Tales of a DIY DC Duo: Chapter 12 “DIY Favors & Placecards”

This is Chapter 12 of an ongoing series following the journey of a couple throwing an intimate, DIY wedding in Washington, DC. Be sure to check out the earlier chapters from this series for some great DIY tips & inspiration!

**Note** – Emma’s wedding was this past weekend!!! She has a few more projects to share with us and then we hope to feature her actual wedding pictures as well!

One thing I have learned to do, to save money at your wedding is… double up on the purpose of items.  For instance, have your place cards double as table decoration, have your favors double as table decor, have your ceremony decoration double as your “throwing stuff”, have your transportation double as an opportunity to serve appetizers, have your signs double as decoration, have your flowers double as next year’s spring wreath, have your favor boxes double as your candy buffet bags,  and lastly…

…have your place cards double as your favors!

That’s what we did when we chose to create a Chinese take out box favor.  It doubles as our place cards and as our candy buffet bags.

Inside the box is:

1. (2) cherry blossom tea bags
2. (1 pair) of cherry blossom chopsticks
3. (1) fortune fish game for fun
4. (1) chocolate dipped fortune cookie

As far as items 1-3, they were bought from Amazon for an extremely low cost.

#4 was a multi-step process…

I looked into custom fortune cookies and although I found some good deals, the shipping made them outrageous. I ended up getting “love” themed dark pink and light pink fortune cookies in bulk from Oriental Trading Company (one of my favs).  Only $4.99 for an entire bag of them on sale after Valentines day!!

I decided to add the personal flare of dipping them in chocolate ourselves to make them more special.

How to Make Chocolate Dipped Cookie Favors:

Step 1: Melt some good quality dark chocolate (I used Ghiradelli 60% cocoa) in a double boiler.
Step 2: Choose how you want to dip your cookies (half and half, ends in chocolate, or back in chocolate).  We went with the half and half look:

Step 3: Sprinkle some cute sprinkles on top while still wet or melt white chocolate for drizzles on top (we did both)

Step 4: Lay out on wax paper and put in fridge to harden

Then we decided to wrap each one in wax paper and stuff it into a tiny little cherry blossom bag.  So adorable!!

We also decided to put a little note inside the box that said:

“Emma and Claude would like to say,

Thanks for celebrating our wedding day.

Friends and family share our love

That’s now been blessed from above.

Please know that as you depart,

You hold a special place in our heart.

Accept this cookie in gratitude,

and fill these boxes with good food. “

Hopefully this will encourage our guests to re-use the boxes for our small candy buffet. We decorated each box with a ribbon and a customized sticker from zazzle to keep it closed.

We finished by writing each person’s name on the outside of the box and will place each box at the table where that person is seated. Just find your name and enjoy!