Favors are a great way to let guests know that you appreciate their love and support on your wedding day. And let’s be honest about the other reason brides like to provide favors – they can make your tables look really cute! But there is no need to spend a fortune on wedding favors. I mean, you are already providing entertainment, feeding these people, and probably offering alcohol.
The point of this post is to give the brides-to-be some suggestions for sweet favors that won't break the budget. I have to preface this list by saying that FOOD is probably the most guest-preferred wedding favor. You would think that people would get enough food at the reception, but no. I work at weddings almost every weekend and everyone always consumes their edible favors practically the moment they sit down. (And if for some reason they don’t eat their favors and leave them on the table, the catering staff pockets them after everyone leaves.)
Here's one of 200 cookies I made for a friend's wedding, featuring the couples' initials.
They weren't "JK" about their love. Photo by Sandy Chang
CHEAP, THOUGHTFUL, and CUTE WEDDING FAVORS
1. A small pack of recipe cards containing family recipes from the bride’s side and the groom’s side of the family. You only need to make one packet per family, instead of one per person. Use your wedding colors in your paper choices, and maybe the same font you used for your invitations and/or place cards.
2. Homemade cookie or chocolate covered pretzel in a glassine bag, tied with a ribbon. Label it if you want to: “How Sweet of you to come to our wedding.” Note that personalized, individually iced cookies take A LOT more time and effort than making a batch of bar or ball cookies. And iced cookies don’t freeze as well, so you probably need to make them no more than a few days before the wedding. So, factor that into your decision about what type to make.
3. A pack of seeds, and label it with a fitting verse and your wedding date. I like this quotation: "All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today." - Chinese Proverb. How appropriate for a wedding, right?
4. A Christmas ornament (if a late fall/December wedding). If you have a long engagement, buy the ornaments right after Christmas for the best deals.
5. Make a donation in honor of your guests to a charity that is close to your heart. Don’t pick a controversial charity, such as to a specific political party.
6. A baggie of candy in your wedding colors, tied with a neat bow.
7. A glass votive holder with a candle. You can get the votives and holders in bulk online inexpensively. For personalization, get a pack of sticker labels from the office supply store. Type a short note of thanks, along with your names and wedding date in a pretty font and print it on all the labels. Cut a length of ribbon in your wedding color and wrap it around the candle holder. Hold the ribbon in place with one of the personalized sticker labels.
8. Small potted plants – one for each couple/family. BONUS – they double as the centerpiece. You might include a tag that explains the meaning of the flower you chose.
9. A gorgeous apple with a paper flag that says "You are the apple of my eye" attached to the stem.
10. Lip balm personalized to say "Always kiss me goodnight" or even just "XOXOXO"
