Powerball tickets as wedding favor?

[Amanda.Rx]

So, my wedding is this weekend, and I still haven''t done favors. I was just going to get cookies (or make them) sometime this week, but then a thought dawned on me- what about powerball lottery tickets?

The tickets are $1 each and the estimated Jackpot is $175 million right now. The money generated by the lottery goes to support higher education within the state. They have drawings on Wednesday and Saturday nights. I thought about buying tickets and putting them in a cute box with a bow or something as wedding favors. I could also include instructions on how to check to see if you''ve won. I would also put some cute saying in there like "Thanks for coming to our wedding- we hope you''re as lucky as we are!"

If you think it''s stupid or tacky, tell me. My opinion is mixed on the idea, but it would be easy to put together.

 

[D2B]

Each to their own and all that...
But for me no, I wouldnt do powerball tickets, some people dont like gambling at all, and for me, just a bit, I dont know, just not right somehow. But I am sure others will like it, and probably a whole lot better than some favours that get given away and are never used.

hard one.
good luck

 

[D2B]

Oh, I would love the cookies... nothing beats homemade cookies - YUM

 

[megumic]

I love this idea! We are strongly considering scratch off lottery tix with a shiny new penny. Both are related to who we are and two things we''re (ok me) obsessed with: scratch off lotto tix and finding pennies on heads.

I think it''s a cute idea and I love the theme of "luck" - I say go for it!

 

[sillyberry]

I think it is super cute, but I come from a family that always had lottery scratch-offs in our stockings.

 

[vc10um]

Any chance your state lottery has $1 scratch off tix with "lucky" in the title?

I know some people are UBER superstitious when it comes to playing the lotto with "their" numbers, etc...but I can''t see anyone being opposed to a scratch-off ticket...I think that''s a cute idea and might be a better way to go than the generic print-off you get when you buy a powerball ticket.

 

[PumpkinPie]

I''m not a big fan of lottery tickets - I work in mental health and see too many problems resulting from gambling - always makes me uncomfortable. But - that is my issue and this is your wedding and your people invited - so if you think they would enjoy it (I do think the "I hope you''re as lucky as we are" idea is super cute) go for it!

 

[PumpkinPie]

homemade cookies (oatmeal chocolate chip

) are always a good idea!

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

I like the idea! FI and I try to remember to buy a Powerball ticket every Wednesday and Saturday.

Plus..... if somebody at your wedding won the jackpot, they''d probably give you cut out of appreciation, yeah?

 

[caribqueen]

Not for me, but I think given your timeline, it might be less stress and easier than baking a bunch of cookies right before your wedding. But I guess that depends on your guestlist.

 

[VRBeauty]

Date: 4/11/2010 11:57:46 PM
Author: caribqueen
Not for me, but I think given your timeline, it might be less stress and easier than baking a bunch of cookies right before your wedding. But I guess that depends on your guestlist.

ditto. Remember, you can also go without favors entirely. Very few people would notice, and even fewer would miss them.

 

[RaiKai]

Not for me. Like Maevie I have seen the downsides too often and it should be more of a personal choice to gamble or not. Just not my preference for a wedding favour!

And even if someone got lucky..it is ripe for disputes over tickets and winnings in that setting (I.e. Aunt Ethel stole my ticket...). I have seen that happen too!

I would rather have cookies or nothing at all.

 

[rhbgirl24]

Is the wedding casual or more formal? I would have to say cookies would be the better bet for a more formal affair. Id raise an eyebrow at powerball tickets at a upscale wedding....

 

[meresal]

We did lottery tickets wrapped up in little boxes like presents (The scratch-offs were called "Perfect Match"). We also put brand new, shiny pennies in each box to scratch with.

They were a HUGE hit!

FWIW... we had a formal evening wedding.

We also did cookies in the Welcome Baskets. DH and I each have a favorite, so we put them in their own celophane bags, and then into the baskets with tags on them that read "Meresal's Favorite Cookie" and "C's Favorite Cookie". They were enjoyed as well, so IMO, you really can't go wrong with either.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I love the idea personally and wish I'd been bright enough to think of it! I would do scratch tickets vs power ball though so people get the instant gratification of scratching then and there.

ETA: And maybe Mere can weigh in here, but I would think if you're buying bulk number of tickets you'd have a better chance of having some winners vs a bunch of random PB draws.

 

[purselover]

Date: 4/11/2010 10:16:42 PM
Author: D2B
Each to their own and all that...
But for me no, I wouldnt do powerball tickets, some people dont like gambling at all, and for me, just a bit, I dont know, just not right somehow. But I am sure others will like it, and probably a whole lot better than some favours that get given away and are never used.

hard one.
good luck

this, I would personally buy or make cookies

 

[Nov2109]

I like the idea. What if you did a PB and a scratch off, not sure what your budget is!

For me, if there was something cute the ticket came in that was a little memento from the wedding it would be the best of both worlds.

I personally like different favors, I said in another thread, I don''t need any more bottle openers!

 

[princessplease]

I think it''s a really cool idea! Maybe you can find some really awesome scratchers that have hearts or love in them so they are better associated with the wedding.

 

[Clairitek]

I like the idea of a lottery ticket but I like the idea of a scratch off over a Powerball ticket. Meresal''s idea sounds really cute to include a penny to scratch it with!

 

[meresal]

Date: 4/12/2010 11:47:17 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
I love the idea personally and wish I''d been bright enough to think of it! I would do scratch tickets vs power ball though so people get the instant gratification of scratching then and there.

ETA: And maybe Mere can weigh in here, but I would think if you''re buying bulk number of tickets you''d have a better chance of having some winners vs a bunch of random PB draws.

Hudson- It all depends on how long the ticket has been out and how many prizes are left.

Unknown to me, since I had no idea this should have been checked (lol), the ticket I chose had just been stopped, due to all of the big prizes being gone and it had been out for a while. So, I had to drive to gas stations all around DFW trying to find enough tickets to total 250. (MIL even had to bring some up from Houston.) We had a acouple people that won $20/$5/$2 etc, but nothing huge. I was really hoping that someone would win alot of money. How cool would that be?!

 

[rhbgirl24]

No offense to anyone from my comment before. I just dont like the idea of powerball tickets... themed scratch offs I think are much cuter and tongue in cheek as well.

Just for some reason the powerball tix is a little off to me, maybe b/c you have to wait, not lose it, and get home and check the numbers.......

 

[Future Mrs. Sterling]

I think it''s a great idea! I would wait until after Wednesday''s drawing to buy them, however, because if someone wins the $175 mil, it might not be quite as exciting. You will want to give away "current" tickets for Saturday''s drawing.

I also think it would be fairly easy to provide the website where you can find results. In Wisconsin it''s, Wilottery.com - just that easy. One caution - make sure when you buy the quick pick tickets, you ask for them individually. Someone I know made the mistake of ordering tickets for people and the clerk put 5 quick picks ($5 worth) one one sheet. They had to rebuy individual ones for their coworkers. Luckily the $5 sheet won some money, but with buying enough for a wedding, you wouldn''t want to be out that much cash.

 

[LAJennifer]

Love the idea! I know where you are located and I think it will go over well. Also like the idea of scratch off tickets. If somebody wins Powerball this Wednesday, then I would go with the scratch off.

 

[LAJennifer]

There are 52 of the top prizes still available in this scratch off:

Lucky Roll

 

[violet3]

i think that''s a great idea, and i like the cute saying you were going to include

 

[missjaxon]

I think it is a cute idea. I can see where some people might have an issue with it, but I am a pretty laid back person and I know that I would think that it was a cute idea. I will say however that I think the scratch ticket like Meresal''s is a very cute idea! I know I would be more excited about it. I also think that if as others have stated that some might not want to gamble, it can still be there choice, just as many people leave other favours behind at a wedding (and I have seen this many times) they are not forced to take it home with them, that is in the case of people who do not feel comfortable with gambling.

 

[smiles]

I also really like the idea of the scratch off tic over the powerball but if you do choose to powerball ones I would make sure to include on the note telling people how to check that a percentage of proceeds go to support X cause..... I think it is important that it is fun for your guests but even those who are not lottery fans can be happy that money was esentially donated in their honour.

 

[Future Mrs. Sterling]

So... did you do powerball? Scratch off? I''m interested to hear how it went over with your guests.

 

[megumic]

Date: 4/19/2010 8:52:52 PM
Author: Future Mrs. Sterling
So... did you do powerball? Scratch off? I''m interested to hear how it went over with your guests.

DO TELL DO TELL!!! and CONGRATS!