Category Archives: Wedding Favors & Gifts

4th of July Wedding?

Tuesday Treat

Summer has always been a busy time for beautiful outdoor weddings, but would you get married on a national holiday? 4th of July weddings have become very popular. Not only can you get great deals with venues and vendors, but your out of town guests already have time off to plan travel! Here are some 4th of July wedding ideas we love:

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Heart Shaped Sparklers

Themed Salad

Shoes!

Save The Date Matches

So what do you think? Would you plan your wedding on one of our nations biggest holidays? Are you attending any 4th-themed weddings? We hope you have a wonderful 4th of July!

Wedding Favor Ideas That Will Last for Years

Enjoy this guest post from our friends at WeddingFavors.org, and your exclusive discount code, just for Tradesy Weddings members: RBB15

Ideally, wedding favors should last long after your wedding occasion is over, but not all of them do. Here are some wedding favor ideas that will give your guests keepsakes that will last for years to come.

When you are shopping for wedding favor ideas or bridal shower favors, it can be very tempting to bypass keepsake-style wedding favors and instead opt for edible favors or items that can be tossed. Many shower favors and wedding favors are disposable or can be used only once before they are tossed. Most of the time, this isn’t a big deal. After all, part of the fun of receiving a wedding favor is using it right away. Guests often enjoy things like edible favors or items that can be used during the actual wedding event.

However, if you have your heart set on giving everyone favors that will last for years to come, we have some wedding favor ideas for you right here.

Engraved Coasters – Coasters are always useful, but they also last a long time, too. They can be used often or they can be kept stored away for sentimental value. However your guests choose to use them at home, one thing is certain—they will last long after your wedding reception. Try having them engraved with special sayings or messages to add more sentimental value.

Personalized Mugs or Wine Glasses – Personalized gifts are actually very easy to find and moderately inexpensive. You can find them on wedding favor websites or if you click here! Similar to coasters, mugs or personalized stemless wine glasses or mugs of any kind are great wedding favor ideas for any bride who wants to give her guests something lasting and memorable. They can be used as display pieces or can serve plenty of practical uses over the years, and adding a personal graphic or message to them makes them even more special. Consider using your favorite love-related phrase, your names, or the date of the wedding and a thank you message.

Customized Picture Frames – Picture frames are also guaranteed to stay around a long time, especially when they are customized. It’s unlikely that anyone other than your guest will find use for a personalized picture frame, so they are stuck with it even if they wanted to toss it for some reason! Choose frames that complement your reception decor or wedding theme. This is one of the many wedding favor ideas that will last for years.

WeddingFavors.org has offered an exclusive discount for all Recycled Bride Blog readers. Save 15% off your favors on orders over $69 by using coupon code RBB15.

Earth Day Giveaway from Dream Green Weddings!

Our friends over at Dream Green Weddings are a great resource for your eco-chic green wedding! They have everything from invites to favors to decor. Their eco friendly, not to mention elegant, products will make your day special while still caring for the planet. And now, Dream Green Weddings is celebrating Earth Day on April 22nd by giving away an Earth Day Prize Package to one lucky winner!

Here is what you can win as part of their Earth Day Prize Package:

Adorable seeded plantable wedding favors, handmade from recycled paper and infused with seeds that grow wildflowers when planted. Choose from several popular design choices and colors, including the newest and most popular Love Bird design (select from our $.99 seeded favor collection-no substitutions allowed) Winner gets 100 favors, and FREE customization.
BONUS: winner also receives a 97-pack of all-natural tealights made from 100% sustainably-harvested palm wax. These lovely candles will provide a romantic setting without the toxic fumes caused by paraffin candles. A greener, healthier candle alternative!

Here’s how to enter!

Send an email to heather {at} dreamgreenweddings.com with “Contest Entry” in the subject line. Please provide your name and wedding date in the email and that’s it! You will be automatically entered to win 100 free wedding favors from our popular seeded wedding favor collection (.99 cents each), and the 97-pack of natural tealights.

Entries will be accepted until midnight of Earth Day, April 22, 2011. The winner will be selected by a random drawing on April 23, 2011 and notified via email.

Check out the DGW blog for more information!

5 Green Gifts For Bridesmaids

The best gifts of the season for your ‘maids (or yourself!)

Unlike most of your wedding guests, your bridesmaids actually have a job to do. So how will you thank them for all of the rehearsing and planning, the moral support and hugs, the dress fittings and hours of photos and train bustling and holding your dress up while you make a big-day bathroom run? With these 5 eco-chic bridesmaids gifts!

Personalized birthstone necklaces from VivaTerra

1. Personalized birthstone necklaces from VivaTerra let you choose one stone based on birth month, or several that show off different astrological elements particular to each bridesmaids birth date. It’s a gift that’s thoughtful and thoughtfully produced, handmade by artisans from Earth-friendly materials.

See 4 more great green bridesmaids gifts >>

A Heavenly New Eco-Registry

The Green Bride Guide’s sustainable wedding registry is the next big thing in green giving

Is it better to give than to receive? Not if you’re getting your gifts from The Green Bride Guide’s new green wedding registry! Their green gift shop is a heaven-sent solution for conscious couples with great style. It’s has the absolute best selection anywhere of sophisticated, beautiful housewares that are responsibly produced and transported, and whose sales support the sustainable economy. It’s also a great place to pick up a few super-chic gifts for yourself, or for a friend whose birthday is in July. Ahem.

Recycled, recyclable, handmade glimmer glass dinnerware. I'd smile every night putting these beautiful and planet-friendly plates on my table!

Just in case you know anyone whose birthday is in July, I’ve included some of my absolute favorite things from the shop here. And it wasn’t easy to choose! The GBG team has done an amazing job of sourcing everything from non-toxic cookware and recycled wine glasses to earth-friendly fine china and organic cotton textiles. And the product information provided is clear, concise, and tells you absolutely everything you’d ever want to know about each item’s origins and eco-properties.

Minimalist. Elegant. Recycled. This carafe and tumbler set is drinkware that doubles as decor.

If you’ve ever tried to shop for sustainable gifts — or if you’re just starting to look for greener gift options – you’ll quickly see how valuable this kind of information is, and how hard it can be to come by. Many stores advertise the eco elements of their wares (organic cotton! recycled content!) without providing other relevant information, like Continue reading →

Inside The Kookie Jar

Delicious cookie wedding favors from Recycled Bride’s dear friends Maria & Evan

If you’re a regular on the RB blog, you’ll remember Maria and Evan, the amazing young couple who triumphed over tragedy when Evan was in a terrible car accident before their wedding. Maria was selling her Maggie Sottero wedding dress to help pay Evan’s medical bills.

Since that post, I’ve had the priviledge of getting to know Maria and Evan, and seeing how resourceful and inspiring they really are. And today, I’m so proud to introduce you all to Maria’s new business, The Kookie Jar! So many of you were touched by Maria and Evan’s story, and wrote in asking how you could help them pay off their staggering debt from the accident. By spreading the word about The Kookie Jar, you can be a part of getting Maria’s business off the ground!

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Maria is a talented baker, and when she made these cookies as wedding favors for her own big day, they were a huge hit with friends and family. In fact, several guests reported cases of “Kookie theft” when others couldn’t resist eating every last cookie in sight! So Maria decided to start packaging and selling them as favors for weddings, bridal and baby showers, and thank-you gifts. And lucky, lucky us…she sent along some delicious samples this weekend!

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The cookies came beautifully packaged, and even included a coupon! Maria is one resourceful little firecracker. It takes most people a loooooong time to set up a business, and she’s already raring to go with beautifully printed coupons and a website. She’s even taken and filled a bunch of orders in the last few weeks!

KookiePlate

Forgive my awful photography, and the haphazard green plate cookie arrangement. The photos don’t do these pretty confections justice. But we were too eager to eat them to do a proper job of lighting ‘em for pics!

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That’s Recycled Robert, getting ready to enjoy his SEVENTH cookie! This smile says, “Yum, cookies…uh-oh, here comes sugar coma.” It’s true — we both went a little Kookie-crazy! Maria’s creations contain a magical (and addictive!) combination of sweet, creamy icing, rich chocolate topping, and crunchy, satisfying wafers inside. They are utterly irresistable, and we made little piggies of ourselves testing out the different combinations of white, milk, and dark chocolate — yum! As wedding favors go, they’re the sweetest we’ve ever tasted.

Maria can package your cookies to match your wedding’s theme and color scheme. She’s wonderfully creative and a total joy to work with. If you’re interested in placing an order, or just want to know more about The Kookie Jar, e-mail Maria directly at:

thekookiegal {at} gmail {dot} com.

(But don’t say we didn’t warn you about how addictive they are, and make sure to order extras to avoid any Kookie-inspired rioting at your reception.)

Maria on her wedding day, in her beautiful Maggie Sottero Vienna Wedding Dress

And don’t forget about Maria’s stunning Maggie Sottero wedding dress, which is still for sale on Recycled Bride for just $1,000! She’d made arrangements to sell it, but they buyer fell through at the last minute, so this gorgeous wedding dress is now available once again. Recycled Bride is still going to pick up the full cost of packing and shipping for the lucky buyer. Get the details about how you can purchase Maria’s gorgeous gently used Maggie Sottero wedding dress now >>

Sustainable Wedding Favors that WOW

It’s My Weekly Wednesday Guest Post on OneWed.com!

Want to give your guests stylish favors that are thoughtful, ethical and beautiful — just like you? Here are the 4 hottest trends in eco-fabulous wedding favors for 2010.

1. Ethical Sweets These chocolates are not your mama’s Hershey bar. Heart-healthy, delicious organic and sustainable dark chocolates make a sweet and sophisticated wedding favor. Try mini boxes from Theo Chocolate, the only organic, fair trade, bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the US. Theo’s handmade confections…read the rest on OneWed.com

Organic fair-trade Theo Chocolates

www.RecycledBride.com is a free marketplace where you can buy & sell new, sample or gently used wedding dresses, discounted wedding and engagement rings, recycled wedding gifts, cheap wedding decorations and more. Sign up to buy & sell now.