10 Common Mistakes Brides Make When Ordering Wedding Favors
(And How To Avoid Them!)

With so many tasks to coordinate for your wedding, selecting and purchasing your wedding favors may or may not make it to the top of your priority list. But this seemingly simple task can turn into a major headache if you make one of these top 10 common mistakes when ordering your wedding favors. Read this list to avoid the most common errors and make ordering your favors easy and worry free.

Most items will take time to process before they leave the warehouse to ship to you plus it takes time for UPS to deliver to your neck of the woods. Make sure you calculate processing time + transit time to know exactly how much time you need before hand to place an order. If you’re ordering personalized items, you may need even more lead time. And don’t forget if you want your bridesmaids to help assemble or gift wrap them – you’ll need the favors in your hands a few weeks before the wedding.

There’s nothing like the excitement of being engaged and getting things on your wedding planning checklist checked off – but if you order your wedding favors too early, you run the risk of them getting damaged from sitting around your house (dust, fading from the sun or broken from Rover crashing into the box), getting stale (if they are edible) or not ordering enough, needing more and having them items be discontinued because you ordered them a day after your engagement, 2 years ago. The best time to order your favors is about 2 months before the wedding.

With your budget on your mind you may be tempted to order less, but ordering too few and having to re-order more at a later date may result in you meeting minimum quantities or paying a higher per piece price for a lower quantity. A great rule of thumb is: 1 favor per couple or per single. So if your wedding has 100 people consisting of 45 couples and 5 singles+1’s - you will need 55 favors – NOT 100. The only exception to this rule applies to edible favors only: give one edible (candy bar, brownie, cupcake, etc …) per person.

Always check the size, details, color and any pertinent information located with the item description. Computers often give the illusion that items may appear bigger than they actually are. That’s because websites take photographs up close to show the intricate details of smaller items. Monitors are notorious for displaying colors differently too. So, always check all the details listed so you aren’t surprised when the item arrives.

Personalized items, custom made to order items and edibles are often not able to be returned. Items which are received damaged may need to follow special procedures such as calling to report the damage when the item arrives and not two months later. Read all the fine print so you’re not surprised by it. And if you're still not sure, contact the company before ordering!

Let’s face it, we all make typos! However, the order processor on the other end of the screen is not a mind reader and probably doesn’t know you misspelled your fiancé name Philip, when his name is actually, Phillip. Avoid costly errors by double checking everything you order that is going to be personalized.

Double check your contact information – providing the wrong email, telephone or even address can delay your order, prevent UPS from delivering it to you or cause the order to be cancelled. Companies need the correct information to make sure your order arrives to you timely.

Often well meaning friends or relatives will place orders for the couple but accidently order the wrong items, incorrect quantity, color, style or even personalization. If a friend or relative wants to order your favors for you, make sure to look over the order, order the items while your with her or double check the order confirmation.

No wedding company wants to make mistakes - we want to make every bride happy! But mistakes do happen occasionally and that is why it is important to check your order immediately when it arrives. The box could have been mislabeled, UPS could have played football with your package, or the packer could have misread the item number and pulled the wrong item. We’re not saying this happens often – but in order to fix any issue that may come up – the quicker you inspect your package, the quicker the company can resolve any problems.