wedding favor set [40165] review

Wedding Favor Set [40165] Box

I do...

I do believe that the Wedding Favor Set [40165] is the perfect wedding present for a LEGO couple. But for my wife and I, it came about a year late. So we just built this set as one of the many ways to commemorate our first wedding anniversary. I am a firm believer that a happy wife means a happy life, so I let her build this one.

In a lot of ways, the Wedding Favor Set [40165] is a great improvement on its predecessor [853340]. The most obvious change is the absence of cardboard pieces. The lovely arch is now made entirely out of plastic bricks, decorated beautifully with gems and flowers. The new set also comes with a bigger baseplate to facilitate the elevation of the stage (and to add some more flowers).

Wedding Stage

Customization of the minifigures is more varied in the new set with the inclusion of lots of hairpieces. Unfortunately, not all natural colors are represented.

Bride Options

My wife super loves the Bride minifigure. But I think the old one is better (except for the multi-brick skirt) and more elegant, with its simple torso print and veiled tiara. But the best Bride (so far) is the one from the LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series 7 [8831]. My wife settled for the brown princess hairpiece to match her own.

My Wife Bride

For the Groom minifigure, the set includes a top hat, three hairpieces (yellow on yellow looks weird), and two minifig heads. One is bearded and the other is double-sided showing serious/worried faces.

Groom Options

According to my wife, only the bearded groom looked happy to get married. She settled with the black hairpiece and serious face to represent me (though in real life I actually smile a lot).

My Precious

Golden wedding bands were finally included in this seasonal set. Thanks to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit sets, a mold for minifigure rings was made. These sets were first released in 2012. The reason why the old Wedding Favor Set [853340] doesn't include this precious piece is because it was released a year before that.

Wedding Favor Set [40165]

Overall, the Wedding Favor Set [40165] is a fun build. It's also a good buy with a recommended retail price of UK £6.99 / US $9.99. It's a perfect wedding table (or cake) decoration for LEGO lovers. My only complaint is the Groom looks a little short without his top hat. Nevertheless, it made my wife happy. And we all know what that means...