Preparing a Budget For Wedding Favors
January 23rd, 2007 | by info |Wedding favors will help your guests remember your special day. As you plan your wedding, setting a budget for the wedding favors is a very important step. Many couples make the mistake of underestimating the cost of the wedding favors and not setting aside a part of the budget specifically for this purpose. Furthermore, if you’re the type to wait till the last minute, this can become a problem as your budget gets eaten up by other items. Here, we will touch upon the importance of setting a budget for wedding favors and will provide some tips for making wedding favors more affordable.
The major cost of a wedding is the reception hall rental and the food for your wedding. On top of that, flowers and photography can also contribute to the high price of weddings. However, these are not the only factors to consider. The cost of wedding favors should also be carefully considered. This is important because the couple should realize that favors are going to be a cost per guest item. This means the couple will be paying a specific price for each favor and multiplying this price by the number of guests at the wedding. This means even if you select favors which cost $1, you will still wind up paying $500 for wedding favors if you are planning to have a wedding which will include 500 guests. You can see how this price can quickly add up and wreak havoc on a couple’s budget for a wedding.
Estimate the number of guests
The first thing you should consider when setting a budget for wedding favors is the number of guests you plan on having at your wedding. This is very important because the price of each individual favor will be multiplied by the number of guests you plan to have at the wedding. This is not to be confused with the number of guests you are inviting to the wedding. For example if you have a rather large extended family with many out of town relatives you may feel obligated to invite all of these relatives even if you are quite sure they will not come to the wedding. If you are fairly sure these guests will not be able to come to your wedding you can make an estimate of the number of guest you are realistically expecting to show up at the wedding.
Once you establish this number you can set a budget in a couple of different ways. One way to do it is to determine an amount you can afford to spend on favors and are willing to spend on favors and then divide this number by the number of guests you are expecting. This will let you know how much you can afford to spend on each favor. It is important to include tax, shipping, gift wrapping and all other incidentals in this per favor price. Another way to set a budget for the favors is to begin searching around for favors and seek out estimates on favors which you find appealing. This will help you determine how much you want to spend on each favor to give your guests a favor you think is appropriate. Once you have this number you can multiply it by the number of guests you plan on having at the reception. If you can afford this amount you can plan on purchasing favors in this price range. However, if the total amount is more than you planned to spend you might have to consider less expensive favors.
If you plan on having a large wedding reception, there are ways to make purchasing wedding favors more affordable. One idea is to seek out distributors who offer reduced pricing for bulk orders. Call them directly to ask about volume discounts. In this way, you’ll save money over buying the wedding favors at retail. If your budget is really tight, then consider making your own favors. Recruit your family and friends and have them help out as well. You can make your own chocolates or cookies and put them in little boxes or containers that you can purchase. This will help keep the costs down.