Ideas For Wedding Favours

Wedding favours are a traditional way of thanking your guests for sharing your day with them and have been used in many countries over hundreds of years. They range from the original Italian Bomboniere of five sugared almonds (representing health, wealth, happiness, fertility, and longevity) to more imaginative ideas such as miniature plants or lottery tickets. Many options can be personalised to show your names and the date of your wedding.

We’ve put together a number of ideas for wedding favours, from the traditional sweets to something fun like wedding bubbles. Hopefully you’ll find something here that’ll give you the inspiration for the perfect wedding favour for your guests.

Something to Keep/Use

• Heart shaped cookie cutters.
• Charity wedding favours – on a personalised card.
• Packs of seeds, possibly in personalised packets.
• Handmade soap
• Plantable paper flowers.

Of course any other small gift could also be used – key rings, wine bottle stoppers, coasters, tealight holders etc.

Food/Drink

• Mini pots of home made jam or honey from near your venue or personalised.
• Sweets – a popular budget option which can be colour/theme coordinated to seem more special. Either put in organza bags or make a bigger display in the middle of the table.
• Homemade cookies – these would be a very cheap option. Depending on the number of guests you could ice each guest’s initial onto the cookie.
• Lucky sixpences – sterling silver at around £10 each may be stretching the budget a little, but chocolate versions make a more economical wedding favour!
• Individual handmade truffles.
• Traditional sugared almonds – another lower priced option. By choosing colours to coordinate with your theme you can tie them into your wedding. Silver/gold are a pretty option, or chocolate dragees could be used instead.
• Alcohol miniatures – can be personalised but make sure your venue will allow them as a few will count this as ‘bringing your own alcohol’ and charge corkage!
• Seaside rock.

Dual Function As Table Decoration

• Votives/candles – can be colour coordinated to act as table decorations.
• Individual pebbles to double up as name cards – with the name etched/painted on by hand.
• Individual flower (eg a gerbera) in a single stem vase.
• Seashell (for a beach themed wedding) – with a tag attached as a place card.
• Placecard holders.
• Chocolate hearts – available in different colours to match your theme.

Entertainment

• Wedding Bubbles – should keep both adults and children amused!
• Indoor sparklers – a lovely, cheaper idea which can work out at less than 20p each! Available in different shapes (eg heart) and colours.
• Lottery ticket in a lottery ticket favour holder. Make sure you announce the numbers drawn for a bit of excitement!
• Fortune cookie in box or pouch.
• An individual poem, quote or well known proverb written on interesting paper – very time consuming but extremely budget friendly.
• Origami plaything.

Presentation Ideas

• Add colour coordinated tissue paper/shredded paper/glitter to add interest or use organza bags (very reasonably priced).
• Personalised ribbon with your names and the wedding date can also be used to add an individual touch.
• Colour coordinated ribboned box.
• Crackers are fun idea and add a bit of excitement when pulling apart.
• Colour coordinated mini metal bucket.

Choosing Wedding Favours

With lots of choice in shops and online it can be hard knowing what to go for! You could pick something everyone will love (like chocolate!), something relevant to you and your fiance (such as miniature wine bottles if you are buffs) or connected to your theme, colour or location of wedding such as a mini pot of local jam.

Other things you’ll need to bear in mind:

• how long in advance you can order them – chocolate or other food may go off/melt if you order too soon or don’t have a cool place to store
• how creative/crafty you are – don’t try and create something yourself if you’re liable to spill glue all over them
• time involved in assembling – plan enough time to avoid being up till 3 in the morning the night before
• whether they are sex specific – if you are having different favours for the men and the women will your venue/whoever is laying out the tables know where the men and women are sitting?
• do you need separate favours for children?

How Much To Spend?

Depending on your number of guests, expensive wedding favours can soon add up. Have a look at your budget and decide how much you can afford to put into favours. Remember, they are just meant to be a token thank you, so don’t necessarily need to be expensive.

You can always choose a dual purpose favour – something that doubles up as a table decoration such as a coloured candle or something in a coloured box – which will save you money on table decorations. Or if you’re feeling creative you could go for a cheaper option but add pretty packaging.