Elizabeth decided to make her own favours and saved a fortune – but some people aren’t happy
Elizabeth Mitchell decided to DIY most of her wedding decorations after being quoted £2,000 to dress her venue
A bride handing out 10p Polo mints as wedding favours has defended her cost-cutting hack after trolls said they’d be ‘fuming’ at the gift. Elizabeth Mitchell decided to DIY most of her wedding decorations after being quoted £2,000 to dress her venue.
After making centrepieces and welcome signs, the 36 year old opted to make her own wedding favours too when her fiance, Daniel Wheal, spotted the idea online. The exams officer bought nine tubes of Polos for £3.27 from Home Bargains and paid £2 for resealable bags from Hobbycraft to pop the mints into.
The mum of one then designed her own personalised labels on Canva, which she stapled to the top of the bags at home, with the phrase ‘mint to be’. Elizabeth said the 10p party favours were a ‘nice little refresher’ for when their 80 guests finish their wedding breakfast.
After sharing the cost-cutting hack online, Elizabeth’s gift bags divided opinion, with many praising the post-dinner snack while others claimed they’d be ‘fuming’. However, Elizabeth insists that guests shouldn’t expect anything from a wedding, especially after being served a three-course meal.
Elizabeth, from Hull, said: “We went to a wedding fair and found out it would be between £1,000 and £2,000 to decorate the venue. I just thought ‘I could do a lot of that myself’. I cut down a lot of the costs. I did the table centres and welcome signs. I’ve probably saved around £1,000 doing a lot of the decorations myself. The ‘mint to be’ wedding favours were actually Dan’s idea after he saw it on TikTok. We looked on Etsy and thought we could make it ourselves.”
Thrifty Elizabeth estimates the wedding favours cost just 10p per guest and said her friends and family would be ‘chuffed’ with the gift bags. Elizabeth said: “For just the Polos and bags, it was a fiver. It was so easy, we did it in one night.
“We’re both really pleased with them and it’s something so simple. Everyone loves a Polo and it’s a nice little pun ‘mint to be’. It’s obviously not an original idea, we’ve just adapted what we’ve seen for cheaper.”
After sharing her thrifty wedding favours on TikTok, Elizabeth’s idea split opinion online. One person wrote: “Went to a wedding and got Polos, I’d be fuming.” A second commented: “Surely not?”
Another person wrote: “What a lovely idea. All the best for your wedding day.” A fourth commented: “I absolutely love this.”
Elizabeth said: “We’ve just been laughing about it [the criticism]. What else do you expect as a present from a wedding?” Elizabeth said she was also doing biscuits with names on for the guests. She added: “I’ve been to weddings before and just got a bit of chocolate or a sweet. It’s just what the bride and groom want – you’re not really supposed to expect anything. You’re already getting served a three-course meal.”