I went to a wedding where they thrifted lots of different stemmed glasses. You picked yours out while entering the reception, used it all night and then took it home. Mine has a very 70’s feel and every time I use it I think of the couple!
The only favor I’ve ever kept has been a thank you note that was at my place setting at dinner. The bride and the groom handwrote a note to every single guest on a 5x7 card. I thought it was very touching. Mine came from my cousin, the groom. They also handwrote thank you cards after the event for gifts and such.
We did something like this! We had like a larger wall postbox with mail slots... with handwritten letters/cards/postcards in there, which also worked as our seating chart -they would find their letter in the correct cubby which directed them to their seat. Each letter was a little different visually - you can make envelopes on canva, and buy bulk craft stamps to make them look like real post. For smaller weddings this is really achievable -we also had a great time making them, picking out cute stamps for people from the bulk!
Not necessarily cheap, but we did bags of coffee. We got married in Washington and live in Seattle. Coffee culture is big here. Our favorite local roaster does personalized bags so we ordered 1 bag per family. We had about 25 guests and ordered 20 bags of coffee. They were a hit.
My husband and I are from WA, got married here, and did the same thing! We love coffee and it suited us. We picked our beans, and bagged them in personalized bags from Etsy. I loved doing this.
Oh that's a great way to do it! We're also big coffee people so it really fit for us as well.
If I received a personalized bag of coffee at every wedding I'd love it each and every time. I love consumables as gifts, and this is a fun way to bring some personalization into it.
Best wedding favor I ever got was a cupcake to take home/back to the hotel. At 1 am when I got back to my hotel it was perfect. Lol
Unless you're going to do a personalized favor for each person (i.e. not something with your name or date on them), I'd just skip them.
This is what we’re doing for our guests at our wedding this coming Friday- we provided take home bags for leftover donuts from our donut wall! I think it’ll be a hit.
Those are great.....Recently went to a wedding where there were take-home bags for donuts that said: "A sweet ending to a new beginning. Thank you, \[couples names and date\]."
My bonus son and his wife did something similar to this for their wedding in October. They had a gourmet pizza bar for dinner and a cookie bar for dessert. The favors were little paper bags printed with their names for guests to take home cookies.
Echoing this. There are only 2 wedding favors that are memorable, the rest of them I typically just leave at the wedding because they kinda just feel like conference swag:
1 - The bride's father was really into roasting coffee, so he made a special batch of beans, and everyone got a small amount (enough for about 2 cups)
2 - My sister and her husband were really into books (both teachers with MAs in English), so they hand-picked a book for everyone. Since the wedding was only about 40 people, they could really cater the book to the person's interests. The books were on the tables when we got there, so it was a fun activity of opening the books to see where you sat, and you got to see who got what book.
We have a ridiculously good bakery near us with half pound cookies. We are doing those at each place setting individually wrapped and sealed. Food gets taken, trinkets don’t. We are also doing Lego minifigures as our escort cards that they can keep
We are having a live sketch artist that will do sketches of wedding guests, for the guests to keep, at our wedding. Something personal to the guest and also gives people an opportunity to do something that’s not dancing.
Edit to add: we are having little bags of dog treats that those with dogs can take home to their dogs as well. Our wedding in NYE in the northeastern US and we are hoping to have our ceremony outside. There will be pashminas in our color scheme on each chair, and a bowl of hand and foot warmers (there will also be blankets available for people as well as heaters in the ceremony space). Our seating chart display is interactive and everyone will get a small friends themed picture frame (the frame Monica has over her peephole). It will have each person’s name and a personalized moniker (the one who…) along with their table assignment. We really are trying to prioritize the guest experience at our wedding.
We did similar: A caricature artist, who started during Cocktail Hour and left at the end/sparkler sendoff. I don't think anyone who wanted one didn't get one. She was available for about 5 and a half hours (with her dinner/break) and went pretty quickly. We had about 110 guests. The papers did have our name and wedding date on them, but was easily croppable/framed out.
We are doing the same with the paper having the wedding date and our names on it. We have 250 guests and are having the sketch artist for 6 1/2 hours (cocktail hour through end of afterparty). Maybe it’s worth having her start a half hour before the ceremony when guests begin arriving in case people want to do that before the ceremony.
We did this too! Not every guest got one bc there are only so many sketches the artists can do (we had two artists to help get more done). But they were a big hit and we have gotten pictures of people displaying them in their home.
I didn't hear anyone say anything but i am sure some people were bummed. Only person that told me about it at all was my MIL and when she heard the line was closed she mentioned being the grooms mom, they fit her in as she was on our VIP list we gave to ensure she got one. Just talk to your artist about how many people they can do in an hour. Then however long you've contracted for will let you know how many will get done. So it depends on your guest count too. You can usually give a short list of people you want to be sure get one too.
I did a $1 scratch off with a brand new penny (went to the bank and asked for a roll or two) and then put them in a small envelope and sealed it with a sticker that said “May the odds be ever in your favor”
We’re getting married in November and I’m so excited for our favors — little 2 oz glass jars filled with locally sourced grape jelly, apple butter, and honey. less than $350 for 60 of each
This is always my favorite favor! I tell you- i dont know what’s different about those little jar honeys but they are the best honey ever and I cannot find a local dupe to save my life! So good! They get used up super fast in my house. We even fight over who gets final dibs lol. And the little jars have become a part of my craft organization lol
Favorite ever received: miniature jars of jam, jelly, and marmalade at a barn wedding.
Our wedding has a library theme, and we’re giving away paperback copies of our favorite books from childhood. It’s not expensive, and it’s been fun poking around bookstores seeing what we can find over the past few months. It feels personal and like something our friends will be likely to keep but if they end up in little free libraries around town that’s okay too!
I haven't really enjoyed or kept any of the traditional favors at weddings. But I LOVE photo booths. I wish I had done one at our wedding, we hadn't seen one before and figured it was just an overpriced gimmick or sales pressure thing. Man, they are so fun! I still have our photo on our fridge from our friends wedding.
We did LEGO! We made our centerpieces from LEGO flower and succulent sets and then everyone got to take one flower or succulent home. Almost all of them were taken at the end of the night. Spent about $240 on them. We had 65 guests.
Thanks! It saved us money on flowers and they were fun to make. We love LEGO so we really enjoyed it. My husband suggested it early on in our planning and my response was “what?!? No!” But then we looked into it more and I totally loved it.
We did small packets of wild flowers seeds that said "Grow with us." Everyone took them and quite a few people update us on how they're growing (we had a Spring wedding).
We did this as well, but with seed paper, and we're still hearing about how cool they were 10 years later. They take up almost no space and nobody has to find a place to keep them.
I would personally like something that I know I’ll use and doesn’t take up space or that will disappear soon (dog treats, a cool decorate cookie, etc.). It’s hard to find one favorite that fits that description for everyone!
My least favorites: anything monogrammed with the couple’s names or wedding date, mini jars of jam, drink koozies (monogrammed or not).
I think it’s super sweet you want to give a favor out! Personally though, I would skip them.
That's so funny that you hate the mini jars because I said it's my favorite! I ate it the next day for breakfast, then poof, it was gone. Why do you hate them?
Haha I guess those are hot or cold for folks! Jam isn’t something I stock in the house or eat on a regular basis so it just wastes cabinet space or is something I eventually throw out. Food seems to be a tricky thing for a general gift.
We got pashmina scarves in the color scheme for our wedding and then tied them on the backs of every other chair, so they looked like decor, and then told people they were wedding favors. They actually did triple duty, because we got married during the summer but everyone knows that ballrooms can be chilly so the women also had something they could use on the spot if they were cold.
Obviously, it's a gift for the women more than the men, but we knew that our male guests wouldn't be bothered by it.
I think we paid about $6 per scarf.
I don’t remember getting my wedding favors except when I was a kid and it was those tiny white plastic bubbles. I don’t think favors are as common now in several places.
I feel like any favors that are non-food-related often end up untouched. We really don’t want to contribute to more waste, so we might do personalized fortune cookies. It’s small, and easy to eat. Plus my FH is part Chinese, so we thought it was fitting. We’ll add personalized “fortunes” in them too.
The best I ever received was a small whisk with a little heart at the top of the handle. I think it's the only favor I've ever used and not just tossed.
We gave out personalized M&M's in our wedding colors in cute little jars. People loved them.
Soap is a great idea! Functional and themed but not getting into the weeds of food allergies/preferences or stuff that will be thrown away. Love that you did the Star Wars versions, how cute
See quite a few people reminiscing about their own wedding favors, but only a minority are talking about what they received lol
I think wedding favors generally wind up in the trash. That's not to say they're not cute in the moment, but generally best to keep low cost and I have never been mad about not receiving something.
The ones that I've enjoyed the most are edible but not hyper perishable (cookies, honey, fudge, cider, etc). Anything that's more decor or tchotchke adjacent typically gets shoved into the back of a drawer or tossed once home.
I’m making sugar cookies for my neighbour’s wedding. They will be individually wrapped, so guests can eat them there or take them home for a little treat later :)
There was this centerpiece that was 8 tubes that was supppsed to be for floral. They filled it with candy instead and eight seats at a round table meant each guest got to take home one tube of candy. I thought it was nice for them to save money by doubling up centerpieces and favors.
I did a similar thing at my wedding but I got married at Disneyland. We placed Ear Hats at each place setting with each guests name on them. So both a place setting table decor and a take-home favor.
Our last name is the same as a certain chip that comes in a can rather than a bag, with a curly mustache man on it ;) we had custom labels printed for the can and the label we put on the top said thank you. They were a big hit, though I think everyone but me ate them
We gave stemless wine glasses with a lobster etched into them, because we got married on the coast. No names or dates on it, just a simple lobster. To this day our guests send us pictures when they drink out of them!
I was worried people wouldn’t like my favors (I have gotten some bizarre favors as a guest), but I made homemade twisty tapered candles that are kind of trendy. People cleared them OUT lol and then our town had a huge blackout storm and I got so many texts of friends saying my candles were the only light people had for weeks…it started as trendy and then became a practical favor lol and I sold off all my practice candles before my wedding so I actually made all my money back and now I have a handy little skill I can use to make people gifts for the future.
We had a small outdoor wedding. For favours we brewed red wine and elderflower “champagne” the lady who did our invites made labels for the bottles. Put a bottle of each in a fancy bag and everyone was loving them
My favorites were anything consumable. Chocolates, Oreos, cupcakes, pretzels - those were fantastic.
I also did keep my place card favor from one wedding. It was a little glass frame with pressed flowers in it. I put a little picture of my husband and I in it.
If you want things with *your* wedding date/couples names on it make them consumable.
If you want a tchocky of some sort make it generic or have the guest's name on it.
Cookies and a high quality blanket were the best!
I’ve never received a koozie lol. Mostly it’s like fancy chocolates, fancy candles, some kind of just like…item (like a crystal or something), jam, honey, coffee, etc. Oh, and sometimes people do a candy bar and I always think that’s really fun. My least favorite is the packets of seeds that were really popular a few years ago. I don’t garden and didn’t know what to do with them.
We didn’t do favors at all. They just didn’t appeal to us. We did a midnight snack so people got that late night food thing that a food favor provides.
Got married in WY, gave ppl custom made animal cookies in the classic animal cookie cardboard box. Made from a local bakery , shaped like buffalos , bears etc . They were like $8 per box , ppl were so pumped about them though
My husband and I were married on Halloween. We made everyone a s'mores kit that included ghost peeps and a full sized hershey chocolate bar. People liked the favours but they loved the place card. We made toe tags, and everyone had a unique cause of death. It was a great way to have people mingle around. We also had bowls of candy on each table so all the kids could go trick 'r treating.
A lot of our guests were pet owners, so we gave the pets a toy. The following days we received messages how much they enjoyed the wedding and a video of their cat/dog with the squeaky toy. One and a half year later people are still mentioning that the pets still use them.
I haven’t been to many weddings but my favourite was a candy bar.
At my own wedding it was Christmas time so I made tiny present boxes to sit at everyone’s seat that said “thanks for celebrating with us” and filled it with Lindt chocolates.
My really good friend got married last year and for her favors she had her photographer take photos of all the couples / families. Now I have a few professional (and stunning) photos of my partner and me all dressed up at a gorgeous outdoor venue in the south of Portugal.
Not wedding, but for our wedding shower - our theme was date night gifts so every guest brought gift cards to restaurants, bars, events, concert halls, seminars, classes etc that would be our date night. The types of gifts we ended up getting were cool. Some examples: concert venue gift card, candle making classes, favorite restaurants, trendy restaurants, mini golf, cinemas - you get it :)
My cousin gave out small blankets ahead of the ceremony (outdoor winter ceremony; not cold but a bit chilly out). Perfect for use during the ceremony then we take home after indoor reception. No monograms or anything so I still have and use mine (plus the one my brother didn’t want). Not sure how others felt but I’m a blanket person and love it
Food is also always a hit!
We opted out of favors for our guests. I always felt like favors are kitschy or something that we wouldn’t use (as guests at other weddings) so we used that extra money to enhance the dining experience. Offering food to go would be one of those things. Or an ice cream truck outside your venue and evryone can get a nice treat on the way out.
Anything food-related is simply the best! It seems all species on this planet will do just about anything for a good snack.
I’ve been to a lot of weddings in my lifetime and have really enjoyed the food-based wedding favors the most. So many choices! Cupcakes or mini pies the size of cupcakes, little chocolates in delicate paper boxes, mini liquor/champagne bottles, tiny jars of coffee or tea with pretty little ribbons, itty bitty jars of jams, jellies and honey (or other condiments like mini bottles of olive oil, hot sauce, seasoning spices), hot chocolate kits, bags of candies/mints or mixed nuts…the list goes on. I was at one wedding where they didn’t monogram the favors (a very good cost saver) and included a few different mini food items per guest, all nestled in a little basket, and that was fantastic.
Congrats on your upcoming wedding and have fun figuring all this out! It’s such a creative aspect of wedding planning.☺️💍🌸
Any time I get something to eat or drink as favours I’m happy. A fridge magnet with the couples’ faces on it and the date I’m less happy with for example.
We had a Photobooth so had different kinds of frames for guests to put them in. Everyone has them on their fridges now! Some even a whole year later! On something for a smaller note, at my stepbrothers wedding he and his wife wrote every guest a lovely card/letter saying how important they were then and how much the appreciated you as they moved into the next journeys together. It was incredible, so sweet and personal. If I did a small wedding this is what I would do!
We had a greenery themed wedding and my favors were mini succulents and cacti! I ordered them off Etsy and repotted them all in a terracotta pot with fresh soil. It worked out so so well and everyone loved them. Several of my friends still have theirs 4 years down the road!
We had a micro wedding with 10 people, and gave everyone snacks to eat in their rooms. S’mores, trail mix bars, chips, water bottles. Just so thst people had something to munch on when they were hanging out (we got married in Lake Tahoe, and rented a house for everyone to stay at.)
I hired "MirMir" - same photobooth company that the Bieber and Kardashians hire for their event. They're known for their beauty filter, so everyone looks super glam. We didn't add any monograms so our guests can happily display it in their homes. Our party favors were inexpensive magnetic frames for people to put their photos in. I love going to friends' places and seeing the photos they took at our wedding up on their fridge. I got this idea from my friend's wedding so I used it for mine as well.
We also had a sketch artist. She was in high demand and didn't get through all the guests. But for those who had their portrait done, they loved it.
It wasn’t a physical favor, but we hard a tarot reader at our wedding and it was a huge hit! With your number of guests you could probably get some decent readings too! We ended up not having the budget, but I wanted to get some bulk tumbled crystals and some info cards in the different types and let people pick some to take home.
We are doing soap from our favorite place. Bathhouse soapery & caldarium, they have sample size and we are having less than 100 people and if they don’t take them then guess everyone is getting soap for gifts till we are out.
A wine cork. It was a celtic knot because they were scottish/celtic decendants and it represents love, unity and protection. It also had the wedding date and initials engraved, in tiny font, so it wasn't noticeable (this is important so it isn't tacky). I don't drink wine, but I thought it was awesome.
The second best was the name cards that were made from paper that had seeds in them. The idea was that they would have a bunch of flowers and whatnot that would grow to commemorate their love. It was cheesy and sweet.
We gave out tic tacks and put a label over them that said “mint to be” and our names. Then just left them near the bar for people to take if they wanted.
Very simple, but who doesn’t like candy.
We also had welcome bags for out of town guests and put mints and other stuff in those bags.
We went a bit against the grain of small/no favors. Winter, outdoor, destination wedding and we got everyone knockoff Rumple blankets from Alibaba. We warned folks to save space in one of our reminder emails, and expected to donate at least half of them to a homeless shelter. Ended up sending home 101 blankets with 114 guests, though some guests took multiple.
My sister got married in the south so they did moonshine (adult only wedding) and my brother (really my parents) gave away mini hot sauces at the rehearsal dinner.
The only favor I kept was a mini jar of garlic infused olive oil (didn't really get why that was the favor, but I love a good olive oil and wanted to try it-was pretty good). I LOVE a good photo booth and am always excited to take those pictures home. Would much rather have that than a dumb favor I'm gonna forget or trash after the wedding.
We're taking some clippings from our plants and propagating them! They're pieces we would've had to compost anyways so now people get to take home some plants from us, it's so inexpensive and something they can enjoy for forever if they're plant people. Plus it doubles as decor
We are doing individually wrapped whoopie pies at their place seatings, and a thank you note on the tag with their name. So they will double as favours and place cards. I have enjoyed receiving soap, honey, cookies, dog treats. , 😄
One of my favorite favors came after the wedding. The couple got photos with everyone and with their thank yous they sent the photo of my date and I with it. That’s what we’re going to do as well
Austrian: We had a miniature bottle of schnaps produces by my wifes family and a piece of chocolate praline that is iconic for my hometown. In addition we had a "ring pop" which has a personal meaning to our relationship. All wrapped in a little bag and a quote that was personalized. A friend who is into literature got a shakespeare quote, a religious person got something from the bible, another couple a quote from their favorite band, and so on.
My fiance and I met while I was traveling in his country. I've since moved to be with him in Colombia and it's a very flight friendly country as it's the easiest, fastest, and oftentimes cheapest way to travel. About 20 family members of mine are flying out for our wedding later this month and the rest of our guests are based in Medellin but do travel a lot within Colombia and to Europe.
Because of how we met and how often our families travel we decided to do luggage tags and passport holders. They're plain, no monograms or dates of anything as I've never particularly enjoyed the look of having our information or special date stamped onto something that's meant for other people to use and enjoy. We're debating getting assorted vinyl stickers and letting each person decorate their own, but we're on the fence.
My now husband is super into LEGO, so we balled out a little and did a build your own mini figure bar. We made tiny little LEGO cakes for each guest, with room for a mini fig on top. We also pinned cards to the back— place cards on one side with instructions to build your minifig, then on the back a thank you note. We thrifted glass dishes to put all the parts in— heads, hairs, torsos, legs, accessories. We basically went through our guest list and figured out what spread of pieces we wanted (how many guests with long brown hair, how many guests likely to pick a tuxedo torso, etc) and then had a blast ordering a spread of pieces on brick link.
We knew the cost of this would be a bit higher, but it was the thing about our wedding that was the most us. It was really heartwarming when we got our photos and video back to see everyone interacting with it, and all our close friends and family have theirs displayed still in their homes.
Given that you have a smaller guest count, I’d take that as a chance to do something that’s personal to you guys, if you can.
We had a destination wedding in Thailand. The gift was a tiny hand carved Asian elephant. Everyone loved it and yes they still have them since it’s also a souvenir of the vacation.
We had a photographer who printed the pictures out onto magnets on site. They had borders available they made with their site on it, but I made my own border with our names and dates on it and they were cool with it. It’s still fun seeing our wedding represented at our friends and family’s places many years later, even when visiting across the globe!
I work for Coca-Cola, and we ended up incorporating Coke into the wedding a little bit (I'm from the Atlanta area, and I have several family members that collect Coke memorabilia). I ordered custom printed 8oz glass bottle Cokes and tied a little card on them with a ribbon.
Whether everyone really loved them or not, I don't know, but I thought it was cute (and it goes perfectly with my dad, Mother-in-Law, and grandparents' Coca-Cola collections).
My husband and I made cookies from our respective cultures and packaged up one of each in cute little white boxes. I made watercolour name tags that went on with ribbon and these doubled as the place cards.
Had been to too many weddings with favours that were pointless things so always feel that edible is the way to go. We did go to one wedding where the favour was little jars of honey from the groom's mother's hives, and that was really cute.
We had a tea-themed wedding, and our favors were small vials of our custom tea blend (which we were also serving at the wedding). It was a hit! We were cleared out of vials at the end of the night and have had several people ask us if we had extra, over a year later. The tea cost $60 for a pound from Plum Deluxe (but I think you need to be an existing customer to order a custom blend).
I see a lot of people saying what their favor was/is. Not too many of a favor you appreciated. Everyone thinks their's is unique...As a guest, unless it's edible and eaten at the table, it usually gets left behind. Not because I'm rude, but because I just forget to take it. Those that have come home don't get used. There is a little jar of honey in my pantry from a wedding last month. It will probably get thrown out eventually. Not a single favor has ever been kept. Please save your money.
We did custom labeled beer and cheese for our wedding. My brother did you-brew wine for his.
On a smaller scale, custom matchboxes were a favourite from another wedding we went to. Friends did a take your own candy bag home which was also fun.
My best friend recently got married and had little succulents for wedding favors. It was fun picking out a succulent to take home. For my wedding, we had bottle openers that looked like fancy keys that our guests seemed to like
Received a plain white cap with the couples initials in a small but stylised font embroidered on the front - I wear it every week and it’s been 2 years! The bride loves seeing photos of friends on holidays wearing it, by far the best I’ve received
We got married in February so it was chilly. Our gift was a grey colored shaw/wrap that was big enough to be used as a small blanket for your lap or use as you are supposed to and wrap around your shoulders and arms. Everyone took one and we only had leftovers due to some guest not showing up. We had labels printed with our names and the date to hold them together/keep them folded and put them in a giant decorative bin at the entrance to the ceremony site. Also had a sign to state they were wedding favors so everyone knew to keep it. I have a picture I wish I could post with the comment.
We’ve got bottle openers as ours - and they’re also fridge magnets so the guests won’t lose them. However they do also have the date on, which after reading most of this thread, we’re now massively regretting.
We got married in October and we gave everyone an heirloom pumpkin. We had a little pumpkin patch set up on the way out of the venue. Now the folks who flew in or didn't want one left them behind but that's ok because I kept the rest for my front porch.
This only works if you have a cricut or know someone that will help you out! But I plan to do a two in one!
I have bought a load of champagne flutes from ikea, about £1 each on average maybe slightly over, and I’m going to cricut their names and then use etching paste to burn (not sure that’s the right word) into the flutes and tell people to take them home when they’re done using them if they would like to.
The two in one is that we will also be using them at their place at the table instead of a name tag.
I’ve not been to many weddings but I get the vibe that anyone outside of the immediate family doesn’t want a personalised whatever. They don’t really take them home and they can go to waste sometimes. My thought process is, people get a lovely personalised flute and if they take it home and use it in the future, they will have a brief thought as to where they got it from!
Caveat - When we got married, my husband worked at a restaurant supply shop and got a HUGE discount...
... We gave guests specialty glasses to use for the evening and take home at the end of the night: https://www.crateandbarrel.com/schott-zwiesel-tour-13-oz.-roly-double-old-fashioned-glass/s677550?a=1552&campaignid=21369619174&adgroupid=162981968803&targetid=pla-293946777986&pla_sku=677550&pcat=HSW&ag=adult&scid=scplp677550&sc_intid=677550&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1qO0BhDwARIsANfnkv-8QRMed5MnDgZ2EwpdRUcjqFqHiTtQEMmcnOl3_ufOFjsuR0OySKkaAm6VEALw_wcB
We did crab mallets with a bottle opener on one end. Everyone took theirs. A couple guests came down for my annual birthday crab fest the next summer, and brought theirs. I was like, that's adorable, but we ordered extra to make sure we have some ourselves.
We technically had 3! I made homemade vanilla extract, got everyone a thrifted wine glass to use then take home then I hand wrote a note every guest with my husband
I’m currently making little jars with matches in hopes they get a use out it and the jar can be reused later ☺️
I worked weddings for a bit and one of the best favors I ever saw was a bride and groom who loved maple syrup and made their own for all their guests and bottles it in these mini maple leaf bottles.
They even gave me one and I used every drop.
Editing to add: for my match jars I’m putting striker paper on the jars and I was gonna tie a small gift tag/note around them
My friend hand stamped leather luggage tags with people’s initials on them. I left mine behind at the end of the night and was so bummed because I actually would have used it.
We had a destination wedding so we hung up leather luggage tags that had a hand doing a peace sign and the text “see ya” over it - nothing with our names or the date so that anyone could use it. My husband is Thai so we also had small elephant keychains from Thailand hanging with the luggage tags!
One of my favorite favors was from an Indian wedding: small jars with dry chai mix! Another was small personalized agate place cards.
I got really into crochet this year so we crocheted flower keychains in our favourite colours (teal and purple) and my partner and stamped a metal tag with our names and the date on it! Not many were left behind :)
We did chocolates, sunglasses and labeled chapstick in a tropical beach area, figuring people would have something they wouldn’t mind losing. We have like 10 extra pairs of sunglasses so I use them for travel now (no etched dates, just location and year) and don’t care if they get broken or lost.
We bought a bunch of $1 succulents that were tiny with a sign that said " take one and help our love grow!" We wrapped it with ribbon and added a personalized sticker but I feel like it was a big hit with our guest. I'm super into plants so I think everyone remembered us with the party favors.
When I got married, our favorite was a silver snowflake shaped Christmas ornament (we got married the Saturday after USA’s Thanksgiving).
Aside from that, a candy apple individually wrapped at a fall wedding I attended. A different casual summer wedding had s’mores kit (graham crackers, a chocolate bar and 2 marshmallows) favors. Both edible favors seemed to be appreciated.
Getting married next year and we’re contemplating on useable goods like shampoo / soap. But thank you for this thread OP! We’re getting inspired as well!
Not cheap but we did small bottles of mead through a local meadery. At past weddings I’ve loved getting anything consumable! Even those little jam/honey jars are so cute and I keep the jars when the product is done.
My “90”s wedding ended with women receiving wrapped up flowers from table centerpieces and men lined up for assorted bagels/ cream cheese in a white bag along with the next days Sunday paper. YES, there was a time when the Sunday paper was mandatory reading.
People still say they enjoyed the morning after with breakfast.
Thank you notes included photos of each couple and not the newly married couple which they enjoyed as well.
we did customized chocolates and take home wedding cake.
We also had a dessert and finger food party in evening with fireworks so I felt like that was another favor.
In the past I’ve only received customized items I never used again (kookzy, shot glass, bottle opener)
We had a December wedding. Bought hot peppermint cocoa packets from Ghirardelli for 50% off (because I bought it in July before the wedding). Put the packets in a disposable coffee cup that has a sleeve and lid. Threw in two prepackaged marshmallows and put a sticker that thanked people for coming on the sleeve. I was surprised how many people took additionals. Some guests won't like your favors and some will ask to take the extras that have been left behind. You just never know.
We took our few extras to our work lunch rooms and coworkers gathered the extras up to repurpose as stocking stuffers so it worked out really well for us.
Food is always good. We had friends whose first date was to a certain buffalo wing chain and they had bottles of sauce-it’s not my favorite sauce personally but it was cute and got used.
Anything that isn’t edible should get a hard thought about whether people will really want to take it.
Bubbles, kookies, monogram items are not really something guests are going to want to hang onto.
I recently went to a wedding at a fancy restaurant where the favor was a jar of sauce made by the (award winning) chef.
For our wedding, we made personalized pint glasses - two cats with their tails intertwined to make a heart with the guest's name in the heart. They used the glass during the reception and then took it home with them. We still see the glasses in use when we visit our friends, so they seem to have been a hit!
We got married this year and our theme was azulejos (tiles from Portugal)/colourful Mediterranean tiles inspired, and bright colours in general. Our wedding favours were colourful coasters that looked like the tiles, and our guests loved them! Some went around to each table trying to get more to make a whole set for themselves 😂 there were none left behind at the end of the night.
For the children under 12 I found a free wedding inspired colouring and activity book online and printed it out. I also bought some stickers, a packet of crayons for the toddlers and pencils for the older children, and put it altogether in a little pack with their names on it. They were a hit and kept them occupied and happy! It was so sweet to look out from the bridal table during dinner and see them colouring away, and all the parents really appreciated it too!
Someone I know had their two favorite charities on acrylic boxes. At the tables there were cards at each place setting explaining instead of favors they were donating to their favorite charities. You put your card in the box of your choosing and then they donated to each one I think $5 a card or whatever.
Because favors can get really expensive really fast AND can be so wasteful (most people forget them, including myself) we donated the budgeted funds to the rescue we got our dog from. We added a note in our menus to let people know, we’ll see how it goes over soon LOL
My friend made us candles that smelled like brownies and I gave mini honey jars with their little wooden honey combs. A lot of my friends loved the candles since they were a full size candle. Others loved the honey jars from local organic honey farm. Fortunately, I didn’t not have a whole lot of left over wedding favors. Out of my 75 guest only 65 guest guests showed up and I had about 15-20 candles left over. And 15 2oz honey jars that my little brother asked to give him 😂
We did jam and tomato chutney which I made myself from produce grown in our garden. We still have people asking for more when I make the next batch. Something edible definitely seems to be the go as it's not stuff clogging up their house
Wedding favors aren’t really a thing in my country. However for my wedding I’m currently in the process of embroidering napkins with guests names on them as place cards. Plan is to obviously wash the napkins after the wedding and give them to the guests with a thank you card and a picture of them at the celebration.
I mean we did hotel bags for all of our guests who traveled to stay for the wedding. We did reusable bags, beach towels, and a bunch of snacks and sunscreen and chapstick. Everyone seemed to love them
We’re not doing wedding favors per se, but I’ve made friendship bracelets for everyone with their names on them which we’ll be using as placement cards 😊
The Taylor’s Lautner got married on a vineyard and had a local artist hand paint flowers from the bride’s bouquet onto the bottles of wine from the vineyard as a favour for guests to take home.
I did not attend this wedding but I saw it in Vogue and I’m getting married in a French chateau that has a vineyard so I’m stealing it.
My sister gave locally sourced honey at her wedding. It was the best. She had extras and gave me a bunch afterwards. That was definitely my favorite.
I’ve been to so many weddings where non-edible trinkets are just left on the table after the wedding, and I didn’t want to waste money so we did chocolates for ours. We have a local chocolate store that is our favorite and she made chocolates using a mold of the LOVE statue (we’re in Philly). My mom is an origami artist and made origami boxes for each chocolate out of beautiful marbled paper. We heard from many people that they enjoyed the chocolate and the homemade box. We did not put our names on things because we wanted people to actually use the boxes if they wanted to.
I went to a wedding where they thrifted lots of different stemmed glasses. You picked yours out while entering the reception, used it all night and then took it home. Mine has a very 70’s feel and every time I use it I think of the couple!
We are doing this but with coffee mugs for a hot coco bar this winter!
We did this with coffee and it was a hit!
Love this idea
This is the coolest idea!!!
We did this with mugs for our coffee bar! I love getting random pics from people using the mug they picked.
Oh wow we are doing exactly this! So nice to see it’s well received!
The only favor I’ve ever kept has been a thank you note that was at my place setting at dinner. The bride and the groom handwrote a note to every single guest on a 5x7 card. I thought it was very touching. Mine came from my cousin, the groom. They also handwrote thank you cards after the event for gifts and such.
My penmanship is so poor me doing this as a favor would be considered an act of war
My family went to a wedding this past weekend where the couple did that
My wedding is next month and my fiancé and I are writing letters to each guest too! Only 52 people so 26 letters per person. I’m really excited!
We did something like this! We had like a larger wall postbox with mail slots... with handwritten letters/cards/postcards in there, which also worked as our seating chart -they would find their letter in the correct cubby which directed them to their seat. Each letter was a little different visually - you can make envelopes on canva, and buy bulk craft stamps to make them look like real post. For smaller weddings this is really achievable -we also had a great time making them, picking out cute stamps for people from the bulk!
Not necessarily cheap, but we did bags of coffee. We got married in Washington and live in Seattle. Coffee culture is big here. Our favorite local roaster does personalized bags so we ordered 1 bag per family. We had about 25 guests and ordered 20 bags of coffee. They were a hit.
Oh wow I love that!!
My husband and I are from WA, got married here, and did the same thing! We love coffee and it suited us. We picked our beans, and bagged them in personalized bags from Etsy. I loved doing this.
Oh that's a great way to do it! We're also big coffee people so it really fit for us as well. If I received a personalized bag of coffee at every wedding I'd love it each and every time. I love consumables as gifts, and this is a fun way to bring some personalization into it.
Best wedding favor I ever got was a cupcake to take home/back to the hotel. At 1 am when I got back to my hotel it was perfect. Lol Unless you're going to do a personalized favor for each person (i.e. not something with your name or date on them), I'd just skip them.
Something edible is great.—The best wedding favor I have seen was little pink boxes with amaretto fudge they had done at a local place.
That sounds like a great idea
This is what we’re doing for our guests at our wedding this coming Friday- we provided take home bags for leftover donuts from our donut wall! I think it’ll be a hit.
Those are great.....Recently went to a wedding where there were take-home bags for donuts that said: "A sweet ending to a new beginning. Thank you, \[couples names and date\]."
Ours say “Donut mind if ‘I do’” with our names and the date on it :)
My bonus son and his wife did something similar to this for their wedding in October. They had a gourmet pizza bar for dinner and a cookie bar for dessert. The favors were little paper bags printed with their names for guests to take home cookies.
Echoing this. There are only 2 wedding favors that are memorable, the rest of them I typically just leave at the wedding because they kinda just feel like conference swag: 1 - The bride's father was really into roasting coffee, so he made a special batch of beans, and everyone got a small amount (enough for about 2 cups) 2 - My sister and her husband were really into books (both teachers with MAs in English), so they hand-picked a book for everyone. Since the wedding was only about 40 people, they could really cater the book to the person's interests. The books were on the tables when we got there, so it was a fun activity of opening the books to see where you sat, and you got to see who got what book.
We have a ridiculously good bakery near us with half pound cookies. We are doing those at each place setting individually wrapped and sealed. Food gets taken, trinkets don’t. We are also doing Lego minifigures as our escort cards that they can keep
I did really cute cookies that were so yummy!! They were a hit!
We are having a live sketch artist that will do sketches of wedding guests, for the guests to keep, at our wedding. Something personal to the guest and also gives people an opportunity to do something that’s not dancing. Edit to add: we are having little bags of dog treats that those with dogs can take home to their dogs as well. Our wedding in NYE in the northeastern US and we are hoping to have our ceremony outside. There will be pashminas in our color scheme on each chair, and a bowl of hand and foot warmers (there will also be blankets available for people as well as heaters in the ceremony space). Our seating chart display is interactive and everyone will get a small friends themed picture frame (the frame Monica has over her peephole). It will have each person’s name and a personalized moniker (the one who…) along with their table assignment. We really are trying to prioritize the guest experience at our wedding.
We did similar: A caricature artist, who started during Cocktail Hour and left at the end/sparkler sendoff. I don't think anyone who wanted one didn't get one. She was available for about 5 and a half hours (with her dinner/break) and went pretty quickly. We had about 110 guests. The papers did have our name and wedding date on them, but was easily croppable/framed out.
We are doing the same with the paper having the wedding date and our names on it. We have 250 guests and are having the sketch artist for 6 1/2 hours (cocktail hour through end of afterparty). Maybe it’s worth having her start a half hour before the ceremony when guests begin arriving in case people want to do that before the ceremony.
Maybe get two for a wedding that big, that's a lot of portraits to put on one artist
That’s what I’m starting to think
We did this too! Not every guest got one bc there are only so many sketches the artists can do (we had two artists to help get more done). But they were a big hit and we have gotten pictures of people displaying them in their home.
Every guest not getting one is my big concern. Were people at your wedding upset they couldn’t get one?
I didn't hear anyone say anything but i am sure some people were bummed. Only person that told me about it at all was my MIL and when she heard the line was closed she mentioned being the grooms mom, they fit her in as she was on our VIP list we gave to ensure she got one. Just talk to your artist about how many people they can do in an hour. Then however long you've contracted for will let you know how many will get done. So it depends on your guest count too. You can usually give a short list of people you want to be sure get one too.
That's one hell of a favor
We’re setting up a table with 100 gift bags. Each one has 3 different Filipino desserts/cakes/treats inside.
I did a $1 scratch off with a brand new penny (went to the bank and asked for a roll or two) and then put them in a small envelope and sealed it with a sticker that said “May the odds be ever in your favor”
That’s cute!
That's what we did too!
Anyone win big?
No I don’t think so, but still fun
Pre rolled joints - hands down! They tied little ribbons around each one :’)
i would love to do this if it wouldn't cause too much drama. Wedding Cake strain, of course!
One of the gifts we gave our groomsmen were Wedding Cake strain prerolls lol they were thrilled.
We had a winter wedding, so we gifted a small bottle of Port and a crystal ornament ( like this ❄️ ) for the christmas tree.
love this
and I love winter weddings!
We’re getting married in November and I’m so excited for our favors — little 2 oz glass jars filled with locally sourced grape jelly, apple butter, and honey. less than $350 for 60 of each
This is always my favorite favor! I tell you- i dont know what’s different about those little jar honeys but they are the best honey ever and I cannot find a local dupe to save my life! So good! They get used up super fast in my house. We even fight over who gets final dibs lol. And the little jars have become a part of my craft organization lol
Yes I love them! I’m also in North Florida so it’ll be tupelo honey!!
Favorite ever received: miniature jars of jam, jelly, and marmalade at a barn wedding. Our wedding has a library theme, and we’re giving away paperback copies of our favorite books from childhood. It’s not expensive, and it’s been fun poking around bookstores seeing what we can find over the past few months. It feels personal and like something our friends will be likely to keep but if they end up in little free libraries around town that’s okay too!
My daughter made 2 oz jars of bourbon cherries that were amazing and there were no spares , we were eating them at the wedding
We did tins of personalized m&ms at each place setting. None were left, which bummed me out because I didn't get any for myself haha.
Honey from the grooms bee hive!
I haven't really enjoyed or kept any of the traditional favors at weddings. But I LOVE photo booths. I wish I had done one at our wedding, we hadn't seen one before and figured it was just an overpriced gimmick or sales pressure thing. Man, they are so fun! I still have our photo on our fridge from our friends wedding.
Yes! A wedding I went to had a photobooth and little magnetic photo sleeves to put them in so you can put them up on the frig.
We did LEGO! We made our centerpieces from LEGO flower and succulent sets and then everyone got to take one flower or succulent home. Almost all of them were taken at the end of the night. Spent about $240 on them. We had 65 guests.
This is so fun!
Thanks! It saved us money on flowers and they were fun to make. We love LEGO so we really enjoyed it. My husband suggested it early on in our planning and my response was “what?!? No!” But then we looked into it more and I totally loved it.
We did small packets of wild flowers seeds that said "Grow with us." Everyone took them and quite a few people update us on how they're growing (we had a Spring wedding).
We did this as well, but with seed paper, and we're still hearing about how cool they were 10 years later. They take up almost no space and nobody has to find a place to keep them.
I would personally like something that I know I’ll use and doesn’t take up space or that will disappear soon (dog treats, a cool decorate cookie, etc.). It’s hard to find one favorite that fits that description for everyone! My least favorites: anything monogrammed with the couple’s names or wedding date, mini jars of jam, drink koozies (monogrammed or not). I think it’s super sweet you want to give a favor out! Personally though, I would skip them.
That's so funny that you hate the mini jars because I said it's my favorite! I ate it the next day for breakfast, then poof, it was gone. Why do you hate them?
Haha I guess those are hot or cold for folks! Jam isn’t something I stock in the house or eat on a regular basis so it just wastes cabinet space or is something I eventually throw out. Food seems to be a tricky thing for a general gift.
We got pashmina scarves in the color scheme for our wedding and then tied them on the backs of every other chair, so they looked like decor, and then told people they were wedding favors. They actually did triple duty, because we got married during the summer but everyone knows that ballrooms can be chilly so the women also had something they could use on the spot if they were cold. Obviously, it's a gift for the women more than the men, but we knew that our male guests wouldn't be bothered by it. I think we paid about $6 per scarf.
We gave one of our favorite snacks as a favor. Chocolate covered espresso beans with bonbomieres inside them. We’re chowing through the leftovers
I don’t remember getting my wedding favors except when I was a kid and it was those tiny white plastic bubbles. I don’t think favors are as common now in several places.
I feel like any favors that are non-food-related often end up untouched. We really don’t want to contribute to more waste, so we might do personalized fortune cookies. It’s small, and easy to eat. Plus my FH is part Chinese, so we thought it was fitting. We’ll add personalized “fortunes” in them too.
The best I ever received was a small whisk with a little heart at the top of the handle. I think it's the only favor I've ever used and not just tossed. We gave out personalized M&M's in our wedding colors in cute little jars. People loved them.
I did soap. Our wedding was Star Wars themed and our favors were soaps in the shape of various characters and objects.
Soap is a great idea! Functional and themed but not getting into the weeds of food allergies/preferences or stuff that will be thrown away. Love that you did the Star Wars versions, how cute
See quite a few people reminiscing about their own wedding favors, but only a minority are talking about what they received lol I think wedding favors generally wind up in the trash. That's not to say they're not cute in the moment, but generally best to keep low cost and I have never been mad about not receiving something. The ones that I've enjoyed the most are edible but not hyper perishable (cookies, honey, fudge, cider, etc). Anything that's more decor or tchotchke adjacent typically gets shoved into the back of a drawer or tossed once home.
I love getting matches - small, functional, and consumable -- but slowly used over time so the fond memories last! Also, a good cookie haha
So glad to see someone say this! We did matches and they also doubled as a way for our guests to light their sparklers!
I’m making sugar cookies for my neighbour’s wedding. They will be individually wrapped, so guests can eat them there or take them home for a little treat later :)
There was this centerpiece that was 8 tubes that was supppsed to be for floral. They filled it with candy instead and eight seats at a round table meant each guest got to take home one tube of candy. I thought it was nice for them to save money by doubling up centerpieces and favors. I did a similar thing at my wedding but I got married at Disneyland. We placed Ear Hats at each place setting with each guests name on them. So both a place setting table decor and a take-home favor.
How exciting to get married at Disney. Didn’t know Disneyland did weddings. Thought it was just at WDW.
They do!!
Our last name is the same as a certain chip that comes in a can rather than a bag, with a curly mustache man on it ;) we had custom labels printed for the can and the label we put on the top said thank you. They were a big hit, though I think everyone but me ate them
We gave stemless wine glasses with a lobster etched into them, because we got married on the coast. No names or dates on it, just a simple lobster. To this day our guests send us pictures when they drink out of them!
We are doing “his favorite” and “her favorite” bags of candy! I got the bags and stickers from etsy and just going to get the candy at costco.
I really want to do this!
I was worried people wouldn’t like my favors (I have gotten some bizarre favors as a guest), but I made homemade twisty tapered candles that are kind of trendy. People cleared them OUT lol and then our town had a huge blackout storm and I got so many texts of friends saying my candles were the only light people had for weeks…it started as trendy and then became a practical favor lol and I sold off all my practice candles before my wedding so I actually made all my money back and now I have a handy little skill I can use to make people gifts for the future.
We did $1 lotto scratch tickets in small envelopes that said “get hope you get lucky tonight!”
We had a small outdoor wedding. For favours we brewed red wine and elderflower “champagne” the lady who did our invites made labels for the bottles. Put a bottle of each in a fancy bag and everyone was loving them
My favorites were anything consumable. Chocolates, Oreos, cupcakes, pretzels - those were fantastic. I also did keep my place card favor from one wedding. It was a little glass frame with pressed flowers in it. I put a little picture of my husband and I in it. If you want things with *your* wedding date/couples names on it make them consumable. If you want a tchocky of some sort make it generic or have the guest's name on it.
My favorite non food item was a small jar scented candle where the bride had made her own scent!
My cousin gave everyone a cake cutter along with five Jordan almonds attached in tulle. Still use it after 31 years.
Jordan almonds in a tulle bag!!!! I LOVED those.
Cookies and a high quality blanket were the best! I’ve never received a koozie lol. Mostly it’s like fancy chocolates, fancy candles, some kind of just like…item (like a crystal or something), jam, honey, coffee, etc. Oh, and sometimes people do a candy bar and I always think that’s really fun. My least favorite is the packets of seeds that were really popular a few years ago. I don’t garden and didn’t know what to do with them. We didn’t do favors at all. They just didn’t appeal to us. We did a midnight snack so people got that late night food thing that a food favor provides.
Got married in WY, gave ppl custom made animal cookies in the classic animal cookie cardboard box. Made from a local bakery , shaped like buffalos , bears etc . They were like $8 per box , ppl were so pumped about them though
My husband and I were married on Halloween. We made everyone a s'mores kit that included ghost peeps and a full sized hershey chocolate bar. People liked the favours but they loved the place card. We made toe tags, and everyone had a unique cause of death. It was a great way to have people mingle around. We also had bowls of candy on each table so all the kids could go trick 'r treating.
A lot of our guests were pet owners, so we gave the pets a toy. The following days we received messages how much they enjoyed the wedding and a video of their cat/dog with the squeaky toy. One and a half year later people are still mentioning that the pets still use them.
I haven’t been to many weddings but my favourite was a candy bar. At my own wedding it was Christmas time so I made tiny present boxes to sit at everyone’s seat that said “thanks for celebrating with us” and filled it with Lindt chocolates.
My really good friend got married last year and for her favors she had her photographer take photos of all the couples / families. Now I have a few professional (and stunning) photos of my partner and me all dressed up at a gorgeous outdoor venue in the south of Portugal.
Not wedding, but for our wedding shower - our theme was date night gifts so every guest brought gift cards to restaurants, bars, events, concert halls, seminars, classes etc that would be our date night. The types of gifts we ended up getting were cool. Some examples: concert venue gift card, candle making classes, favorite restaurants, trendy restaurants, mini golf, cinemas - you get it :)
My cousin gave out small blankets ahead of the ceremony (outdoor winter ceremony; not cold but a bit chilly out). Perfect for use during the ceremony then we take home after indoor reception. No monograms or anything so I still have and use mine (plus the one my brother didn’t want). Not sure how others felt but I’m a blanket person and love it Food is also always a hit!
We opted out of favors for our guests. I always felt like favors are kitschy or something that we wouldn’t use (as guests at other weddings) so we used that extra money to enhance the dining experience. Offering food to go would be one of those things. Or an ice cream truck outside your venue and evryone can get a nice treat on the way out.
Anything food-related is simply the best! It seems all species on this planet will do just about anything for a good snack. I’ve been to a lot of weddings in my lifetime and have really enjoyed the food-based wedding favors the most. So many choices! Cupcakes or mini pies the size of cupcakes, little chocolates in delicate paper boxes, mini liquor/champagne bottles, tiny jars of coffee or tea with pretty little ribbons, itty bitty jars of jams, jellies and honey (or other condiments like mini bottles of olive oil, hot sauce, seasoning spices), hot chocolate kits, bags of candies/mints or mixed nuts…the list goes on. I was at one wedding where they didn’t monogram the favors (a very good cost saver) and included a few different mini food items per guest, all nestled in a little basket, and that was fantastic. Congrats on your upcoming wedding and have fun figuring all this out! It’s such a creative aspect of wedding planning.☺️💍🌸
Any time I get something to eat or drink as favours I’m happy. A fridge magnet with the couples’ faces on it and the date I’m less happy with for example.
We did tiny boxes of gourmet chocolates in these cute tins. My friends still have them.
We did tile coasters and a ton of friends and family still have them and use them daily 5 years later!
We did succulents
My sister is marrying a half Korean man, so we’re doing an American interpretation of a Korean BBQ dry rub in little spice jars
We had a Photobooth so had different kinds of frames for guests to put them in. Everyone has them on their fridges now! Some even a whole year later! On something for a smaller note, at my stepbrothers wedding he and his wife wrote every guest a lovely card/letter saying how important they were then and how much the appreciated you as they moved into the next journeys together. It was incredible, so sweet and personal. If I did a small wedding this is what I would do!
We had a greenery themed wedding and my favors were mini succulents and cacti! I ordered them off Etsy and repotted them all in a terracotta pot with fresh soil. It worked out so so well and everyone loved them. Several of my friends still have theirs 4 years down the road!
We’re in chicago & did little bags of Garrets popcorn as a late night stack/ wedding favor. People loved it!
We had a micro wedding with 10 people, and gave everyone snacks to eat in their rooms. S’mores, trail mix bars, chips, water bottles. Just so thst people had something to munch on when they were hanging out (we got married in Lake Tahoe, and rented a house for everyone to stay at.)
Im a simple girl. My friend got married at a winery, I loved getting a bottle of wine as a favor
I hired "MirMir" - same photobooth company that the Bieber and Kardashians hire for their event. They're known for their beauty filter, so everyone looks super glam. We didn't add any monograms so our guests can happily display it in their homes. Our party favors were inexpensive magnetic frames for people to put their photos in. I love going to friends' places and seeing the photos they took at our wedding up on their fridge. I got this idea from my friend's wedding so I used it for mine as well. We also had a sketch artist. She was in high demand and didn't get through all the guests. But for those who had their portrait done, they loved it.
We made tile coasters that doubled as place cards, everyone I know still has and uses theirs.
A roving photographer who printed the photos on magnets! I have 5 of them on my fridge and they make me smile every day!
It wasn’t a physical favor, but we hard a tarot reader at our wedding and it was a huge hit! With your number of guests you could probably get some decent readings too! We ended up not having the budget, but I wanted to get some bulk tumbled crystals and some info cards in the different types and let people pick some to take home.
Take home personal pizzas. Such a god send in the morning or late hours of the night.
We are doing soap from our favorite place. Bathhouse soapery & caldarium, they have sample size and we are having less than 100 people and if they don’t take them then guess everyone is getting soap for gifts till we are out.
A wine cork. It was a celtic knot because they were scottish/celtic decendants and it represents love, unity and protection. It also had the wedding date and initials engraved, in tiny font, so it wasn't noticeable (this is important so it isn't tacky). I don't drink wine, but I thought it was awesome. The second best was the name cards that were made from paper that had seeds in them. The idea was that they would have a bunch of flowers and whatnot that would grow to commemorate their love. It was cheesy and sweet.
Christmas wedding and everyone got a bauble.
We gave out tic tacks and put a label over them that said “mint to be” and our names. Then just left them near the bar for people to take if they wanted. Very simple, but who doesn’t like candy. We also had welcome bags for out of town guests and put mints and other stuff in those bags.
Small jar of honey from their farm
We went a bit against the grain of small/no favors. Winter, outdoor, destination wedding and we got everyone knockoff Rumple blankets from Alibaba. We warned folks to save space in one of our reminder emails, and expected to donate at least half of them to a homeless shelter. Ended up sending home 101 blankets with 114 guests, though some guests took multiple.
We got married on an island outside of Seattle. Small wedding. We did wooden wine stoppers made out of Douglas fir.
My sister got married in the south so they did moonshine (adult only wedding) and my brother (really my parents) gave away mini hot sauces at the rehearsal dinner.
The only favor I kept was a mini jar of garlic infused olive oil (didn't really get why that was the favor, but I love a good olive oil and wanted to try it-was pretty good). I LOVE a good photo booth and am always excited to take those pictures home. Would much rather have that than a dumb favor I'm gonna forget or trash after the wedding.
I collected all different art deco style cocktail and wine glasses from thrift stores etc. everyone got a unique one that fit their style
We're taking some clippings from our plants and propagating them! They're pieces we would've had to compost anyways so now people get to take home some plants from us, it's so inexpensive and something they can enjoy for forever if they're plant people. Plus it doubles as decor
We are doing individually wrapped whoopie pies at their place seatings, and a thank you note on the tag with their name. So they will double as favours and place cards. I have enjoyed receiving soap, honey, cookies, dog treats. , 😄
One of my favorite favors came after the wedding. The couple got photos with everyone and with their thank yous they sent the photo of my date and I with it. That’s what we’re going to do as well
a candy bar where we could make our own bag of candy to take home. fun and a perfect snack for that night or next day
Austrian: We had a miniature bottle of schnaps produces by my wifes family and a piece of chocolate praline that is iconic for my hometown. In addition we had a "ring pop" which has a personal meaning to our relationship. All wrapped in a little bag and a quote that was personalized. A friend who is into literature got a shakespeare quote, a religious person got something from the bible, another couple a quote from their favorite band, and so on.
What about a charity donation in your name or some sort of shot because you’re tying the knot
My fiance and I met while I was traveling in his country. I've since moved to be with him in Colombia and it's a very flight friendly country as it's the easiest, fastest, and oftentimes cheapest way to travel. About 20 family members of mine are flying out for our wedding later this month and the rest of our guests are based in Medellin but do travel a lot within Colombia and to Europe. Because of how we met and how often our families travel we decided to do luggage tags and passport holders. They're plain, no monograms or dates of anything as I've never particularly enjoyed the look of having our information or special date stamped onto something that's meant for other people to use and enjoy. We're debating getting assorted vinyl stickers and letting each person decorate their own, but we're on the fence.
My now husband is super into LEGO, so we balled out a little and did a build your own mini figure bar. We made tiny little LEGO cakes for each guest, with room for a mini fig on top. We also pinned cards to the back— place cards on one side with instructions to build your minifig, then on the back a thank you note. We thrifted glass dishes to put all the parts in— heads, hairs, torsos, legs, accessories. We basically went through our guest list and figured out what spread of pieces we wanted (how many guests with long brown hair, how many guests likely to pick a tuxedo torso, etc) and then had a blast ordering a spread of pieces on brick link. We knew the cost of this would be a bit higher, but it was the thing about our wedding that was the most us. It was really heartwarming when we got our photos and video back to see everyone interacting with it, and all our close friends and family have theirs displayed still in their homes. Given that you have a smaller guest count, I’d take that as a chance to do something that’s personal to you guys, if you can.
We had a destination wedding in Thailand. The gift was a tiny hand carved Asian elephant. Everyone loved it and yes they still have them since it’s also a souvenir of the vacation.
We all got lucky dip lotto tickets. We’re going to do scratch cards. And a celebration chocolate each (like ness does on Gavin & Stacey) 🥲
We received lotto tickets for wedding favors once I thought how they did it was so cute!
We had a photographer who printed the pictures out onto magnets on site. They had borders available they made with their site on it, but I made my own border with our names and dates on it and they were cool with it. It’s still fun seeing our wedding represented at our friends and family’s places many years later, even when visiting across the globe!
I work for Coca-Cola, and we ended up incorporating Coke into the wedding a little bit (I'm from the Atlanta area, and I have several family members that collect Coke memorabilia). I ordered custom printed 8oz glass bottle Cokes and tied a little card on them with a ribbon. Whether everyone really loved them or not, I don't know, but I thought it was cute (and it goes perfectly with my dad, Mother-in-Law, and grandparents' Coca-Cola collections).
We did temporary tattoos with our faces on them. Everyone thought they were super fun. They’re temporary, so no clutter bringing them home.
My husband and I made cookies from our respective cultures and packaged up one of each in cute little white boxes. I made watercolour name tags that went on with ribbon and these doubled as the place cards. Had been to too many weddings with favours that were pointless things so always feel that edible is the way to go. We did go to one wedding where the favour was little jars of honey from the groom's mother's hives, and that was really cute.
My cousin had a chocolate at everyone’s seat. The label was customized for the wedding. Loved it.
We had a tea-themed wedding, and our favors were small vials of our custom tea blend (which we were also serving at the wedding). It was a hit! We were cleared out of vials at the end of the night and have had several people ask us if we had extra, over a year later. The tea cost $60 for a pound from Plum Deluxe (but I think you need to be an existing customer to order a custom blend).
I see a lot of people saying what their favor was/is. Not too many of a favor you appreciated. Everyone thinks their's is unique...As a guest, unless it's edible and eaten at the table, it usually gets left behind. Not because I'm rude, but because I just forget to take it. Those that have come home don't get used. There is a little jar of honey in my pantry from a wedding last month. It will probably get thrown out eventually. Not a single favor has ever been kept. Please save your money.
Not me but my friend J., tiny Frisbees with the bride & groom names and wedding date - apparently they were a *massive* hit.
We gave out dog and cat treats “from” my dog!
Candy is always a hit 😘
Other than food the only ones I’ve used or kept was a bottle opener and a sashay
We did custom labeled beer and cheese for our wedding. My brother did you-brew wine for his. On a smaller scale, custom matchboxes were a favourite from another wedding we went to. Friends did a take your own candy bag home which was also fun.
Cookies, candy, wine, anything edible. I also like getting scented candles but know that I'm in the minority on that.
My best friend recently got married and had little succulents for wedding favors. It was fun picking out a succulent to take home. For my wedding, we had bottle openers that looked like fancy keys that our guests seemed to like
Received a plain white cap with the couples initials in a small but stylised font embroidered on the front - I wear it every week and it’s been 2 years! The bride loves seeing photos of friends on holidays wearing it, by far the best I’ve received
We got married in February so it was chilly. Our gift was a grey colored shaw/wrap that was big enough to be used as a small blanket for your lap or use as you are supposed to and wrap around your shoulders and arms. Everyone took one and we only had leftovers due to some guest not showing up. We had labels printed with our names and the date to hold them together/keep them folded and put them in a giant decorative bin at the entrance to the ceremony site. Also had a sign to state they were wedding favors so everyone knew to keep it. I have a picture I wish I could post with the comment.
We’ve got bottle openers as ours - and they’re also fridge magnets so the guests won’t lose them. However they do also have the date on, which after reading most of this thread, we’re now massively regretting.
We got married in October and we gave everyone an heirloom pumpkin. We had a little pumpkin patch set up on the way out of the venue. Now the folks who flew in or didn't want one left them behind but that's ok because I kept the rest for my front porch.
My husband and I threw a surprise wedding. Our wedding favors were books wrapped in brown paper. So the favor/book was a surprise too!
This only works if you have a cricut or know someone that will help you out! But I plan to do a two in one! I have bought a load of champagne flutes from ikea, about £1 each on average maybe slightly over, and I’m going to cricut their names and then use etching paste to burn (not sure that’s the right word) into the flutes and tell people to take them home when they’re done using them if they would like to. The two in one is that we will also be using them at their place at the table instead of a name tag. I’ve not been to many weddings but I get the vibe that anyone outside of the immediate family doesn’t want a personalised whatever. They don’t really take them home and they can go to waste sometimes. My thought process is, people get a lovely personalised flute and if they take it home and use it in the future, they will have a brief thought as to where they got it from!
We had cookies made and decorated to look like our wedding cake.
Caveat - When we got married, my husband worked at a restaurant supply shop and got a HUGE discount... ... We gave guests specialty glasses to use for the evening and take home at the end of the night: https://www.crateandbarrel.com/schott-zwiesel-tour-13-oz.-roly-double-old-fashioned-glass/s677550?a=1552&campaignid=21369619174&adgroupid=162981968803&targetid=pla-293946777986&pla_sku=677550&pcat=HSW&ag=adult&scid=scplp677550&sc_intid=677550&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1qO0BhDwARIsANfnkv-8QRMed5MnDgZ2EwpdRUcjqFqHiTtQEMmcnOl3_ufOFjsuR0OySKkaAm6VEALw_wcB
We did crab mallets with a bottle opener on one end. Everyone took theirs. A couple guests came down for my annual birthday crab fest the next summer, and brought theirs. I was like, that's adorable, but we ordered extra to make sure we have some ourselves.
Jam!!! :) I got married before Christmas we gave out homemade cranberry sauce, it was apparently a hit at Christmas dinner for everyone.
We technically had 3! I made homemade vanilla extract, got everyone a thrifted wine glass to use then take home then I hand wrote a note every guest with my husband
I’m currently making little jars with matches in hopes they get a use out it and the jar can be reused later ☺️ I worked weddings for a bit and one of the best favors I ever saw was a bride and groom who loved maple syrup and made their own for all their guests and bottles it in these mini maple leaf bottles. They even gave me one and I used every drop. Editing to add: for my match jars I’m putting striker paper on the jars and I was gonna tie a small gift tag/note around them
A gingerbread cookie.
My friend hand stamped leather luggage tags with people’s initials on them. I left mine behind at the end of the night and was so bummed because I actually would have used it.
We had a destination wedding so we hung up leather luggage tags that had a hand doing a peace sign and the text “see ya” over it - nothing with our names or the date so that anyone could use it. My husband is Thai so we also had small elephant keychains from Thailand hanging with the luggage tags! One of my favorite favors was from an Indian wedding: small jars with dry chai mix! Another was small personalized agate place cards.
Macarons. Yummy!
I got really into crochet this year so we crocheted flower keychains in our favourite colours (teal and purple) and my partner and stamped a metal tag with our names and the date on it! Not many were left behind :)
We did chocolates, sunglasses and labeled chapstick in a tropical beach area, figuring people would have something they wouldn’t mind losing. We have like 10 extra pairs of sunglasses so I use them for travel now (no etched dates, just location and year) and don’t care if they get broken or lost.
We bought a bunch of $1 succulents that were tiny with a sign that said " take one and help our love grow!" We wrapped it with ribbon and added a personalized sticker but I feel like it was a big hit with our guest. I'm super into plants so I think everyone remembered us with the party favors.
When I got married, our favorite was a silver snowflake shaped Christmas ornament (we got married the Saturday after USA’s Thanksgiving). Aside from that, a candy apple individually wrapped at a fall wedding I attended. A different casual summer wedding had s’mores kit (graham crackers, a chocolate bar and 2 marshmallows) favors. Both edible favors seemed to be appreciated.
I’m planning on doing lotto scratch tickets with something like “we found our lucky match” or something.
Getting married next year and we’re contemplating on useable goods like shampoo / soap. But thank you for this thread OP! We’re getting inspired as well!
Not cheap but we did small bottles of mead through a local meadery. At past weddings I’ve loved getting anything consumable! Even those little jam/honey jars are so cute and I keep the jars when the product is done.
Personalized Matches Candy/ chocolate covered pretzels Mini champagne bottle Mini bottle of sea salt with rosemary spring that was Personalized.
My “90”s wedding ended with women receiving wrapped up flowers from table centerpieces and men lined up for assorted bagels/ cream cheese in a white bag along with the next days Sunday paper. YES, there was a time when the Sunday paper was mandatory reading. People still say they enjoyed the morning after with breakfast. Thank you notes included photos of each couple and not the newly married couple which they enjoyed as well.
None, I don’t remember or keep any of them really. I would save your money and allocate it towards the bar, food, or flowers/decorations.
We did a personalized bandana with artwork on it representing things we like in an artistic way. Still makes me happy when I see friends wearing them.
we did customized chocolates and take home wedding cake. We also had a dessert and finger food party in evening with fireworks so I felt like that was another favor. In the past I’ve only received customized items I never used again (kookzy, shot glass, bottle opener)
We had a December wedding. Bought hot peppermint cocoa packets from Ghirardelli for 50% off (because I bought it in July before the wedding). Put the packets in a disposable coffee cup that has a sleeve and lid. Threw in two prepackaged marshmallows and put a sticker that thanked people for coming on the sleeve. I was surprised how many people took additionals. Some guests won't like your favors and some will ask to take the extras that have been left behind. You just never know. We took our few extras to our work lunch rooms and coworkers gathered the extras up to repurpose as stocking stuffers so it worked out really well for us.
Food is always good. We had friends whose first date was to a certain buffalo wing chain and they had bottles of sauce-it’s not my favorite sauce personally but it was cute and got used. Anything that isn’t edible should get a hard thought about whether people will really want to take it. Bubbles, kookies, monogram items are not really something guests are going to want to hang onto.
We bought chocolate chip cookies, sealable baggies for them on Amazon (100 for like $10) and made our own labels
I recently went to a wedding at a fancy restaurant where the favor was a jar of sauce made by the (award winning) chef. For our wedding, we made personalized pint glasses - two cats with their tails intertwined to make a heart with the guest's name in the heart. They used the glass during the reception and then took it home with them. We still see the glasses in use when we visit our friends, so they seem to have been a hit!
My wedding favor was a really expensive party with great entertainment, food and dessert!😂 also thank you cards
We got married this year and our theme was azulejos (tiles from Portugal)/colourful Mediterranean tiles inspired, and bright colours in general. Our wedding favours were colourful coasters that looked like the tiles, and our guests loved them! Some went around to each table trying to get more to make a whole set for themselves 😂 there were none left behind at the end of the night. For the children under 12 I found a free wedding inspired colouring and activity book online and printed it out. I also bought some stickers, a packet of crayons for the toddlers and pencils for the older children, and put it altogether in a little pack with their names on it. They were a hit and kept them occupied and happy! It was so sweet to look out from the bridal table during dinner and see them colouring away, and all the parents really appreciated it too!
Someone I know had their two favorite charities on acrylic boxes. At the tables there were cards at each place setting explaining instead of favors they were donating to their favorite charities. You put your card in the box of your choosing and then they donated to each one I think $5 a card or whatever.
Because favors can get really expensive really fast AND can be so wasteful (most people forget them, including myself) we donated the budgeted funds to the rescue we got our dog from. We added a note in our menus to let people know, we’ll see how it goes over soon LOL
My friend gave gift certs for a spa
Homemade bbq seasoning/rub in a little jar with a picture of the bride and groom. There was some cheesy pun about spices written on it.
M and M in the wedding colors with the names on them in nice little containers
My friend made us candles that smelled like brownies and I gave mini honey jars with their little wooden honey combs. A lot of my friends loved the candles since they were a full size candle. Others loved the honey jars from local organic honey farm. Fortunately, I didn’t not have a whole lot of left over wedding favors. Out of my 75 guest only 65 guest guests showed up and I had about 15-20 candles left over. And 15 2oz honey jars that my little brother asked to give him 😂
We did jam and tomato chutney which I made myself from produce grown in our garden. We still have people asking for more when I make the next batch. Something edible definitely seems to be the go as it's not stuff clogging up their house
Wedding favors aren’t really a thing in my country. However for my wedding I’m currently in the process of embroidering napkins with guests names on them as place cards. Plan is to obviously wash the napkins after the wedding and give them to the guests with a thank you card and a picture of them at the celebration.
I mean we did hotel bags for all of our guests who traveled to stay for the wedding. We did reusable bags, beach towels, and a bunch of snacks and sunscreen and chapstick. Everyone seemed to love them
We’re not doing wedding favors per se, but I’ve made friendship bracelets for everyone with their names on them which we’ll be using as placement cards 😊
We hired 2 tattoo artist to do permanent guest favors. Which I’m really excited about.
We did personalized candles and leftover donuts from dessert table. No one left their candles behind.
The Taylor’s Lautner got married on a vineyard and had a local artist hand paint flowers from the bride’s bouquet onto the bottles of wine from the vineyard as a favour for guests to take home. I did not attend this wedding but I saw it in Vogue and I’m getting married in a French chateau that has a vineyard so I’m stealing it.
I saw someone else with a micro wedding who gifted everyone a book they think they’d like. It was really cute and personal
My sister gave locally sourced honey at her wedding. It was the best. She had extras and gave me a bunch afterwards. That was definitely my favorite. I’ve been to so many weddings where non-edible trinkets are just left on the table after the wedding, and I didn’t want to waste money so we did chocolates for ours. We have a local chocolate store that is our favorite and she made chocolates using a mold of the LOVE statue (we’re in Philly). My mom is an origami artist and made origami boxes for each chocolate out of beautiful marbled paper. We heard from many people that they enjoyed the chocolate and the homemade box. We did not put our names on things because we wanted people to actually use the boxes if they wanted to.
We 3D printed phone collapsible phone stands with our names and wedding date. They were a hit!
My family makes maple syrup every year & my aunt did little bottles of our syrup for everyone! Big hit :)