Thursday, April 8, 2010

Favors, Part Deux

Back when I was still trying to be a good little budget bride, I came up with these lovely mini-favors (favoritas?) that I felt fit the theme of our wedding without breaking the bank.  Remember my lavender bunches? Here's a pic to jog your memory:


Rustic, sweet, cheap.  I think the total cost of the project was less than $75 and I was able to make 185 little  bunches, tagged and tied with raffia.  I still totally heart them and I think they will look lovely tucked into napkins at each place setting.

But (you all totally know where this is going...) a few choice comments about the necessity of a grander favor as well as my blowing the budget with reckless abandon led me to the conclusion that something edible must also be included as part of the favor-set.

So I put my thinking cap on and very quickly, an idea came to me.  Brother Trail Mix worked at a gourmet chocolate shop in the area one summer.  I like gourmet chocolate (that might be the understatement of the year.)  I think our guests would like gourmet chocolate.  Ding ding ding, we have a winner!!

I contacted Chocolate Springs in Lenox, MA (making sure to drop the Bro TM connection to get the best price possible) and la-di-da, we have our second favor.  I may be a little bit biased because I'm a huge lover of all things chocolate but seriously, guys and dolls, this is honestly some of the best chocolate I've ever had (and don't even get me started on their chocolate ice cream.  I DIE.) Anyone in the Western Mass/Albany, NY area should definitely check out their website and/or store, even if you're not getting married and needing chocolate favors because I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

And even more gloriously, they're going to package them up for me so I don't have to add another DIY project to my list (thank GOD!) Each guest will receive a little bag tied with a gold twist-tie with two pieces of yummy chocolates at their place setting, along with the dried lavender bunch.  I think everyone will really appreciate the sweet treat and you can better believe I will make sure to collect all those who foolishly leave theirs behind at the end of the night cuz I ain't lettin' no chocolate go to waste, uh uh!

Are you ready for some (literal) eye-candy?



They also do gorgeous desserts and (dum dum dum)...Wedding cakes!




How frickin' gorgeous is that wedding cake? It's almost enough to make me want to have a cake (but not quite since...well, I'll be honest, these chocolates are costing roughly what a small cake would cost so there ya go...)

I'm happy with this decision, even though I know it was a totally unnecessary addition.  I know, I know, just add me to the list of those who have caved under the dreaded wedding industry pressure.  It's ok. Since there's chocolate involved, I like to think that everyone wins :)

So now here's the fun part where I need your help.  I have to choose the flavors for the favors (HA!) Mr Trail Mix doesn't really like chocolate (Sacrilege! Can you believe I'm still marrying him?!?!?) so he did not have an opinion.  So I'm turning to all you chocoholics out there.  Which two of the following flavors would you prefer as a guest at my wedding? (Sadly, I had to automatically eliminate  all options that had nuts due to allergy concerns...)

1.  Milk Chocolate and Caramel with Sea Salt
2.  Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Ganache
3. Dark Chocolate and Lavender Honey
4. Milk Chocolate Truffle
5. Dark Chocolate and Passion Fruit Mousse

Mmmmm, my mouth is literally watering just thinking about these options (and they have lots of others, I just narrowed down the choices to five otherwise we'd be here all day!)

So which ones should I pick? Are the chocolates a great favor addition or a completely unnecessary waste of moolah?


5 comments:

  1. Honestly, every wedding I have been to we never took the favors home and most of the people I know never did either. People are usually too tipsy from too much champagne and open bar to appreciate and remember their favors. As much as I LOVE chocolate, I would say save your moolah!

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  2. OMG. Can you send any extras to me, please? Kthx. ;)

    I'd pick a milk and a dark--even though I'm in love with dark chocolate, the caramel one is making me drool just from the description. And the lavender honey dark chocolate goes really well with your other favor!

    On that note, if this is really going to hurt your budget... don't do it! We didn't do favors at all and I don't think anyone seemed to miss them.

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  3. save your $ chica. the lavender is beautiful. As much as I'm sure people would appreciate and enjoy the chocolate(i'd sure love it), it's just chocolate - they could get it just about anywhere if they were so inclined. Sorry to be blunt. If the favors were really important to you then go for it, but don't let some choice comments sway you into thinking your lovely flowers are cheap or not substantial enough. Stick with your gut and what you loved originally.

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  4. I love the lavender bunches, I've never seen that done before. Can't wait to hear what you decided.

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  5. It's such a great post!..Thanks for sharing...

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