Are party favors out of favor?

Are party favors out of favor?

JAKARTA (JP): A seminar was held recently at one of our new
five star hotels. The topic was simple, yet the attendance
was overwhelming. Everybody wanted to hear what Professor
Valentino, the well-known psychiatrist, had to say about
keepsakes given out at weddings.

He said "when I was a child, I loved going to wedding parties.
Weddings were small then, but it did not matter to us children,
because we really came for the party keepsakes rather than
anything else. At Chinese weddings, we would get a red envelope
with money, at Malay weddings eggs were given out. No, not just
an egg, but cooked eggs beautifully tied to a bamboo stick,
decorated with colorful strips of paper. We would buy sweets with
the money and the eggs, of course, were eaten. For villagers
coming from distant places, these eggs were very welcome as a
snack for the journey home.

The tradition of giving party keepsakes at weddings has
suddenly appeared in Jakarta and has recently become a trend. And
now we are in a kind of competition to give the most original
keepsakes. Whereas some are considered welcome, like potpourri to
keep clothes fresh, others are considered a shame to throw away.

During the discussion several solutions were put forward. One
person suggested that a thank you note should be enough. But
others scolded her for being stingy.

An elegantly dressed and bejeweled lady stood and said "look,
we are generous to the bridal couples and always bring presents
when we go to their parties. There was a time that they received
up to three truck loads of presents. But it was not fun to
receive forty dozen glasses, fifty or more clocks, 12 dinner sets
etc. Now they ask for a money donation. They include a little
card in the invitation, suggesting they would appreciate money
more than presents or flowers. Isn't it fair that they show their
gratitude in the form of a souvenir?"

Someone else said "that's it. You are so right. But I don't
think it is fair that they shower us with all those souvenirs.
Once I had to go to twenty weddings in a month. Besides standing
in line for hours at the receptions because bridal couples always
come late, we received no less than five magnets to stick on the
fridge, six key chains, two fans, two ball points, a cook book, a
poetry book, and three mugs with the photographs of the couples
printed on them. I suggest that they should start giving out
perishable things, like a piece of the wedding cake or maybe the
traditional egg."

But that does not seem to be the solution. Many ladies think
that they deserve to receive souvenirs. What they do with them is
their business, but they insist on getting acknowledgement for
the trouble they go to when attending a wedding reception. As
usual, Prof. Valentino asked for the floor's attention to give
his final advice:

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "I think I have a good
suggestion. A few months ago, a lady who was on the verge of a
nervous breakdown, came to my consultation room. She is the owner
of The Peak a well-known flower shop in town. This lady was
robbed of her business by that little card requesting guests not
to send flowers as presents. She saw her business dropping by
fifty percent. Now, is that fair? This lady was even considering
going into the business of making keepsakes to replace her
losses. I would therefore call upon all prospective brides and
grooms, to consider giving her part of her business back. I would
suggest that they give a flower as a keepsake. What do you think
ladies and gentlemen, can you appreciate a nice red rose to carry
home?"

A big applause was the answer, whereupon the seminar was
closed and on leaving the hall, the guests were presented with a
keepsake -- a red rose with a little card saying: "With
compliments from Professor Valentino."

-- Myra Sidharta