Wedding favors

That's a lovely idea! I went to a wedding recently where Bride's mom had passed from cancer so they made a donation to a cancer organization in lieu of favors. There was a sweet little framed sign about it next to the gift table. It looked like this

But I have also seen little placards/thank you notes that you can put at everyones seat like this

or one just one for each table. Search on zazzle or Etsy you ll see some really pretty options.

I think this is an amazing idea! I love it.

I think it's a beautiful gesture. Not sure what organization/charity you're thinking about, but I would keep it to a "neutral" site such as Make a Wish, American Cancer Society, etc. as some people might be offended if it's of a political/social justice organization they do not support.

It's a nice idea.

I went to a wedding where they had the card stating” in lieu of favors” at each place setting before dinner.

If I'm completely honest, I admit to finding this a little uncomfortable.

I know many couples who requested donations to a charity in lieu of gifts to themselves, and that makes total sense and is a very nice thing to do when the couple do not need more stuff.

When it comes to gifts for other people - even if it's just wedding favours - there's something slightly off about saying "I didn't buy you anything but gave money to charity instead". It feels a bit like a humble-brag whilst also depriving the recipient of a thoughtful gesture. It's a different scenario to when someone has asked for charity donations in lieu of gifts, for a birthday for instance. It just feels like if one wants to make a charity donation, the person not receiving gifts in exchange for this should be oneself, not the guests.

Favors are always optional and if they are not edible they do get left behind. Even edibles don’t get touched more often than not. If you don’t know what to give, skip the favors and put the money toward food/bar/dj that guests will remember.


Also, it is never mentioned but charities are controversial even with the best of intentions. Donations should never be announced to guests, otherwise it comes across as “look what we did”. When you donate in someone else’s name, when it comes time to renew the donation, they go after the person whose name is on the gift: your guests in this case. Not everyone agrees with the same charities that you do and not all donations that are received go towards the actual causes and instead may go to administration costs of keeping the company running.

I think that’s a wonderful idea!

I think it's a great idea! There are a lot of charities that have gift options for donations in people's names. I've "received" charitable donations in lieu of a gift, and even as a child, I was happy.

I would just skip favors. Telling someone that you donated to a charity they had no say in "in lieu of" a trinket gift to them is odd. You'll get mixed reactions

It's a nice idea but really reminds me of the episode of friends where a donation gets made in their name to the New York city ballet instead of getting a Christmas gift. Plus I agree with some other posts about this being more for you than for them.