of options! but I think no matter what you give people, there will always be a few who will ditch it after the wedding, you cant possibly find something everyone will love!
I think I just found our favours though, Thanks Miss Warbler!
I think we will still have a candy buffet too though
Hi Miss W. Just wanted to throw in my two cents. I love the bookmark idea! Actually, we ended up giving bookmarks because we donated money to St. Jude research hospital (for child cancer). Pretty much, if you donate a certain amount, they give you 200 or so bookmarks with your names and dates. This way we got to spend our money on something important, and then as an added bonus, our guests got to take home a bookmark. Here is the link, in case you might want to do something like this! http://shop.stjude.org/GiftCatalog/shop.do?cID=12345&pID=19224
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Miss Warbler, Long Beach/Malibu Age and Occupation: 24, Quality Assurance Editor Fiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Handheld Administrator Engagement Date: December 7, 2010 Wedding Date: April 2012 Venue: Calamigos Ranch Malibu About Me: I’m a Korean BBQ loving, cheesecake enthusiast bride living in the LBC! By day I write and edit for an online search engine marketing company. By night I am a volunteer food taster of all that is delicious. I am fortunate to be marrying an amazing man who loves me and my quirky ways. I love food, books, indie music, and Harry Potter. We are planning a small, intimate wedding up in the Malibu Hills with our closest family and friends. With the help of my wonderful fiance, our loved ones, and red velvet cheesecake, our wedding will be glorious!
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