Creative Wedding Favours — Sweets, Mason Jars and More!
“A candle of the scents you used at the wedding, a small succulent plant, or even just a personalised joke hangover kit.”
The tradition of having wedding favours for your guests has been around for a long time. The earliest wedding favours we know of were common amongst European aristocrats, called bonbonniere. Centuries ago, bridal parties would give their guests a sugar cube each as a gift — these were expensive, so it was a good sign of wealth to give them out. Nowadays, wedding parties are coming up with more amazing and unique wedding favours to give their guests as a thank you gift for celebrating with them. No one has to give out wedding favours of course — there are guests who will leave them behind, not like the flavour of what was given (e.g. sweets) or simply be so caught up in revelry that they forget to put them in their bags to take away. If you want to have them you can of course! We’ve come up with a couple of ideas to help you out with your wedding favours, to help you navigate the different ways you can create a little thank you gift to your guests that they’ll love to keep.
Since we think sustainable weddings are going to grow in popularity over the next decade, we thought it might be a great idea to give your guests seeds as wedding favours. You can get small recyclable or paper bags either from the internet or from your local craft shop to put them in, or look into any local stationery suppliers and see if they can help you out. Next, find the seeds for a plant that fits with your theme or wedding. If your name is the name of a flower (roses, tulips) add those into the bag, or if you’d prefer something else that’s unique to you, go for it! If your hobbies include growing vegetables, you can always give out seeds from your own garden. If you’re really not sure but still want to add a little flower power to your guest’s lives, grab some wildflower seeds to give out. They’re easy to grow, and it’s a great contribution to the environment — bees love wildflowers and this can help them thrive!
If seeds aren’t your thing, have you tried brewing your own alcohol? A lot of gin is flavoured with botanicals and fruit peels,( such as orange peel, berries, or rosemary) so it’s easy to make your own flavours for your guests. You can get small bottles and mason jars to hold your liquor for your guests and have tiny card labels tied to the neck of the bottle by twine. Search your local supplier shops for craft items like this, or look on the internet to find the best place for them. We recommend that you keep track of all ingredients for your guests, in case of allergies or intolerances — remember to write on the label the alcohol percentage and ingredients alongside the guest’s name, and write allergens (such as dairy) in bold. You should also create these specific favours separately from the other favours to avoid contamination — wash your hands in between, use different gloves and different utensils. If you know there are some guests who can’t/don’t like alcohol, you can always create your own fruit juice as an alternative, or get them some sweets instead; whatever you think is best for them.
Speaking of sweets, if you’re overwhelmed with wedding planning but still want to give your guests wedding favours, why not offer a mix-up? A random selection of sweets can remind your guests of childhood memories, running to the corner shop and asking for a 10p mix-up. If your wedding already has a retro theme to it, this is a great idea to include in your plans! Add some of the sweets you had as a kid, and let your guests take a trip down memory lane. Alternatively, if you want to keep with the childhood memories and lose the sugar, how about blowing bubbles? You could get small bottles of blowing bubbles to go along with your guests place names, or you could make your own bubble mixture with soap, and use your own container by recycling mason jars and sticking paper clips in the shape of a closed oval to the lid of the jar. Having a unique hand-made gift like this for your guests can really show your creative side, and is a great idea if you only have a small number of guests. Not only can you avoid using plastic, your guests will be able to re-use these jars time and time again!
If you’d rather be able to have optional gifts, you could always incorporate your wedding favours into welcome favours. Have a drink available to your guests when they arrive, with an embellishment or fruit in the drink (berries in prosecco for instance), and something that will remind your guests of your wedding — something they can take away as a keepsake of your big day. Perhaps a candle of the scents you used at the wedding, or a small succulent plant, or even just a personalised jar containing mints and painkillers as a joke hangover kit. This can be a great idea to avoid people leaving their individual gifts behind on the dinner tables; if you place this gift table near the doors, wedding favours become a leaving gift for you to grab on your way out in case you forgot yours in the fun of the reception. This way your guests don’t have to frantically search their bags when they leave the festivities, and you can be confident that they can have their own choice in taking a wedding favour.
Whether you choose to have wedding favours for your guests or not is your own choice — you may not have the budget, or you simply may not want to risk guests not taking their favours — either way, this is your wedding together with your partner and it’s YOUR choices that matter. Not what other people expect and not what they want. That’s what makes it so special for both of you; it’s your beautiful day, showing your love for each other to the world. If you choose wedding favours, great! We hope you’ll find amazing suppliers who can help you create something unique for your big day. If not, also great! We hope you have an amazing day with your loved ones.
Let us know what kind of wedding favours you’d have at your wedding!
See you next week.
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Picture credit: ADayToRememberStudio, @paulstollery, @ramche.
