Guide to Wedding Favors
Over the years wedding favors have become increasingly popular. Guests often look forward to receiving a keepsake to take home with them after the wedding party. They add to the decor and theme of the reception, ranging from simple bookmarkers to elegant crystal to delicious, edible treats too!
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Content
Ideas to Help You Choose Your Favors
Tips for Choosing Your Wedding Favors
Having Trouble Choosing Your Favors?
Wedding Favor Inspiration Gallery
Wedding Favor Ideas
Seasonal Wedding Favors
Three Online Stores That Nail Wedding Favors
Some Ideas to Help You Choose Your Favors
Before you get overwhelmed, allow us to help you sort out all of your choices. From classics like Jordan Almonds to unique or more personalized ideas, let’s try and find a favor that suits your needs and the vision you have for your wedding!
Tips for Choosing Your Wedding Favors
Option 1: It Just Catches Your Fancy
The good news is there is no shortage of wedding favor inspiration on the web and in magazines. Between Pinterest, Etsy and thousands of other websites, you can find every conceivable wedding favor idea on earth. You could just search all these places and randomly select something you think is awesome. Crazier things have been done before.
Option 2: Choose Based on Season
If you’re having a summer wedding on the beach, then maybe a pair of cool sunglasses or flip flops is a fitting wedding favor for guests. For a fall wedding, package baked goods are always fun or maybe some dark candles. Spring time weddings could lead to planting seeds, some miniature champagne bottles or potted plants. For winter, warm blankets or hot cocoa kits could top off the night.
Option 3: Wedding Theme Based Favors
If pink is your color palette, set up a candy bar loaded with all your favorite treats in those particular hues. Throwing a rustic wedding, create a popcorn bar, complete with sweet and salty flavors they can mix and match. It’s great for getting your guests up and off their feet as well.
Option 4: Go Local
Find a local supplier of unique goods and consider giving those to your guests. If you’re in BBQ-land, maybe some hot sauce or marinades with names on them. If you’re in Vermont, maybe some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for the local flair. It may take some time to find local suppliers, but local wedding favors add a nice touch.
Option 5: Donate In Lieu of Favors
Whether it’s a cause that’s close to your heart, such as a cancer research group, or a cause that you support, such as animal shelters, be sure to let each guest know of the donation by placing a note at each place setting or table for guests to read. To find the right organization, do your research.
Option 6: Double-Duty Wedding Favors
Make your favors and your escort cards one in the same. From lollipops to Christmas ornaments, tag your favors with each guest’s name and table number and place them on the escort table. Other escort card/favor pair-ups: apples with tags tied to the stem; luggage tags with table numbers tucked inside; and miniature wine bottles with table number and name labels.
Having Trouble Choosing Your Favors?
Keep Your Theme in Mind
I’m sure you’ve spent a whole lot of time brainstorming the perfect elements to fulfill your wedding theme. So why would you want to throw the entire concept out the window once it’s time choose favors?
Choosing favors that don’t exactly coincide with your theme might actually do more harm than good by confusing your guests. So stay away from selecting a blue bottle of bubbles when you’re planning a Halloween or Fall wedding.
You should also have favors match the tone of the wedding. Formal weddings call for very elegant favors while casual outdoor weddings may not. If matching favors to the theme is too difficult, try matching colors.
Decide Who Will be Getting Favors
Ideally, purchasing favors for each guest is preferred. Some consider buying one favor per couple or family. This tactic is not recommended if you have a large guest list since it would be difficult to distribute the favors at the table settings.
Analyze your budget and guest list to determine what is best for you. If circumstances dictate your purchase one gift per couple or family, try getting something that all can enjoy.
Think About Packaging
A favor has to be more than just pretty and useful for the guests. It also has to be packaged well. Depending on how you plan to present your favors and where the wedding is being held, packaging can make a world of difference when celebrating your wedding.
If you plan on having favors placed on each guest’s table setting, be sure that the packaging fits in well with the table décor. Having a destination wedding? Make sure favors are something that can easily be packed by traveling guests and won’t get confiscated by the TSA during their return trip home.
Be Everlasting if You Can
We are big fans of gifts that stand the test of time and that can be used by guests for a while. As a result, we prefer to stay away from edible favors, but know that many guests do love a little something to nibble on the way home from the reception!
If you are having a holiday themed wedding, try purchasing a house or tree decoration filled with bath salts. Once the bath salts are used, guests can display the favor on the table as a holiday season decoration for years to come. Another popular option is a picture frame favor. Some couples even hire photographers to take photos of guests through the night and develop them in time to hand out to attendees in frames before the festivities are over.
Check Reviews
It’s super easy to search for great wedding favors online, but may be a little more work to do some research to find out if that favor is really as good as it seems. But, it will be so worth it to please your guests. After identifying what seems to be a crowd-pleasing favor online, take a look at product reviews.
Did it only receive an average of two stars when you thought it would get five? Did guests say that the favor fell apart? Or did the bride say that the favor looked absolutely nothing like the pictures online?
Show that you truly appreciate your guests’ attendance by doing your homework to make sure they will truly enjoy the favor. After all, the last thing you want is to purchase a gift that will fall apart before even leaving the venue. Not only will it appear as you don’t value your guests but it also serves as a poor reflection of your judgment.
Wedding Favor Inspiration Gallery
Etsy Wedding Favor Inspiration
FREE Wedding Favor Printable Inspiration
Wedding Favor Ideas
There truly are so many different routes to take when it comes to planning your wedding favors. DIY your own or buy in bulk, check out all of these great brainstorming jump starters and ideas!
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DIY Wedding Favor Ideas
- Picture Frames
- Soaps
- Coasters
- Ornaments
- Baked Goods
- Bath Salts
- Spices/Rubs
- Infused Oils
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Inexpensive Wedding Favor Ideas
- Candles
- Seeds
- Candy Buffets
- Sugar Cubes
- Bottled Water
- Mints
- Matches
- Hot Chocolate
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Popular Favor Ideas
- Cookie Cutters
- Heart Shaped Chocolates
- Personalized Coffee
- Personalized Candy Bar Wrappers
- Personalized Wine Bottles
- Magnets
- Wedding Music CDs
- Wine Bottle Stoppers
- Silver Plated Fortune Cookie Favors
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Unique Ideas for Memorable Favors
- Lottery Tickets – wrapped in tulle or ribbon.
- Lucky Bamboo Plants or Money Plants
- Personalized Playing Cards
- Telephone Calling Cards
- Grow a Tree Seed Wedding Favor
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Seasonal Wedding Favors
Remember, to find the most perfect wedding favor for your big day, you can gather inspiration from the season you’re saying your I do’s in! Winter, spring, summer or fall, pay homage in some clever ways.
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Winter Wedding
- Layered Hot Chocolate Jars
- Chocolate Spoons
- Mini Cocktails
- Chapstick
- Eggnog Edibles (pops, cupcakes, fudge)
- Christmas Ornaments
- Gloves/Mittens/Blankets
- Slippers/Socks
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Fall Favors
- Candied Apples
- Autumn Motifs
- S’more Packages
- Birch Frames
- Mini Maple Syrup Bottles
- Cider Mix
- Pumpkin or Caramel Treats
- Jams/Marmalades
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Spring Ideas
- Beeswax Candles
- Drink Mixes
- Tiny Picnic Baskets
- Tea Tins
- Flavored Honey
- Mini Plants/Succulents
- Hand Fans
- Birdseed Hearts
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Summer
- Sunglasses
- Flip-Flops
- Mini Lanterns
- Sailor Knot Bracelets
- Bug Spray
- Personalized Koozies
- Cotton Candy
- Sea Glass
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Three Online Stores That Nail Wedding Favors
Etsy
We all love Etsy. It’s become a bride’s best friend, especially for those that want more personalized, unique touches spread throughout their big day. And when it come to wedding favors, there’s a plethora to choose from. Whether you want something a bit more homemade in look and vibe or you want something that fits the budget, there are endless possibilities here. Check out wedding favors.
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Beau Coup
If you hop on over to Beau-Coup, you’ll find one of the largest selections of personalizable wedding favors. Scour their site for ideas and inspiration before settling down with something that you can add a special twist to. There’s even a “design your own” option! Check out wedding favors.
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My Wedding Favors
You can’t talk wedding favors without visiting My Wedding Favors, of course! Again, you’ll find lots of great ideas but you can also personalize here too which makes for another level of detail and belonging at your wedding. You can even search their site by checking out favors that fall under specific themes as well as finding the right kind of packaging for your DIY option. Check out wedding favors.
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More Posts About Wedding Favors
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