Practical Party Favors September 5, 2009

We’re well into the 21st century and statistics show that modern day brides don’t want cheap looking useless favors that clutter up their closets. No, if they’re going to shell out the cash they’re looking for practical favors their guest’s can actually USE. But they can’t exactly hand out Jergen’s lotion bottles off a store shelf, can they? That’s what makes Event Blossom different. With our cleverly stylish personalized packaging, bridal fashionistas find our wedding and bridal shower favors impossible to live without.
Here are some of the practical and unique favors that we reccommend:

Chocolate Lollipop towel favor!

 

Windchime wedding favor

 

Personalized practical favor matchbook heart

Personalized candy jars

 

Go Green with Eco Friendly Party Favors! September 5, 2009

Eco friendly place card favor

These stylish themed place cards have an eco-friendly secret, they are plantable! Part of Chocolate Treasure Chest’s Please be Seeded™ line, these decorative design place cards double as a wedding favor and place card all in one! Each place card printed with a butterfly and lotus flower also has a white seed paper butterfly attached at the top that guests can easily remove and plant. Instructions on how to plant and a list of flowers are beautifully printed on the back. Each card is also cleverly printed with the phrase “Please be Seeded”, sure to “flutter” up some good conversation among wedding guests! Like a caterpillar transforming in to a butterfly, plant this flower seed paper and it will grow into beautiful wildflowers!

The best part is that this favor is environmentally friendly: The place cards are made from recycled paper, and the detachable seed paper shapes grow into wildflowers. Your guests will love to plant and care for these wildflowers as they are reminded of your special day. Going “green” has never been so unique!

Idea: Write out your guests names neatly on each place card, or print on clear labels (not included) and affix them for a classy look!

12 place cards per package.

Size: 2.5″ x 4″

Autumn wedding eco friendly seating card favor ”Please be Seeded” butterfly eco friendly favor Sweet 16 eco friendly seed packet favor

 

Eco friendly place card favor

 

Go Green with our Sweet 16 eco friendly party favors

    

 

 

Autumn Weddings September 3, 2009

Ahh, Autumn, what a romantic, wonderful time of the year.  The smell of Autumn is simply intoxicating… fresh fallen leaves, pumpkin pie, the crisp air, there’s nothing else like it in this world.  All the fall elements combined create the perfect recipe for a delicious wedding day!

It is harvest time. The summer heat is gone. Yet the days are still warm and sunny, how much more could you ask for?  The leaves are turning into an incredible array of colors (Burnt sienna is my personal favorite) and as they fall off the trees, create a soft, lush colorful carpet.
Halloween and Thanksgiving are here and can serve as wedding themes or be incorporated for a most unique personalized fall theme wedding.

Can you see the possibilities? Whether you want your autumn wedding to be very formal, most casual or somewhere in between, you have an enormous variety of possibilities.

In this article, we’re  putting on our thinking cap and getting creative.

Ideas to help you plan a fall wedding.

WEDDING LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Following are traditional and not so traditional locations that will enhance your autumn wedding and make it unique and special. Picture your wedding at a:

Park

Bed and Breakfast

Country Inn

Winery

Ranch or on a farm,

Barn

Gazebo

Open Field

Orchard

Nature Preserve

Botanical Garden or in a private Garden

Wooded area

Riverbank or Lakeside

Or anywhere where nature presents its glorious backdrop.
 

ATTIRE
Fall weather is unpredictable. It may get chilly so, consider heavier fabrics and at least some sleeve for the gown and dresses or top them with matching boleros, stoles or shawls that can, but do not have to be worn.
The wedding gown can be white, ivory, champagne or gold.

The gown and or veil may show embroidered leaf motif or dainty gold embroidery.

Bridesmaids may wear either the same color or to really represent the autumn theme, have each bridesmaid represent a different fall color.The bride may wish to wear a fall theme garter and carry a matching hankie.
Bridesmaids and flower girl will look great adorning garlands of fall flowers and leaves.

 

  

 

The themes and centerpieces

 

 Place A Horn of plenty, a basket or a hollowed pumpkin lined with fall leaves or popcorn and filled with fall fruit, berries, nuts, gourds, mini-pumpkins and-or acorns as your centerpiece.

Pumpkin Ice Sculpture

Carve out the inside of pumpkins and place candles in them. If you plan a buffet, you may line hollowed pumpkins with foil and using them as serving dishes.

Fall floral arrangements in a straw basket or hollowed pumpkin.

Place 3 or 4 fall color candles of various sizes in hurricane lamps. The candles may be cinnamon, cranberry, spice or apple scented.

Place leaf or pumpkin shaped floating candles in a bowl, set it on a layer of fall leaves or straw.

Paint or spray mini pumpkins and gourds and group them together.Display  bales of hay

If you have children, let them participate. Ask them to string cranberries, candies and popcorn and add them to your table decorations.

Display balloons in fall colors

Fall theme ribbons and bows, garlands, paper lanterns or luminaries with amber light bulbs, balloons, chains of stringed popcorn, cranberries, candies, paper chains, bales of hay, ivy, garlands etc…
Accent the doorways and tables with tulle and ribbons in your wedding colors. Adhere leaves and silk flowers for inexpensive, elegant displays.

 

Cake
Decorate your cake with leaves, fall flowers, mini pumpkins, mini apples, marzipan fruit etc…
Flavors: Spice cake, pumpkin cake, dark chocolate cake, nut cakeFood items you may wish to consider

Nuts

DRINKS: Apple cider, Sparkling cider

MAIN DISHES especially if close to Thanksgiving: Turkey, stuffing, corn, potatoes, cranberry sauce etc…

DESSERTS: Pumpkin pie, Apple pie, Pecan pie

Wedding Favors

Now, this is my forte! http://www.ChocolateTreasureChest.com has tons of fun personalized and edible wedding favors to choose from.  If you have a design in mind or would like to add a picture, www.chocolateTreasureChest.com will inorporate your picture and wedding theme into personalized candy bars or on a tag for chocolate covered oreo’s with a fall theme, chocolate covered pretzels or some chocolate lollipops.  Here are a few of the favors that you can find there:

FUN IDEAS

Hay rides, Horse and Buggy rides, blowing soap bubbles,

To reflect the season, the men and boys could wear tan, beige and brown attire instead of the white, black or dark blue. Their ties should be of fall colors matching the bridesmaids dresses and their boutonnière should be a fall flower.

 

FALL COLORS

white, ivory, champagne, muted gold, tan, beige, various browns, hunter green, burnt orange, rust red, deep red, burgundy, cranberry, wine, navy blue, sky blue, eggplant purple, pewter, silver, pale yellow, pumpkin and orange.

INVITATIONS AND STATIONERY

Accent your invitations and wedding stationery with your chosen fall color.
If you print your own, you may add fall graphics such as leaves, acorns, fall flowers, seasonal fruit, or a horn of plenty. If you purchase fall theme print your own invitations, fall theme is available.
Cut the place cards to look like a fall theme item leaves, pumpkin, turkey siluettes etc…

We have found som georgous wedding invitations at http://www.tgkdesigns.com

 

FLOWERS

Chrysanthemums, roses, daisies, dahlias, lilies, yarrow, orchids, hydrangeas, sunflowers, baby breath, fall leaves, tallow berries, natural or dried wheat.

CEREMONY

Decorate the ceremony site with fall flowers.
Instead of rose petals, fill the flower basket with colorful fall leaves.
Make pew bows from ribbons in your wedding colors and embellish them with fall silk flowers, leaves, fruit, wheat, Indian corn etc…

RECEPTION
Instead of numbering your tables, name them. For example:
Fall, Autumn, Acorn, Horn of plenty, Cornucopia, Maple, Oak, Apple, Pear, Pumpkin, Cranberry etc…
To add more interest and make it easier to remember give your table addresses. Just add Circle or Square depending on the shape of your tables and you send your guests to Fall Circle or Autumn Square etc…
Use fall color linens.

 

However you chose you incorporate Autumn into your wedding design, I am sure that it will turn out spectacular! Best wishes of your Wedding day and there after from http://www.ChocolateTreasureChest.com

The origin of party favors September 1, 2009

I have been making party favors for years for my site, I know that we hand out favors to express our grattitude, but never really knew where the idea came from originally, so I decided to look it up.  If you’ve ever wondered why you are about to hand out favors to your guests then this article is for you!  Afterall, how can you keep traditin if you don’t know where the tradition began? I wish I could take credit for this article, but I can’t.  I found it on a google searcha dn the author is unknown, so here’s to you, Unknown Author, thanks for all the great information!

Wedding favors are a long-standing tradition in many different cultures and they are regarded as an offering of thanks. These are, some would say, in exchange for the gifts and well wishes that are received. Wedding favors are always from the wedded couple to the guests. Over the centuries wedding favors have evolved through a long process, though many places still maintain the same original traditions dating back hundreds of years. The actual origins are not entirely known, however, it is believed that the first wedding favors were actually shared among the nobility.

It was not until much later that the custom of Wedding favors was copied by the masses. It took even longer for it to become the tradition that we know today. Originally, it is believed that the Wedding favor was a gift given by the bride and groom to the guests as a way to thank them for their participation in the event. It was usually a box filled with confections, which at the time were expensive because of the rarity of sugar.  Click here  for some more modern edible favors

It was not just what was in the box that was expensive. Even the box itself was sometimes made of crystal or done with expensive or ornate work. It was a sign of wealth and privilege to give the guests of your wedding a gift or favor for attending.

Once sugar became less rare, the masses took up the custom of providing wedding favors for their guests following the original tradition. Later, almonds were used in place of the confections originally found. This was a symbol of the well wishes for the bridegroom’s new life. Around the 13th century, confetti or sugar coated almonds were introduced combining the two traditions of almonds and sugar into a single gift.

The symbolism of this particular combination became the representation of the bitter sweetness often found in marriage. These days Confetti is sugared almonds, a little different from the original sugar coated. They are usually presented in a confection box or a fabric in sets of five to represent the five aspects of marriage that are wished for: fertility, longevity, wealth, health and happiness.

Over the years, the tradition of wedding favors has remained. However, it has evolved and changed from the traditional gift to a variety of items. The premise behind the custom and tradition has remained the same. In the United States, wedding favors are a standard contribution and are included in any wedding plan. They can be the traditional confections, almonds or even other types of gifts. The latest trend is to include a personalization on the gift itself to set the reminder of the event. 

Traditions also vary depending on where a person is located or which ethic or cultural background they are from. While many places and cultures still go with the traditional almonds, there are a number of other traditions, which have appeared over the years.

In Armenia, traditional wedding favors are dried fruit and nuts. This is in exchange for the gifts of money, which are collected for the couple. In China, tea ceremonies are held as a result in some Chinese weddings. The wedding favors may reflect on this tradition. They are usually teacups or bags. During the Elizabethan era in England, it was a tiny flower corsage which was handed out. There are some who still subscribe to this tradition.

France and Greece have the same tradition of sugar coated almonds. In France, it is called Dragees and is usually a small bag. In Greece it is always an uneven number that is given since they cannot be divided equally and thereby symbolizing the unity of marriage. The Japanese have several wedding favor traditions. Guests of a wedding are considered highly important and it is common to see gifts of $50 or more handed out to each guest. Manjyu, called Kohaku, can also be passed out as gifts. These are buns filled with bean paste. They are usually presented in pairs of two, one red, and one white. Alternatively, you may see a paper crane handed out. It is also a tradition for the bride to create 1,000 paper cranes to represent good fortune, fidelity and longevity. They are displayed and then handed to the guests as favors. In Switzerland, wedding favors are red handkerchiefs. While in Malaysia, the favors are decorated hard-boiled eggs.

Wedding favors represent the thankfulness that the couple has towards the guests that come to the wedding. Whether it is the traditional gift of almonds or something a bit more modern, there are a number of different things you can do. Thankfully, these various options from traditional to contemporary give everyone a chance to enjoy the event that brings two people together. Wedding favors are not just a traditional way to say thank you for participating in the joining of two people. It also symbolizes the aspects of marriage that everyone wishes the couple well on: happiness, wealth, health, fertility, and a long life. It is part of every marriage toast made, that these five things are mentioned even in most of the wedding ceremonies themselves. Wedding favors are a traditional and important part of a wedding. They may seem small but they have a long history and they are something that is deeply rooted in the modern ceremony. They show the appreciation of the couple to loved ones and friends, and with personalized gifts they can help to serve as a solid reminder of an important event.

They also serve as physical representations of the main core wishes that everyone gives at the beginning of a marriage. Everyone wishes for a long life together, children, prosperity, and health in order to enjoy life and, of course, the happiness of being and creating a life together. These are the reasons why wedding favors are not something that should be cut from the wedding as they often are due to costs. It is even more meaningful in some instances to create hand made favors for guests or something which exemplifies the couple’s personality.