It’s going to be a miniature bottle of Bushmills whiskey for the gentlemen(irishfella’s hometown is 5 miles from Bushmills), but I haven’t a clue about the women.
The wedding is in September, but we’re not going for any kind of Autumn theme, and I don’t want to fob the ladies off with almonds if the men get something a bit nicer.
Help me come up with something that
a) doesn’t require lots of effort on my part (making our own invitations was enough)
b) doesn’t cost the earth
c) isn’t tacky as hell (no bad puns please)
In lieu of favors my wife and I made a donation to the American Cancer Society. When you do that they send you however many little scrolls with a personalized little vignette on them. They come with little silver rings around the scroll and are handed out to all the guests. That and a Bushmills/Baileys tied together should be kinda cool.
Doesn’t matter how much you donate by the way…they send the scrolls for free.
We also did the donation thing - we donated to Equity Fights AIDS in NYC, a Broadway organization that helps AIDS patients.
However, as far as less expensive favors, what about a selection of teas or coffees? Or hell, if you’re giving the guys whiskey, give the girls kahlua or mini bottles of Bailey’s.
If you want to get away from the drink aspect for the women, maybe small hand-mirrors, or small soaps or candles? Maybe bookmarks, bottle openers, bottle stoppers, bath fizzes, or bath salts?
I hated the usual ideas for favors, which is why we went with the donations - since my godfather died of AIDS, it was our way of remembering him and having him at our wedding.
Because none of the women would drink whiskey!
Bailey’s, hot whiskey for a headcold or an Irish coffee maybe, straight whiskey, no.
I did suggest it, and both Irishfella’s folks and my parents vetoed the idea…in a sort of “your elderly auntie would be horrified if you thought she’d drink whiskey” way.
Whiskey, even more than stout, is seen here as a very masculine drink. I think the older ladies would take it as a slur on their characters.
We got married in October, and did have a fall theme, so this may not be what you want. But we did little bags of mulling spices. I got the bags and the spices in bulk, online – they could just drop the bag into the hot wine/cider – and attached little cards that had instructions.
They were great – if people didn’t use them in drinks, they used them as little scented sachets. Our guests really liked them.
I like how you’re giving Bushmills because it is near where your fiance is from. Where are you from? Is there any sort of food or beverage that would reference that? I think if the men are getting a consumable, then the women should as well, I feel like it “matches” more that way. If there isn’t anything distinct, or anything that you like, that relates to your area, how about:
A small size fancy tea packet in a pretty teacup, tied with a ribbon on the handle, or a fancy tea with a unique single-serving … ack, what that’s real word for them, a tea infuser … not the plain ball kind, but a cute one something like this, except I’ve seen cuter ones with different shapes, that’s just the first one I was able to find online.
High end chocolates, the mini kind that come four pieces per box. I don’t know if Bushmills does anything like this, but some American liquor companies make gift chocolates flavored with their liquor, which may or may not get you around the masculine aspect of Bushmills.
I initially thought of a mini Bailey’s but it’s true catering for the full age range is tricky. No idea of cost but a couple of Thorntons choclates per guest could be an idea. You wouldn’t even have to go for the wedding collection, their Continental selection is scrummy and they also offer diabetic chocs.
The website store finder only gives address for Great Britain but I know there is an outlet in Limerick so I’d be surprised if there wasn’t one in Dublin too (for some reason I think you’re in Dublin, if not apologies for the assumption), that shopping centre with all British shops for example.
Cat Jones…you think I’m in Dublin because I’ve got it as my location!
The wedding, in fact will be in the North, and there are several Thorntons in Belfast.
On the site delphica linked to are some pretty tins of tea…they look nice too.
Lantz, an Irish wedding company, does some cute favour boxes with Celtic designs on them (we’re going for a vague Celtic theme).
I think at this point I wait for my folks to get back from Connemara, and irishfella to get back from his stag holiday in Canada (they ended up driving from Vancouver to Calgary for the Stampede) and we work out some costs and logistics.
I could manage to make some labels for the favours with a gold Celtic stamp on it, and tied with a ribbon, so we could save on personalising them.
I was married in September lo these many years ago, and we gave everybody tulip bulbs. FWIW, it’s an earth-friendly gift that doesn’t cost much to do at all.
I put together a little basket for each with a gift certificate for a pedicure, a pair of earrings to go with their dresses, some petal bath soaps, a sterling silver jewelry box with their name inscribed, a little bit of candy they liked (personalized for each), and a pack of cigarettes (all my bridesmaids were smokers then). I set the pedicure appointments for the morning of the wedding and we all went together and if anyone wanted their nails or hair done it was on them to set the appointment and pay for it. I had done enough by that point. Altogether each gift was around $50.
