New Personalized Favor Tags

Super sweet and simple, these little favor tags are the newest addition at Ideal Favors! Available in 7 different shapes including scalloped edges, ovals, ribbons, circles, squares, rectangles and hearts. Choose your favorite tag color, text color and your own message or monogram - whatever you can dream up!
For only $0.70 each, these tags are a fabulous addition to any wedding favor, or even a paper fan or parasol!

Weddingbee Contest

We have a fabulous contest going on over at http://www.weddingbee.com/ where we're giving away 5 parasols of any color or pattern!

You have until 8pm tomorrow (Thursday June 26th) to enter by commenting on your favorite color and what you would use them for.

Our parasols are individually handcrafted from rice paper and bamboo, and are available here from $8.75 to $10.00 each. Make sure that you check out our matching paper fans as well! Both are perfect to keep guests cool in the hot summer weather!

Good Luck!

Ideal Favors on the Wedding Chicks

The Wedding Chicks love Ideal Favors! So many great ideas and products! We always LOVE LOVE LOVE anything blue for a wedding! It’s so bright and happy!
You can’t go wrong with an Asian inspired wedding. There is just something about the colors and patterns, so romantic and feminine. Be sure to stop by Ideal Favors and see what’s in store!
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Thanks so much to the lovely ladies at http://www.weddingchicks.squarespace.com/ for featuring us on their blog! This is a super cute site for modern wedding inspiration, so if you haven't been over to check them out yet, make sure you have a few spare hours! The Wedding Chicks post everything from fabulous wedding venues, vendors and amazing decor ideas for your perfect wedding.

Check us out here: http://weddingchicks.squarespace.com/blog/2008/6/21/ideal-favors.html and check them out here: http://www.weddingchicks.squarespace.com/!

New Personalized Products!

We have just added some new personalized products to Ideal Favors. We're pretty excited about them and hope you will be too!

Weary travelers love the thoughtfulness behind a personalized "out of town gift bag" when they arrive at their hotel and prepare for a wedding extravaganza!
A pretty tote filled with local goodies and treats, maps and attractions, and of course, directions to the wedding is a fabulous little detail that can be quite economical, and won't go unnoticed!
Totes are also ideal for wedding party gifts, and even to fill with a snack and send guests' on their way when the celebrations have come to a close.

Available here for only $2.75 each including personalization!

Wedding guests adore a colorful candy buffet, and these are the perfect little goodie bags that they can fill to the brim.
Also ideal to present a small edible wedding favor at each place setting. Goodie bags come in a variety of colors and can be personalized with custom text, a wedding monogram or a simple design.

Available here for only $0.62 each including personalization!

These cute little party bags are lined making them perfect for baked goods wedding favors, or even a small slice of cake! Available in black, light pink, hot pink, ivory and white, these bags can be personalized any way you like! Add a monogram, special message or choose a pretty accent like the flower in the photo.

Available here for only $0.62 each including personalization!

Colorful Wedding Fiesta

A colorful ethnic-inspired fiesta is an incredibly fun wedding theme, whether you're having a destination wedding, or are the type of bride who wants to plan a vibrant wedding with a bit of whimsy!
Guests will remember your day for years to come, and one of the best things about this Fiesta theme is that it is very simple to achieve and is great for a bride on a budget.

Food and Drink
Bypass a traditional sit down dinner and go for a casual dining option. Rent an authentic food stand, where guests can choose their favorite Mexican food. Burritos, tacos...the options are delicious and endless!
In keeping with the theme, serve colorful margaritas and keep it simple again by renting a margarita machine and hire someone to run the machine for you.
Serve chips with salsa and guacamole for a pre-dinner snack option.
Mexican wedding cookies are an adorable wedding favor or a late night snack. There are tons of recipes that can be found online to make these yourself.

Decor
Tall cocktail rounds look fabulous draped in colorful fabric and bright Mexican style blankets. We love the idea of traditional Mexican paper flowers for bouquets or as floral arrangements in antique looking cans. Mexican flowers are simple to make, add tons of color and certainly won't cost a fortune!
Add mini maracas and other little Mexican inspired items that will work with your theme!

Music
Download some music onto your ipod that will have guests dancing all night, or spend a bit of money for some Mexican dancers who will light up your wedding with their traditional costumes and energy!

Little Details
From wedding invitations to your wedding dress, don't be afraid of color! The invitations pictured above really set the tone for your day. Be ravishing in a deep red gown, rather than the traditional white dress.

With any Mexican Fiesta wedding theme, you can be as colorful, vibrant and inspired as you like and it will come together beautifully. Perfect for a small budget and for the bride who wants her wedding to be fun and memorable!

Photo Credits (from top left, clockwise)
Paper Flowers allpop.com/papergoods
Mexican Wedding Cookies pbs.org
Flowers in Can flickr.com/thisvintagechica
Margarita jupiterimages.com
Mexican Dancer www.thedazzlingdetails.com
Maracas www.thedazzlingdetails.com
Paper Flowers flickr.com/talkingsun
Salsa, Chips flickr.com
Wedding Invite birdandbanner.com
Mexican Wedding Venue vallartaweddsplanners.com

Eco Friendly Wedding Fashions

While we're on the topic of wedding dresses, we wanted to dedicate a post to a fabulous store that we came across in our search for non traditional wedding attire.

With the trend moving towards eco-friendly or "green" weddings, it has become relatively simple to incorporate flowers, linens, organic food etc. into a wedding without sacrificing style, and without blowing your budget out of the water.

If you're a "green" bride, you'll love this store! Threadhead Creations is an online boutique that offers a line of handcrafted HEMP wedding dresses. We never would have thought that hemp dresses could look as beautiful as what these artists have created. You can buy designs off the rack, or design or customize your own dress.

The three dresses below are examples of Threadhead Creations off the Rack dresses. Not only will you be wearing something socially responsible, but these dresses are also completely affordable!

Non Traditional Wedding Dresses

If you're like me and you just can't picture yourself gliding down the aisle in a traditional long, heavy and form fitting wedding dress, why not think outside the box and wear something that suits your true style?

Google "non traditional wedding dress", and there are a surprising number of brides-to-be who are looking for something uncommon. And, it seems, if you're not looking for something completely wild and crazy, you may have to look a little harder for your dream wedding outfit.

Clockwise from Top:
Hate the idea of a wedding dress? Rock the white pantsuit down the aisle, and glam it up a bit by choosing something that has some sheen and style. Photo Credit

Elegant and still formal, this white bubble dress is adorable for the bride who loves short and dressy. Photo Credit

100% simple, and 100% cotton. So cute for a casual beachside wedding. Love the neckline!
Photo Credit

60's inspired couture! Knee-length, crocheted little white dress is not only comfortable, but is the perfect dress for a playful garden affair! Photo Credit

Decor that Does Double Duty

It is nice to know that you don't have to sacrifice style when you've got your budget on your mind. Incorporating decor that does double duty is a perfect option!
Here are some examples:
These adorable white bud vases double as individual placecard holders. Noone will miss the centerpiece when they see these vases lining the tables. Choose inexpensive, pretty buds such as gerbera daisies in bright colors. For larger flowers, one per vase will do!

Put your calligraphy skills to good use by personalizing matching white cards for each place setting.

These bud vases are available here for $1.80 each. Discounts are available for larger quantities.

Paper parasols are the ideal accessory for bridesmaids to carry down the aisle.

They will add some color to your venue, and at $10.00 each these are a fabulous alternative to a bouquet.

When the wedding portraits are done, these parasols can be used as ceiling decorations at your reception venue. They look fabulous when they are open and hanging by the handles!

When it comes to summer weddings, the heat doesn't agree with everyone. Paper fans are very inexpensive and can be placed on each chair at the ceremony, and by creating a hang tag with the guests name and table number, they can also be used as a placecard!
Available in multiple colors, paper fans can also be personalized with a message for $2.25 each.

Galvanized buckets or vases add charm and a bit of "country chic" to an indoor or outdoor venue. Many brides have a few hours in between their ceremony and reception, so designing florals that can be transported from venue to venue could save you a bundle!
These Fleur-de-Lis buckets are the perfect height to line an aisle with simple country flowers, and can then look amazing as table centerpieces at the reception. Save money creating one arrangement that can be used more than once. Available here for $10.00 each.

June Already???

Oh dear! June happened upon us rather quickly and we haven't posted our free shipping items for the month!

May was all about the ribbon, so June will be all about the votives.

Click here to go to our free shipping page. Or use this link: http://www.idealfavors.com/FREE-Shipping-Wedding-Party-Favors.aspx

Utilize All of Your Resources to Plan Your Perfect Wedding

A dear friend of mine got engaged in April and has set her date for January 2009. Most brides will not even dream of planning their wedding in under one year and so I was eager to hear her ideas for her big day! (We'll call her Nadia to keep some personal information private).

I realized that this bride is doing something that many brides do not. She is using so many resources to her advantage to help her come in under budget while not sacrificing what her ideal wedding is. She has scoured the web for inspiration for invitations, photographers, venues and wedding dresses and she has managed to get amazing deals on everything thus far! So I thought I would go into a bit of detail that can maybe help some future brides out as well.

Venue
There is a restaurant in Vancouver that used to be an historic bank so the detailing on the building is pretty unbelievable. Nadia's fiance saw an old friend downtown a few weeks ago who happens to be the owner of this restaurant. They were invited for dinner and fell in love with the interior and the location. They decided to get serious and ask the owner about holding their wedding at the restaurant, and what he offered them was something that they never even thought possible! The entire venue (2 floors) for both ceremony and reception including setup and takedown, all of the decor including candles, and customized tapas for the entire evening all for under $2000.00. That works out to less than $30.00 per person!

Photographer
Another mutual friend of ours happens to be an amazing photographer who is interested in breaking into the wedding industry. She has graciously offered to be the wedding photographer which will be free for Nadia and at the same time will help her to create a portfolio.

Invitations
Nadia knows exactly how she wants her invitations to look, after spending hours pricing them out locally and online. As an avid scrapbooker, she has decided to make them herself for all 70 guests and was able to purchase enough cardstock, envelopes and embellishments for a total of $143.00 at a store closing sale.

Wedding Dress
Nadia knew that she wanted an off-white dress that was fitted, but she was open minded to the designer, style and all other details. Once again she used the internet to find the right dress and she was able to narrow down the exact style of her dream dress! Rather than spending thousands on the dress, she utilized Craigslist and ebay and then came across a local wedding dress consignment store that carries a huge selection of current dresses. Nadia found THE dress here, which happens to be a Maggie Sottero, for less than $500.00!

These are just some of the ways there are to utilize resources for your benefit! We're not saying to take advantage of people but if you know someone who is genuinely interested in and is happy to help you, then let them! When it comes to wedding planning, sometimes you can have your cake and eat it too!

We're Flattered!

If you haven't yet discovered Abby's gorgeous website Style Me Pretty, do yourself a favor and head over there today to check out the eye-candy. This website is truly a great resource for brides or anyone involved in the event industry. Abby introduces her readers to fabulous vendors through her informative posts, and her "inspiration boards" are nothing short of inspirational!

She has also created a Little Black Book of wedding vendors that we are thrilled and flattered to be a part of! Check out Ideal Favors in the Little Black book here.

Just make sure you clear your schedule before you open up this site, because we're pretty sure you'll be in front of your computer for the next few hours!