Aletha from Pearls Events has become one of my favorite wedding planners and bloggers.  I am so excited that she is stopping by In This Instance to guest blog today. She has a portfolio filled with such pretty and lovely weddings and she has to be one the most positive, energetic ladies I have met through blogging. {We have only met online but hopefully that changes one day!} Favors and escort cards can be such a surprisingly challenging decision during wedding planning.  But wait until you see this simple, gorgeous idea that Aletha is sharing with us today...

If you're doing assigned seating and struggling with your escort cards choices, might I suggest this lovely idea. Our March 7, 2009 clients, Amy & Carlo, took gorgeous, thick paper to wrap king sized candy bars, and personalized each one with the guest's name and table number. The escort cards doubled as favors, which worked out well. They used different complimentary patterns & colors to wrap their candy and guests picked up their escort card upon entering the venue. Some of them (especially the children!) nibbled on them during cocktail hour, however I saw many guests simply put the candy bars away for later.

This is an inexpensive DIY project that anyone with a little time and effort could pull off. The bride found the paper at Hobby Lobby in one of the thick, big books of scrapbooking paper. The couple used the same paper to make table numbers and pages for their scrapbook-style guest book. I loved the cohesive feel of the day. 

Be sure to head over to Pearls Events to see more on Amy and Carlo's gorgeous wedding! And thank you so much Aletha for stopping by today to share this completely lovely idea!

{Photos via Pearls Events taken by Amy Carroll}

I received a note about a new fine gifts and favor shop and of course had to check it out... Navy and Lavender is such a pretty site with such lovely little gifts that I had to share.

Is this little favor cake just so incredibly pretty!?  It would be such a charming detail at either a wedding or a shower...

And how perfect is this little picnic kit for a newlywed couple!  This would be such a nice little gift to receive...

Navy and Lavender is definitely a site to keep bookmarked for elegant gifts to give and for sophisticated favors.

{Image courtesy of Martha Stewart}

Or of course they make cute organizers as suggested by MS!

As I may have mentioned, I am knee-deep in half completed wedding projects. The favors are no exception. Both D and I prefer favors that are edible so we are doing cookies. And something about the little boxes tied with a ribbon appeals to me...

{Image via The Knot}

I am almost finished making the boxes. Yup, you heard me right. I am making the favor boxes. Why would I do this when I could order them for $0.60 each? Because they are costing me $0.37 each and I can use the same shades of paper from Paper Source as I used for all my paper products.

While they have been somewhat time consuming, it has been worth it for me as I didn't want to cut favor's from the budget so I found a way to make it work with what I was willing to spend. We had a little assembly line, D would score them with the bonefolder and I would cut.

They are pretty simple to make. I used the petite four favor box directions found on DIY Network.

I simply:
1. printed their template on scratch paper {hint: print first page only for the box template}
2. Taped the template on the 160g luxe paper from Paper Source {hint: the 210g paper is too heavy and doesn't fold or hold with the tape as well}
3. Score with bonefolder
4. Cut along lines of template
5. Fold at creases
6. Used double sided tape to create into a box.
Done!

Like I said this project can be a little tedious to save $0.23 each, but with less expensive paper one could save more. And I would just make 10 or so boxes while watching tv in the evening... something mindless to watch like the Hills works.

Now I just need to find the ribbon. I love the Paper Source ribbon but it so much more expensive than ordering from say Paper Mart.

Every since I saw this image in Better Homes & Garden that I posted about here I have been thinking about a display of stacked favors. It seems that more frequently the favors are set out at each place setting... however this isn't an option for me as we are doing a cocktail reception. But that stacking into a pile 'o favors might work...

The image from Better Homes & Gardens that started the wheels a spinnin'...

The cake plates are cute but won't really fit in with my 'wedding style.' So after a little searching I came across a 3 tiered basket that just might do the trick... and I made my first purchase from Lillian Vernon! I find this amusing as my mom gets catalogs from them and it has never struck me as my style but they had the baskets that would go with my birdcage at a very attractive price!

Substitute Easter eggs for favor boxes and viola!

It is a good thing we have an extra bedroom and a fairly large place to store all this 'stuff!'

{Image via Donsuemor}

{Image via Martha Stewart Living}

I also thought about candy such as a dragee from The Cocoa Room... but D's comment to this was "Who wants candy? They will want cookies!" I think this maybe because of his personal preference and thought that he could sneak a few but his family is not really into candy so it is probably true that it would not go over as well as cookies.

{Image via The Cocoa Room}

We will probably do the madeleines as I am pretty sure I can freeze those for a month and they would still taste fantastic. I could order the cookies from somewhere like a Solomon's Gourmet Cookies but I didn't intend to spend that much on favors and with several dozen that would add up pretty quickly. I do think that favors that are edible are the best kind and we love cookies so now it is just about figuring out the best time to make all those batches of cookies!