Wedding favors your guests will love (and a few that end up tossed)

Wedding favors can be a really personal addition to your big day. Your guests came to your wedding to see you get married because they care about you, and favors can be a way that you can thank them for sharing this special day with you. Sadly, wedding favors are something we see go to waste far too often. People get so wrapped in the fun of your event that they simply forget to take them home. Not to mention, they may not have an easy way to take them home, especially if they are traveling, so larger favors can sometimes simply be left because of convenience. When done right, favors can be a great way to show you and your fiance’s personality while showing appreciation to your guests. However, they are 100% not necessary. So if you came looking for advice on if you should do a wedding favor, the simple answer is, they are not expected. Don’t simply do a favor just to do one. This is your wedding, so if it doesn’t fit your budget or wedding vibe, you don’t need to do one. When inquiring about wedding favors, definitely consult with your planner as they have seen them all!

FAVORS WE LOVE:

Edible Favors

What is the part of your wedding that you want people to remember? THE FOOD! This can also carry over into your wedding favors. Edible wedding favors are a great way to send your guests home with a special treat that is personalized to your wedding day. Great examples of edible wedding favors that we suggest include: macaroons in a personalized box (these can even be made in your wedding colors!), Krispy Kreme donut wedding boxes, mini bags of popcorn or granola, bags of mixed nuts, and pre-packaged chocolates.  Really any food item that is fine at room temperature.  Bonus if these items are local to the area you are getting married or to a place special to you or your fiancé.  The favors we see being left behind THE LEAST are ones that involve being used or consumed either the night of or the morning after.

Lottery Tickets

Who doesn’t love the thrill of winning a few extra dollars or possibly 100’s.  It is an activity guests can do while waiting on dinner service and quite a conversation starter!  We recommend packaging them in a nice envelope or cute sack as lotto tickets are not very visually appealing on their own.  If guests win money they will be sure to take them home.  If they don’t, then they are meant to be tossed. There are so many cute options, like this one, on Etsy or you can DIY them.

Custom Illustrations

By serving as both wedding entertainment and a great guest take-home, hiring a live caricaturist to sketch custom creations of guests, will be sure to delight your guests.  Because it is so personal, they will be sure to take it home.  If not, we save them and give them to you so you can get them to their rightful owner post wedding.  While it is personal to each guest, it will also remind them of your wedding day each time they look at it.

Multipurpose Favors

Another idea that will help ensure your guests take home their favors is attaching it to their escort card. By doing this, you are killing two birds with one stone: your guest will have to pick up their favor in order to know where they are sitting and will be more likely to toss it in their bag or coat pocket.  Examples can be simply be attaching it to an edible favor, such as onto a bag of coffee or any of the food favors we mentioned above.

Donations

Use your wedding as an opportunity to spread some love and donate to a cause that is close to your hearts on behalf of each guest.  Include a simple card at each placesetting explaining that a donation has been made in their name to your designated nonprofit.  Your stationer can design and print these for you or Etsy has a lot of in lieu of favor templates and you can print them yourselves.

Favors we would love to see gone:

Once again, favors are totally up to you, but ones we see going in the trash the most often are koozies, coasters, wine stoppers, potted plants, mugs, bottle openers, and candy buffets. Things like koozies and coasters fall into the category of the most forgotten. While these types of favors are very adorable and aesthetically pleasing, they are slightly overdone and very easy to forget.  Not to mention, most of us can go into the depths of our cabinets and pull out a wedding favor that has been collecting dust, such as a personalized mug with our friend’s names and wedding date. We want to avoid this with your favors! Once again, favors are a preference and if you have your heart set on a personalized koozie, go for it!

Another concept we see often neglected or wasted are candy buffets. Candy buffets are a very cute concept, but usually end up with a lot of waste at the end of the night. If you know you have a bunch of guests with a sweet tooth or a lot of children attending your wedding, then this may be a great option for you.  Weddings already create a lot of waste, and we always suggest ways that this can be avoided. If you like the idea of a candy buffet, a suggested alternative would be pre-packaged assorted candy bags that can be more conveniently accessed by your guests.

Hints to make sure your favors are taken home:

1. Have your DJ or MC make an announcement. This can serve as a verbal reminder to your guests to grab onto their favor at the end of the night. Again, a lot of the time favors are just simply forgotten by guests, and the verbal reminder can be very helpful to prevent them from being left behind.

2. Dedicate someone to hand out favors at the end of the night. This person can be a cousin, friend or relative: it’s up to you! While some guests may leave early, most will stay to the end to party the night away. Assigning one/a few people to hand your favors out to your guests on their way out will help with waste and the possibility of favors being left on tables for staff to clean up at the end of your reception.