Gifts at the kids cocktail hour, good idea or not?

Most Bar/Bat Mitzvahs nowadays have an area set up for the kids during the cocktail hour to play all kinds of games. A lot of these games you can win prizes or you can design your own dog tag or have you name airbrushed onto a t-shirt or pillow. The kids love these activities and it serves a dual purpose of keeping them occupied and out of the adult’s cocktail hour. The big question is, “Is it a good idea to give out gifts at this time and what usually happens to these gifts?” Since we have been involved in hundreds of Bar/Bat Mitzvah’s over the years, from experience we can tell you at least 50% of the items given out during the cocktail hour never make it home. They either get thrown away at the end of the party or if they were personalized you now have the extra responsibility of making sure they get sent to whoever they belong to. If you are having a personalized item made during the cocktail hour hold on to them until the end of the party and give them out then. The best way of doing this is to have a bag made, some suggestions would be a tote bag or drawstring backpack and have the cocktail hour items put into the bags for the kids to pick up at the end of the party. The kids will appreciate not having to keep track of them during the party, especially the boys who almost always tend to forget them, and if you give them either a tote or backpack they will be thrilled that they are getting another Bar/Bat Mitzvah Favor to take home with them.
Another point about things being given out during the cocktail hour versus what we do, the quality of our items is usually much higher. For example the pillows that are airbrushed during the cocktail hour are nowhere near the same quality as the pillows we sell as Bar/Bat Mitzvah favors. The ones we sell all come with a removable cover that can be washed versus the airbrushed ones that have no cover and unfortunately get dirty and are breeding grounds for germs. But more importantly the pillows given out during the cocktail hour tend to rip and spill thousands of little beads all over the place, where we have never had a single experience of a pillow opening up. Is it cool for the kids to have them airbrushed with their name on them, no question about it, is it practical noting the difference in quality, not even close.
If you think the problem of not picking up items made during the cocktail only relates to the kids, think again. Not to long ago we had a client purchase beautiful frames as a thank you Bar/Bat Mitzvah favor to be used to have pictures taken during the cocktail hour put into them and picked up at the end of the party. The next day she called to tell us how the party went and how everyone loved the items we sold her, but she complained that she had over 20 frames with pictures that were not picked up and she was going to have to send them out. The problem turned out to be where she placed the table with the frames on them, they were not in the direct path of everyone leaving the party so some people never even knew they were there. If you have pictures for your guests to be picked up at the end of a party make sure you place them right at the exit so no one can leave without seeing them on display.
At BarMitzvahFavors.com we specialize in finding just the right favor to match your theme but more importantly we find the right favor to match your family's wishes and budget, so check out our web site or give as a call at 561-750-8683.