I have always thought that bubbles was too messy! Who wants soapy bubbles on all that expensive hair and clothing!!! As a bride I would be annoyed!!!
Guess they all have their faults - rice, bird seed, bubbles, sparklers, doves… 
My D1 is getting married this July. First year medical student has no time or inclination to give a lot of opinions. As she is one of the first in our circle to get married I really have not a lot of reference points as what is expected or trending now. Favors? Is that still a thing and what do you give? Late evening snacks after dinner? We are having a traditional church wedding and dinner reception with dancing. As of now I have eight dresses sitting in my closet waiting to be returned before the credit card bill is due lol!
LOL, I returned about 10 to Nordstrom on Friday and another boxful to Nordstrom Rack!
Sounds like my D @Lassie3 . I have a long list of things that D doesn’t want but nothing that she does want. 8-| The wedding is in August and the only thing we have set is the date and that it’s at our house. Future SIL is a conductor so he is handling the musicians and the music program. I cracked the whip this weekend via skype and hope to have a caterer by Friday. (our original plans fell through–the restaurant no longer caters)
I don’t like things at weddings that are more for the photographs than for the enjoyment or the guests, and I always feel like the “send off” traditions - especially the sparklers or bubbles – are staged for the photos. The photos look great, but rounding everyone up, having them line up, coordinating the timing, etc., is not very fun for the guests. Plus, I like when the wedding couple sticks around til the last guest leaves.
My niece is a wedding photographer and has had her clothes set on fire by drunk guests before. She also said they can be hard to photograph.
The sparklers, the drunks, or both? 
@nottelling, I’ve been at very few weddings where the married couple has stuck around until the last guest leaves. I suppose it makes sense, etiquette-wise, if the bride and groom are also acting as host and hostess; at smaller second weddings, I’ve seen it done that way. For me, it’s lots of fun to see the couple making their exit. When I was a kid, the couple ran to their car with the “Just Married” sign and shoes attached to the back, while guests chased after them with rice. (I go way, way back). Nowadays, people may do bubbles, birdseed, or sparkler sendoffs. Many people enjoy them AND they make nice pictures. I don’t think the intention is to sacrifice guest enjoyment for a staged photo.
I think it would be really nice to release those paper wish lanterns into the sky on some wedding occasion.
As I posted before, my daughters (and their respective fiancees) are doing all the planning themselves and so I don’t have anything to really take care of, though enjoy hearing the plans.
So, D2, who shies away from anything traditional (fine by me), was deciding a color scheme. I haven’t gotten a dress yet, but had been saving links to ones I might consider online based on her “maybe” color scheme of burgundy and gold. Alas, she did decide and those are the colors. However, she doesn’t want me to wear those colors and to pick anything I want but those colors, ha ha. She thought that was just too coordinated and they only want the wedding party to wear those colors, and even those people are picking out their own clothes (not matching) in that color way. Nothing else about the wedding uses a color scheme. So, actually, now I can widen my search for dresses to any color for her wedding.
Meanwhile, same daughter…who is currently starring in a show on stage in NYC, texted me tonight, literally at the start time of her performance, telling me she thinks she has decided on her wedding dress (I recently went to NYC for an appointment at a shop where she wanted to get the dress and she narrowed it down that day but hadn’t yet finalized a decision). She texted to tell me why she liked it more and more (I do too) and I texted back, “don’t you have to go on stage?” and she texted back, “yeah, gotta go!” It was rather funny to me.
Reminds me of when I was dating a tv weatherman. He would call me just before and after he’d be on air. I thought I was so special…until I found out he was doing the same thing with his wife
There are always flower petals, which is lightweight and shouldn’t stain anything. I’ve thrown those–they don’t hurt whomever they are thrown at either. I’ve thrown rose petals and orchid petals.
Is there some ancient story behind the “throwing” of anything at a wedding send off???
After the extravagant weddings, maybe we should all just throw $20 bills!!!
Is anyone still providing favors at the reception, if so any ideas what they may be?
If you plan to release lanterns, please consider those that have bamboo frames instead of wire ones. They will breakdown faster. We live on a beach and depending upon the way the wind blows, you can find wire frames in the sand.
There was a recent segment on the Today Show about “affordable” favors. I think the least expensive was $12 and the most expensive was $80!
As a wedding guest, I’ve always thought that favors were an unnecessary expense. If you are considering favors, I would avoid liquid over 3 oz. (e.g. no bottle of local wine) if many of the guests will be flying. You don’t want them to have to check a bag if they hadn’t planned to.
One couple had cookies custom made that looked like their dog.
H and I are finally seeing the reception venue tomorrow. It is a city owned facility that is only open during normal business hours (except for the events, of course) so I will leave work early to see it.
I recently attended a very nice wedding, and the favor was a little paper box with two gourmet chocolates in it. They were very yummy!
Good luck with your viewing! Be sure to take pics - look for things like sinks, counter space for extra toiletries in the bathrooms, electrical outlets, etc.
I agree that favors are a good place to save $$$. I personally am not interested in any token of remembrance of a wedding except the memories in my head or perhaps a photo booth photo! Feed them well, have good music and some drink options (alcohol or otherwise), have some general “niceties” like simple appetizers upon arrival, a basket of bathroom “refreshers” (lotion, powder, kleenex, etc.), mints on the tables or whatever - that works for me!
This kills me. When I still had my chocolate business, I would be hard-pressed to sell favors for $3, but would see people buy utter junk for far more. Then people talk about most favors being unwanted and left on the table. I can assure you that when my truffles were the favors, they were NOT left on the table! 
If I could get a steady flow of people who would be willing to pay $5 for favors, I’d still be in business.
My DD got engaged last month and is getting married in Oct. His parents own a wedding venue, so that is taken care of, as are the photographer, caterer and DJ, all of whom are familiar with the site. She has narrowed dress choices down to two and plans to decide this week. A relative is having save the dates and invites printed for cost and will put together an album for her at cost. I feel like we are missing something major since it’s all been so simple so far.