J and I knew from the start that we wanted to do something a little different for our guest favors at the reception. We wrestled with a few different ideas before finally landing on something that just felt right. In lieu of traditional favors we opted to give book donations to each of our elementary schools – Audubon Elementary and Holy Cross Elementary. We both felt that our upbringing had truly been that of our communities and wanted to give back to some of the people who helped us get to where we ultimately are today. We asked each school for book lists that the classroom teachers would like to have in their rooms and got to work tracking them down. My parents helped us out by finding the majority of the books at a Scholastic Book Fair. I found the rest on Amazon (gotta love that Prime account).
To communicate the message to our guests, we had our invitation designer, Meg from moglea, come up with a beautiful bookmark to place at each table setting. The front consisted of a Shel Silverstein poem and the back displayed a personal note from J and I. We topped each off with a beautiful cotton ribbon and voilà – an adorable and meaningful favor for our guests! Take a look:
Front:
“Listen to the mustn’ts child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’t, the impossibles, the won’t. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen child. Anything can be.” -Shel Silverstein
Back:
To our dear family & friends,
As we being our life together, we look for ways to share our joy with those we love most. In lieu of a traditional wedding favor, we have made a book donation in your honor to Audubon Community Elementary School and Holy Cross Catholic School. This way, our gift will not only show how much we care about you, but will also share our thanks and love with the educators who helped shape us into the people we are today. We truly appreciate you being a part of our special day. -Jeff and Joanna
What unique favor ideas have you seen? What do you think of bypassing traditional favors altogether?
