Save the Date Magnets as Wedding Engagement Party Favors

Looking for favor ideas for your engagement party? Consider handing out Save the Date Magnets to your guests as wedding announcements and reminders of your wedding date.

He asked you to marry him and now you are throwing an engagement party to announce the wonderful news to your family and friends. To celebrate this exciting occasion you want to give your guests a small favor in appreciation for their participation.

Most likely, your closest family members and friends will be invited to your engagement party. While you have everyone in the same room you can also announce your wedding date with personalized save the date magnets.

Save the Date magnets are a great engagement party favor for couples who have already decided on their wedding date. They serve a dual purpose of presenting your guests a keepsake to remember this special occasion and to remind them of your upcoming wedding day when they place their magnet favor on their refrigerator or on a filing cabinet in their office.

If your engagement party is a formal affair, you might place a small thank you card containing a fun magnet reminder at each table place setting. To build the suspense, ask your guests not to open their thank you cards until a designated time during your party like after a prepared speech or toast.

Maybe you have decided to give each guest a small gift bag filled with a few homemade goodies or thank you favors to show your gratitude for their attendance. Slip a save the date card and magnet into each bag as well for an added surprise.

If you decide to use Save the Date magnets as favors for your engagement party, be sure to order enough magnets to mail to family and friends that are unable to attend and for those you will add to your guest list as your wedding day draws near.

Plan Your Wedding Details Early!

Don’t wait until the last minute to plan the small details of your wedding including wedding favors, accessories and gifts. You may not get what you are looking for.

As we enter the peak wedding season, from Late April Through the end of September, many brides and grooms begin thinking about the final details of their wedding. These details may include the smaller items, including wedding favors, wedding ceremony and reception accessories and wedding party gifts, not considered until all of the major details have been finalized.

wedding favors include anything from votive candles or place card picture frames to personalized cocktail napkins and favor tags.

Wedding Accessories include keepsake items to complete the wedding ceremony and reception including unity candle sets, ring pillows, flower girl baskets, guest book and pen sets and glassware for the bride and groom and wedding party.

Wedding party gifts are small gifts typically presented to the wedding party by the bride and groom in appreciation of their participation in their wedding day.

A couple may have visited a wedding boutique or wedding supply website just one to two months before their wedding, choosing favors or accessories that are the perfect compliment to their wedding theme, only to find the item they planned to order is out of stock or discontinued when placing their order just weeks before their wedding.

The wedding industry is ever changing in accordance with new trends and demands of wedding couples. Popular items sold the last wedding season may be discontinued this season due to lack of demand or the addition of new wedding favors and accessories or gifts.

More commonly, couples remember to order their favors, like place card holders for their guest tables or accessories to include a ring bearer pillow with matching unity candle, guest book and pen set, with only a week or two remaining before their wedding day. A day or two later, they receive a phone call or email stating that one of the items they ordered is on back-order for three to four weeks due to high demand.

The bride and groom now find themselves scrambling to find a replacement that will match their wedding theme or settling for a favor or item just because they need it to complete their wedding day plans or worse, paying two to three times the original price of an item just because it is in high demand and little or no supply.
The little details are often left until last. Do yourself a favor and avoid unnecessary stress. Order your wedding favors, accessories and wedding party gifts early. How soon prior to your wedding day should you order your favors or accessories? Two to six months is not that far away when you consider how much there is to do in preparing for your wedding and how fast time can slip away.

A Practical and Affordable Idea for Travel Destination Favors

Looking for a practical and affordable idea as wedding favors for your travel destination wedding guests? This idea is a sure winner every time.

Are you planning a destination wedding where your guests will travel and spend a night or weekend in a hotel or having friends and relatives travel to your hometown for your weekend wedding? If so, then chances are you are making wedding gift bags to place in the hotel rooms of your destination wedding guests.

These gift bags are normally filled with a variety of inexpensive comfort items including bottled water, tea or coffee, snacks that are local favorites and literature about local attractions to make your guests’ stay more enjoyable and to thank them for making the journey to participate in your wedding.

Here is another item to add to your gift bags that is a sure winner every time. Along with the assortment of treats or comfort items included in your gift bags, include a small travel sewing kit.

Your guests have packed their “Sunday Best” to wear to your wedding ceremony and wedding reception. They unpack their clothes the day of your wedding only to discover a button has popped off of his jacket or a stitch has come loose on her dress.

For many people, this can be a very embarrassing event. But wait! They have a travel sewing kit in the wedding gift bag they received in their hotel room. A needle, some thread and in just a few minutes, viola!, they’re ready for your wedding.

You can find many sewing kits at your local department store or sewing outlet or you can add a personal touch and make your own sewing kits. Be sure your kit includes neutral colors including white, black and brown threads. These colors will due best with any outfit in a pinch.

Not only is this a great wedding favor, it will be used anytime your friends or family go on a trip. You will be amazed how many of your guests will thank you for this wonderful idea and tell you how it came in handy at the last minute.

Don’t forget to keep one of these handy kits in your dressing room. You never know when a button, stud or stitch may come out of place just before you are ready to walk down the isle on your wedding day.

Wedding Favors - Whose Name is First?

You are ordering personalized wedding favors for your wedding reception. Whose name should be printed first?

A common question asked by many of our customers ordering personalized wedding favors is “whose name should be printed first? Our first response to this question is that 90 percent of all personalized favor orders are printed with the brides name first.

A concern for most brides and grooms getting married is etiquette. Proper etiquette for the presentation of names requires that any time the surname or married name is included on any print; the man’s name should precede the woman’s name.

Most wedding favors, including napkins, matchbooks, favor bags, favor boxes and ribbon, are printed with a design or monogram with the bride and groom’s first name and wedding date below the design or monogram. When the surname (married couple’s name) is not included in the print, it is a matter of preference of the bride and groom whose name will be printed first.

In cases where the surname is included on the favors, etiquette requires the groom’s name is printed before the bride’s name.

There are times when a bride and groom cannot decide whose name is to be printed first. When this happens, I tell the bride it is truly her day. These days, I see men getting more involved with planning and preparing the wedding day details. But when it comes right down to it, the bride is the one who invests more time and energy into planning the perfect wedding. For this reason I say to all you brides “print your name first on your wedding favors. This is your day”.

To all the grooms I say never fear; you will have many opportunities to see your name printed first after you are married.

Tips to recently engaged couples looking for guidance to help start planning their wedding day.

Recently engaged? Congratulations to you and your fiancé and welcome to the wonderful world of Wedding Planning.

National statistics show that wedding couples will spend between $2,000.00 and $50,000 (per couple) on their wedding this year. Here are some tips on "where to start". Your budget will ultimately determine how extravagant your wedding day will be.
Oh, and one other thing: No matter how large or small your wedding, always, always remember this is your day. Don't settle for someone else's ideas or suggestions if they do not fit in with your wedding day dreams!

Here is a list of "To Do's" to help you get started.

1) Set a wedding date!

This is the most important step because just about everything else you do will be affected by your wedding date. Most couples choose their wedding date based upon local seasons with spring and summer being the most popular. Spring symbolizes new beginnings while summer offers the most favorable weather in most parts of the country.
Couples may also set their wedding date based upon the location of their honeymoon. Weather, seasonally priced packages, vacation and work schedules all may affect the date you choose for your wedding day.

You may want to contact family and close friends when setting your wedding date to get an idea of their upcoming schedules, especially when it comes to wedding attendants including the maid of honor and best man.

2) Determine How Many Guests You Intend to Invite to Your Wedding and Wedding Reception.

This second "To Do" will also affect many decisions you will make in the months preceding your wedding day including a church or wedding hall, reception hall, catering, favors, wedding attendants, etc.

Not only do you need to determine how many guests you plan to invite, you also need to decide how many wedding attendants (family and friends) will be included in your wedding and wedding reception. The average wedding attendant party consists of one to 10 attendants. This list should include the maid of honor, bridesmaids, flower girl, best man, groomsmen and ring bearer.
Couples may choose to have close family and friends attend their wedding and invite a broader list of guests to their wedding reception.

3) Let Everyone Know About Your Engagement!

Once you have a tentative list of guests, you will want to let them know about your upcoming wedding date as soon as possible so they can keep their calendar open. A very popular and creative way of letting everyone on your guest list know about your engagement and upcoming wedding is Save the Date magnets. Save the Date wedding magnets are also called refrigerator magnets because of their popularity on the refrigerator where they are used as decoration or handy holders for important dates, reminders, phone number and favorite pictures. Every time family and friends go to the fridge they will be reminded of the most important day this year...your wedding. Please visit our Save the Date magnets category creative ideas and products.

4) Reserve Your Church or Wedding Hall and Wedding Reception Hall.

It is very important that you and your fiancé reserve the church or wedding hall and reception center of your choice early! It is not uncommon for couples to reserve their favorite site one to two years in advance. Too often, couples find themselves scrambling the find a wedding reception hall even six months before their wedding because all the the area halls have already been reserved. This can be stressful for several reasons.

First, many couples end up settling for a wedding or reception hall that is not exactly what they wanted or is too large or too small.

Second, it's about supply and demand. The closer your wedding day, the more you are likely to pay for your wedding hall rental. I cannot stress enough how important it is to reserve you wedding hall early!

When choosing a wedding or wedding reception hall, talk to friends and family who have recently been married. Also ask any wedding hall you are considering to supply you with references of couples who have contracted their services. Family, friends and referrals will be happy to share their experience with the wedding and reception hall owners. Ask them about deposits, cleanup, services provided, privacy, cleanliness and how cooperative the hall owners were before, during and after the wedding and wedding reception.

5) Consider Contracting a Professional Wedding Planner

If your budget allows, considering contracting a professional wedding planner. Most brides and grooms are getting married for the first time and "don't have a clue" where to start. Professional wedding planners plan and coordinate weddings for a living. They have been through this hundreds of times (if they are veteran planners) and will help you plan every single detail of your wedding from pre-wedding details to sending Thank You cards once you return from your honeymoon.

When choosing a professional wedding planner, ask them to provide references. Ask couples who have used a particular planner's services questions like "Were you happy with the planners overall performance in helping you plan your wedding?", "Was the planner courteous and accommodating in help you plan your wedding?", "Did you encounter any problems with your wedding planning?", "how were any difficulties or issues resolved?".

Intend on planning and coordinating your own wedding? Then I strongly recommend that you purchase a good Wedding Planner/Scrapbook to walk you step-by-step through the wedding planning process. Many excellent wedding planner books can be found at your local wedding boutique or online.

6) Choose a Wedding Theme

Let's be honest, the wedding day is the Bride's Day! From the time they are pre-teenagers, girls dream of their perfect man and their perfect wedding day. While men are becoming more involved in the wedding planning process, the majority of the decisions and details will be considered and implemented by the bride and maid of honor.

Your wedding theme will include wedding colors, favors, attire, catering, music wedding accessories and even locations. Again, family and close friends will be a valuable resource in helping you decide on your wedding theme. Through this entire process remember one thing, this is your wedding! Don't make a final decision unless it is absolutely what you want.
Many books, boutiques and online wedding resources offer hundreds of ideas for your wedding theme. Set down with your fiancé, family and best friends and talk about your wedding day ideas desires.

I truly hope this gives you some direction in where to start in planning your special day!
I also invite your to visit My Wedding Reception Ideas for all of your personalized wedding favors, wedding attendant gifts and wedding accessory needs, no matter how large or small your wedding. We are committed to helping you make your wedding day perfect.

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or need assistance planning your wedding day.

Again, congratulations and best wishes!