Favors!

So I finally started (and finished!!) the favors this past weekend. My fiance and I decided that we wanted a favor that represented us as a couple. But also something that had the potential to be useful and if we ended up with about 100 of them, it was something practical enough that even we could use it. We are both pretty laid back people and we have things we are passionate about...but most of them aren't things we could give as favors per say. I enjoy crafts and being artsy. He enjoys playing games and electronics...

Our original plan was to give away seeds such as flower seed packets. These were something that was useful, we could plant them if we had extra, and we love to be outdoors in the spring.

A few months later my mom was diagnosed with colon cancer. He and I actually found out about this on our Engaged Encounter weekend. We were both pretty upset by it because my mom had always taken good care of herself. It just totally blindsided us because she hadn't mentioned anything to me or my sister (only my brother who is a nurse).

My mom asked us to continue to plan the wedding as if nothing were wrong while she went through some major surgery and started into her chemo. I was surfing TheKnot and saw that some people had made donations for their favors rather than giving a tangible item. I knew at that moment that it was just IT! A donation to the American Cancer Society! The fiance and I would much rather give money to a charitable organization or volunteer our time to something rather than give someone a small trinket that they may or may not throw away. This way we can help others.

After my sister and I convinced my mom that it was something that the fiance and I really wanted to do, we decided to make a donation to the American Cancer Society. My mom was concerned that it would take the focus of "our day" away from us and onto her. So we compromised and made no mention of her specifically on the favor card... My thoughts are that SHE is the reason I am here today, so I want to celebrate her life and the fact that she's able to spend that special day with me.

I made the favor cards to let the guests know about the donation because it's hard to find someone who hasn't known someone who has been affected by cancer. Below is a picture of the card that will sit on the guests table.