Saturday I attended the bridal shower of a good friend’s daughter-law-to-be. It was a held at the local fire hall, with pretty spring plants as centerpieces and a frugal “bring a dish to pass” luncheon buffet.
We don’t do things too fancy schmancy here upstate! The frugal way tends to be the typical way! Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE where I live. Well, except for the length of the winter. . .
The maid of honor made these favors for the shower:
How cute are they? She simply bought a package of card stock, a large bag of mixed flower seeds from Lowes and a roll of thin red ribbon.
She created a graphic and printed it 4 per sheet, cut them out, then sewed it on three sides like a pillowcase with a zigzag stitch. She added about 2 tsp of seeds to each packet, sewed it closed and glued a small red bow to each.
Total cost for 30 favors (with leftover craft materials) was about $5. Now THAT’s frugal!
What are your best frugal wedding favor ideas?
Great idea on the zig zag sewing, makes it look very much non-disposable.
Okay, my wedding favors weren’t that frugal but we found some wallet sized frames 2 for a dollar at Target and had a couple’s photo printed and put in the frames to give at our wedding. We thought it was a lot more meaningful than something like candy and we’ve seen several of them displayed in people’s houses. 20 favors equaled about 17 dollars.
It’s not really -that- frugal, but my best friend bought a bunch of champagne flutes and her own glass etcher, and carved her and her husband’s name and the date. It was adorable, but very time consuming.
These seeds are an amazing idea — something people will likely put to use, too. I’m definitely passing the idea forward!
what a great shower favor. i love upstate too, especially when hope returns (spring) . i threw a shower where I made chocolate truffles and wrapped them in pretty boxes with some ribbon that i had saved for something else. i made handmade cards to attach to the ribbons. The whole thing cost about $12 .
I’ve heard of doing flower bulbs as favors, but this is even more frugal. Cool idea!
When we got married, we actually gave away magnets that were the size of a wedding invitation. The magnet was a light green color(our wedding color) and had a bunch of grapes in the corner. We had an italian-themed wedding, so we wanted something that was cheap but reflected the theme. On the magnet it said “thank you for blessing our union!” and it had our names on it, the date of our wedding, the location and yet another note: “we love you and cherish you, our family and friends.”
We ordered about 75 of them and gave one per household. We even had enough left over to mail off to family that couldn’t make it but sent gifts.
Total cost on Vista print? 15.00! It’s still heart-warming to go to my family and friends houses and seeing the magnet on their fridge.
What clever little seed packets!
I’m all about consumable favors–gone are the days of candleholders and other tchochkes. In 2007 I co-hosted a bridal shower tea for a british friend living here in upstate. Favors were tea bags (a brand in foil packets, English Breakfast and Earl Grey flavors, bought very inexpensively at the xmas tree store) wrapped with a wee bit of tulle and a ribbon rose (which we got for free). We made tags in the shape of tea tags stapled to ribbon. I’m not explaining it well, but they were very cute, clever and appropriate. We just set them out in a basket and people took one if they wanted to. Leftovers went to the bride’s mother’s house for later–which came in handy when she had out-of-town houseguests for the wedding!
The wedding favors were homemade truffles (the cream cheese kind) in little boxes with printed stickers. Very simple and delicious. The bride is known for her candy-making and so it was just right.
Part of being frugal in your choice of wedding or shower/party favors is making sure the items are usable and don’t go to waste. That’s why I like things that are edible or otherwise consumable. Like those seeds!
Another very typical wedding favor in my town is simply a big display of italian cookies at the reception, with little glassine bags available for you to take what you like home with you.
I love the seed pack and will be using it for someones shower or party in the future,I'm sure.
I also like consumables or useful things.I make soaps and candles.
I have bought votive holders at tag sales for the past few years,(I'm particular :)& will make a nice votive or a small box of votives to give as Christmas party favors this year.Most of my candles are made from scrap wax or old,broken,ugly candles that I also buy at tag sales & thrift stores.
This is a little off topic,but I helped a good friend today by doing her son's 'goodie bags' for his 8th birthday.I went through a box & a big bag of misc. toys & books that were like new & made ten bags….4 girls & 6 boys.I cleaned out a bunch of small toys that were my nephews,& she was blessed by not having to buy things to fill little bags with.I told her before I left that I'd be cleaning out more for the next son's party.
I encourage everyone to think outside the box when it comes to parties.Everything doesn't have to be perfect & everything doesn't have to match.Oh yeah,my mom never bought a cake for us on our birthday.It was always homemade,cake mix I'm sure,but it was great & it didn't cost her twenty dollars.:)