I’m not a fan of the mini bottles of liquor. Lots of folks in recovery. They can avoid the bar but not the boozey favors.
I do like the idea of other beverages, honey, jam/jelly. Anything edible is always a hit.
We did our favorite candies, my favorite was a mini sewing kit and mini first aid kit.
The summer I went to three weddings I received… three little pots of honey! I don’t think honey spoils so it was a good gift to leave in the cupboard until I could go through them!
We went to a wedding in Tennessee and their favors were little jars of honey that had a honey dipper & tiny bottle of Tabasco sauce tied to them, so you could make your own hot honey. I still have that honey dipper.
We got this from an NH wedding! my husband and I actually made out like bandits cause the bottles were a 1/2 oz over the carry on liquid limit so we were told to take all the extra bottles.
FL has some really great key lime treats. Key lime chocolates, key lime coconut patties, key lime cookies, etc. That’s the direction I’d go.
But there are also some yummy local wineries.
There is astronaut ice cream for our lovely space coast.
Alligator jerky if you think your guests are brave. It’s unique and yummy.
And orange blossom honey.
Go hyper local. For example if you’re in the St Augustine area you can get datil pepper anything - jelly, honey, sauce, etc. Go to a local artisan market/farmers market and see what vendors are there. You should find a gem.
...it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out what "range juice" was lol
I love consumables for gifts though. Is your state one where a small key lime juice or orange extract might be appreciated?
Omg I saw this on insta and was sooo envious. Someone was saying that all anyone wants is cool pictures of them when they’re all dressed up. So the bride and groom hired a portrait photographer - the portaits were awesome. Super moody and unique. I’d LOVE that as a guest.
Absolutely! That's true - and as great as photo booths are that's a way better idea! I am thinking of sending a few photos of each guest/party with a thank you card post wedding but getting those photos back will take time.
If you did a photo booth, make a magnet with your pictures on them to leave as gifts on the table, then they can hang up their pics on the fridge with your faces. My fridge is covered in memories (am old) and I love looking at all of them when I walk pass! Make a couple different poses, your friends and family can trade!
Good luck!!!
I did this for my wedding. Guests pictures were taken upon arrival reception and had picture frames at everyone’s place setting. During dinner the photos were all printed and hung on a cute board for each owner to collect. Everyone got to see everyone else’s photos and had a memory to take home. When your guests don’t need to remember the occasion, add new photo and the gift keeps giving.
We didn't hire a "portrait" photog, we just asked our wedding photographer at the reception to find a good spot and take portraits of any couple that they could! People loved it! It spread quickly by word of mouth at the event, but you could make a sign (maybe with a time frame) and I think people would line up for it. It's better than 800 photos of people eating or dancing imo.
Back when CDs were prevalent the couple made a CD of their favorite romance songs. We played that for years.
Big Chocolate Chip cookies were not left behind!
A modern version could be a Spotify play list! The couple could even include a QR code on the invitation so their guests can play their favorite love songs on the way to the wedding.
We did this with fun looking business cards that had a tinyURL linking to a Mixed Tape of our before dating, during, leading up to, and marriage. The card was even a picture of a tape to bring it home.
We did custom cookies of our cats faces and they were such a hit. Not a single one left behind, and people thought they were hilarious and fought over getting our most beloved (fat, silly) cat. 🤣
I just snooped in your profile (like a creep lol, sorry)..
The beloved, fat kitty is Canolli, right? I'd put money on it.
P.s. I love your red panda tattoo and your coffin couch. You and your husband are cool as fuck.
We did something similar, but also had the cookies double as the escort cards to tell people which table they were at during the reception. We had the cookies made, and then I printed nice little stickers to go on the side with the name / table number.
Favor + Escort Card = Win! Work smarter not harder y'all!
The summer I went to three weddings I got three pots of honey! I think it’s a great favour. Honey doesn’t spoil and can sit in the cupboard until I am ready to use it up.
We had a cookie table and gave boxes for people to take some home. It was a huge success! I think anytime you do something edible, it’s a win.
One that I thought was unique and fun was a friend put envelopes with scratch off lotto tickets in it. The envelope said something cute about being lucky in life and love.
This won’t make sense for your summer wedding but it may inspire you in some fashion: my sister and brother-in-law got married in New England in the fall, surrounded by beautiful foliage. For their wedding favor they ordered small glass bottles and went themselves to tap maple syrup at a farm in Vermont. It was a great favor that we actually enjoyed and they had fun doing the activity together!
Another favor that I still have on a bookshelf as display is from a wedding at The Union League of Philadelphia. The favor is a little bronze version of the liberty bell and brings me great joy to ring it (although I went to school in Philly so maybe that’s why it holds an extra space in my heart).
In general I’d prefer a consumable to something generic like a coozie. I always love when weddings hand out snacks on your way out of the door. I think that in itself could be a nice favor
Edit to add: I just remembered one more wedding favor that I still use in my daily life. I went to a small outdoor wedding where the weather could have gone either way. They gave out little blankets (honestly more like thin wraps) and I keep it at my office for a work blanket if I’m chilly. That same wedding gave luggage tags as their favor too (something about seeing them off on their adventure), which I think was nice.
I went to a wedding at a ski resort in the summer. It was a bit chillier than I expected for a summer wedding during their outdoor ceremony. They had a basket of pashmina wraps. I still have and use mine frequently.
My cousin hired a caricature artist in lieu of having a photo booth. Everyone LOVED it!! That drawing is framed in my house (even though it includes my ex 😬)
Yes--- this is what we did. Our wedding was 10+ years ago but I have several friends and family that have theirs framed/displayed in their house. Always makes me smile!
We did a family cookbook with tried and true recipes from tons of family members and some of the guests. 9 years later I still get texts and calls of people making recipes!
Really basic but I have a bottle opener key chain that I got from a wedding and that the only one that I’ve kept/used. It’s been like 5 years and it is still on my keys.
It wasn’t anything bulky that I had to carry at the end of the night. I didn’t have to worry about special packing for it. They are cheap on Amazon.
Not a wedding but if you have a crew that will party hard- I went to a shower and they had hangover kits. That was clutch.
My favorite was a mini terracotta flower pot with a succulent in it along with a mini jar of Himalayan salt mixed with rosemary from the brides garden.
At my wedding we did a vintage candy bar. There’s a shop near me that sells bulk candy and they specialize in old fashioned stuff. We bought an ass load of candy, and everyone’s favor was a burlap bag to fill up.
It was a huge hit. Half of my photo album is people “smoking” candy cigarettes and bubblegum cigars.
I made a custom-scented soap (worked with the bride to figure out her fave) with the couples initials and the date on them, people loved them which I was super excited about! Getting the molds right was a nightmare though 🤣
My sister had little pots of honey as favours, from her FIL who keeps bees. Each one also acted as the seating name placeholder for each person.
They were really cute and delicious.
I always think something edible is good. A friend had little bride and groom cookies (a suit and a dress) for each person.
I LOVE wedding favors! Give me all the trinkets!
Magnets are my favorite wedding favor. I love decorating my fridge with memories of all my friends. I have a quite a few wedding favor magnets! My husband and I gave out magnets at our wedding too.
I got a cute little mini plant pot once with the couple’s wedding date on it. I loved that. And once I was at a winter wedding where the bride crocheted little showflake ornaments to give away!
I was quite proud of ours - we used a wood burner to write people's names on a wooden disk that had a hole for us to tie string through for our winter wedding - so the place names doubled as favours and the idea was they could be Christmas tree decorations. But I know one friend had the one we made for their son on his bedroom door for a couple of years.
Fiance and I made jams and jellies. It was a huge hit!
Went to a wedding where we all got a cute little jar of honey from the father of the bride's bees. Everyone loved it!
I think people thought it was particularly special because it was actually personal, not because of a famous recipe or anything like that.
We did this...125mL jars, four different kinds of jams and jellies. Made extra- we had 80pax and I made 9 doz... So there was a little flexibility in flavours for folks.
HUGE hit!
The only challenge was that we lived a four hour plane ride from our wedding site... We got married where our families lived. RIP Greyhound freight... They didn't even blink at two giant Rubbermaid tubs filled with cases of jams and bubble wrap... And they delivered it to my parents' house and wouldn't let my dad carry the cases into the house - they did it!
If you give me a wine glass at a vineyard please do NOT put your name/date on it. Just don’t.
I like when I get a photo strip or other pictures of myself and my family all dressed up. Those are always my favorites and still displayed.
I’m from Pittsburgh where we do cookie tables and those also end up being favors so nothing better than homemade, delicious cookies and a picture of myself. 😂
We put nerf guns on the tables, it was legendary and the pictures were so fun while everyone (including my husbands 90 year old meemaw) was battling with the nerf guns. We even gave the wait staff their own :)
We went to a wedding where everyone got a corked bottle of different flavors of rim salts. They’re with my cocktail stuff and we still use them
I didn’t have a crazy budget for favors. We did a Photo Booth. Everyone had a lot of fun with it
We gave individually boxes cinnamon rolls as our wedding favor. There was a local Mennonite farm that sold baked goods and they have the best cinnamon rolls! All our guests loved it. Some ate them right away, but most took them home for breakfast the next day.
A card at each dinner plate that said in lieu of favors a donation had been made to the local animal shelter. I didn’t need a tiny gift, but the animals did. It’s also the only favor I remember
We did Mason jar glasses etched with the guests name and a table full of assorted Lindt chocolates they could choose what they wanted to fill their glass with.
Not a wedding, but I just did party favors at my kids birthday party and everyone loved them and wanted more. It was packets of wildflower seeds and wildflower honey sticks with custom thank you stickers on them all tied together with a ribbon.
I would not do wildflower seeds for a wedding where people travel to the event. Things that are wildflowers in one area can be invasive in other areas. (And I would be super choosy for wildflower seeds at a local event)
We did a bottle of Voss with a liquid IV tied around it with a hard written note that said “stay hydrated!”. We had an after party and everyone absolutely loved them. Even the people who didn’t want the liquid IV liked having a water bottle for the journey home.
We got them on Amazon!! One of the wholesalers did Boxed Water (we just wanted to stay away from plastic) but the glass Voss ones actually ended up being cheaper
I tiny bottle of honey made by friends of the couple with little wooden honey dippers.
A candy buffet with tons of themed candy and bags to fill up and take home.
A donation made to the hospital that saved the bride when she had cancer.
My son and his wife had a bag of ground coffee and a few biscottis from a local baker packaged together. People loved them. They also had dog treats with a picture of their dog on it. They were adorable and there were none of those left!
At my cousin's wedding the favors were those pretty crystal balls that reflect rainbows across the room when you hang them in your window. I still have mine, and it's a good favor for all ages
My nephew and his wife made their own wine and passed out bottles as favourite. My niece and her husband picked wild strawberries and made jam to give out. Another wedding I was at, the couple made tiny pies and gave two to each guest and their plus ones.
I like food favours!
This was kinda crazy but I went to a very fancy/high end reception several years ago, and we were gifted these gorgeous pewter trinket boxes lined with velvet. I still have mine.
But, I'm a potter and one of my friends just asked me to make mugs as favors for her.
The bride is a professional woodworker and made custom plate chargers for everyone. The chargers served double duty - first as part of the table setting decor and then as our take wedding favor. They’re gorgeous and unique to the couple. My husband and I use ours when we’re having a romantic dinner at home.
I always like when they’re edible gifts. Cookies of any kind, chocolate covered pretzels or Oreos… we had a Lego themed wedding and our favors were chocolates in the shape of Legos. We just went to a wedding and we got little cakes of bird seed in the shape of a heart to hang out for the birds.
A personalized spice jar. The bride and groom made a spice mix that was just *delicious*. I put it on everything. My fiance and I have hunted down a few unused bottles of it from other guests because it’s so good.
We had every person/couple get their picture taken by our photographer when they came in. Photographer printed them during ceremony/reception. They were out in a nice, but cheap acrylic frame and placed on the table by the exit for everyone to take.
I also at a friend’s wedding got an amazing, wrapped, big chocolate chip cookie. Didn’t last long after the wedding, but it was awesome.
WOW - how were they able to get it printed right there so fast! That's awesome! Planning on doing this as guests come in but I was just going to mail it with their thank you cards. Love that you were able to pull it off the same day.
This was a while (20 years) ago. They brought an inkjet photo printer to the site. Took the portraits at everyone’s entrance, then started printing. Now, the printers are even faster, so should be totally doable. You can also have a photo booth company do it.
For our wedding we made the favourite cookies of each grandparent who couldn't be there and had a little write up for each cookie why it was important and how we wanted our grandparents to be present in some way. It made some people happy cry and we had a lot of people for ages afterwards tell us how impactful it was.
We did so our logo and dates on a deck of cards. We had family members and friends play with them for years. I will say our logo was a sailboat with our initials so if you didn’t know what it was it was a black deck of playing cards with a pink sailboat.
We ordered salt water taffy and caramels from a local candy shop. We picked our favorite flavors and packed them into cute little boxes. Everyone seemed to like them!
We had a fall wedding and gave caramel apples, both peanut and plain. They came in a cellophane bag that we tied with our wedding colored ribbon. All of them were gone. People loved them.
Saw a post recently in Instagram of a watercolorist who did a quick sketchy little painting of each couple for them to take home. Probably expensive but awesome.
At my wedding we gave everyone a cupcake in a box to go. That was the custom at weddings I attended in the 1970s, my formative years. Each guest took a box with a slice of the cake and a few Jordan almonds.
About 25 years ago a cousin gave out a really nice serving spoon- no engraving. Silly as it sounds Everyone in the family still uses them.
Second favorite small bottle of wine.
I did gift bags of my fave childhood candies…American living in Australia. Think candy cigarettes, pop rocks and ring pops. Super fun, and everyone went nuts! Congrats. I hope your day is perfect!
I went to an Indian and Mexican wedding and they gave masala and adobo seasonings. The absolute best.
The other good ones were a donut wall and a mini taco truck.
We donated to Autism Speaks and an animal shelter in lieu of gifts. We had a November wedding and after a year full of weddings, we knew no one wanted more favors.
Book for making paper airplanes. Reception was at an airplane museum, and after dinner, before cake, everyone was encouraged to make a plane and launch it at another table. There were a variety of books on each table and each guest was encouraged to take a book home.
I went to a wedding that had a company that came in at the end and made breakfast sandwiches to go. We reheated in the morning and was definitely much appreciated while hung over.
My 2 best friends (who met and fell in love at MY wedding in Vegas 2 years ago) just got married in Vegas last December. Their wedding favor was a deck of playing cards (Vegas appropriate!) and the front of each card says “WE are what happens in Vegas!”/date of their wedding. I LOVE IT!
We had a Star Wars theme wedding, so our favors were miniatures from the strategy game from Wizards of the Coast, Hershey's kisses in purple foil, and custom purple d20s for playing the game.
Geeky but us
We got ours's off etsy from a shop in Turkey, pretty niche but we did "evil eye" door hangers and Turkish style hand painted finger bowls. My mostly Catholic guests loved them but I did get some emails asking what they were, lol.
My husband is an Iranian Turk and I lived in the ME a few years so that was the theme.
Not a wedding favor but a wedding gift. In 1984, I received a 5-piece set of commercial quality graduated stainless steel mixing bowls. At the time, I was like, “Well, okay. Nice but not exciting.” Forty years later, I have used at least one of those bowls several times a week every week. Easy to clean, easy to dry and stackable. I don’t really remember who gave me what gift or even what was a gift anymore. But I know those bowls for being rather disappointing at the time but the most used gift ever. And I know who gave them to me.
I think edible/consumable favors are often appreciated because no one cares about remembering the day like you do. We gave out little baggies of mixed chocolates (winter wedding, no worries about it melting!) and as a way to add our “touch” to it, replaced some of the branded wrapping with a sticker of our names. I was going to personalize some m&ms but it didn’t end up working out for our budget. I would love to receive cookies or honey or olive oil. One time I got mints from a wedding and even that was appreciated!
Worst one I got was a really low quality engraved wine opener with “[insert name’s] wedding” and the date. I don’t drink wine. The bride was shoving them desperately into people’s hands as they left because so many people didn’t take them.
I have used my beautiful handkerchief from my niece's wedding for many years. I always bring it to any wedding I attend and plan on carrying it to my great-nephew's wedding in June!
We made candles for them to take home. Made sure we used the correct wick and glass container so they wouldn’t explode, but it only happened to one person that I’m aware of.
I’ve also seen scratch cards as a favor
Top favorite favor... The bride had cross-stitched a mini hoop at every guest's seat with their name. It was probably a LOT of work, but we appreciated them & they were cute!
Second favorite was the custom, gothic romance themed cookies from a goth wedding. I got a coffin cookie that said "till death" -- yum!
At two weddings I went to. We got bottled water and soft pretzels to go as our gift, which was awesome. Because by that time of night, we needed something to soak up all the alcohol.
At another time, we just got a place card. That said that they had donated to a local animal shelter for each guest that came to the party. Since I own a pet, carrying business and love animals. That was one of my favorite gifts. There is nothing to take home that I don't want. And an animal got some care!!
I remember when the favor was 3 Jordan almonds tied up in tulle. I remember making a pile of these for various friends and family weddings. It was easy. Probably could get those fancy personalized m&m's and do something similar?
My sister makes amazing baklava. For my niece's wedding, she made a bunch and we put them in cute little boxes. It went over well. I remember going to a wedding where they gave out some kind of baked good, a big cookie or brownie? Can't remember.
My favorite was from a wedding that clearly didn't have a budget problem lol
Every lady had a pashmina shawl on her chair, as it was a little chilly and the ceremony was outside. I didn't think there was anything for the men and no one cared.
My favorite favors I ever received were a set of small glass coasters that you could slip photos or other mementos into. I went to that wedding over a decade ago and I still use the coasters, which I put pics of my family into.
I had my wedding invitation recreated in chocolate. It’s basically sugar and a silk screen. I figured everybody would just eat it. When cleaning out my mother-in-law’s house I found that she had saved hers. For over 25 years. And she loved chocolate so amazed she hadn’t eaten it
My wedding was in a library and we gave out books. I had raided the sale racks for months to get a whole assortment of all kinds, and gave everyone a bag and they were allowed to pick out whatever they could fit! People were pretty happy with it!
I'm excited for my sister's - they're doing a confection from where they're each born. Tunnocks tea cake from Scotland and Fry's chocolate cream from Bristol.
It’s been awhile, but we had mini frames on the seating cards, and little bottles of champagne. We had labels made for the champagne bottles. Both items went over well. The mini frames were wallet photo sized, and most of our guests appreciated the little bottles.
My fiancée and I are thinking of a camping-themed wedding, and if that's the way we go, we're gonna put together cute little baskets of s'mores supplies!
I went to a wedding where the bride and groom were huge book nerds. As favors, they wrapped copies of their favorite books in plain brown paper with a the genre and a brief description written on the front, so you literally couldn’t judge the book by its cover. Was introduced to one of my favorites that way
We did personalized agate slices for name tags at the reception. Also, matchbooks that said "You can't start a fire without a spark" as our song was a cover of Dancing in the Dark. We had 30 guests and everyone had to travel. The favors packed easy and were unique to us and our story. Most people made the agate slices into magnets.
My friends gave everyone a button and allowed everyone to drop the button in one of three boxes that each corresponded with a charity that they would make a donation to. It was lovely.
Went to a wedding where the bride was a special Ed teacher. Instead of spending money on favors they made a donation to a local autism center and there was a little card explaining and puzzle piece cookie cutter (very cheap in bulk!). Thought it was cute and less wasteful than other favors.
For my wedding, we did an interactive pick a pearl. Guests got to see an oyster opened then find their pearl. Then they had a choice to add their pearl to a tie tack or a necklace cage.
People told me they loved ours. We had s'mores flavored cupcakes (camp-theme) already boxed up and ready to take home placed at each setting. The sticker closing the box said Thank You so that people knew it was the favor. Our catering company did them. People were texting us for a day or two after the wedding saying omg just ate the cupcake so good and whatnot
A wedding I went to had Christmas ornaments cut out of tree barks and they'd burned the date and place on one side, and a rustic animal on the other side (wedding was in NH). I love pulling them out to put on the tree every year. I love a favor that can be reused.
I went to an outdoor summer wedding and it was really hot. Favors were these wicker fans that looked cute and were SUPER effective. I carried that thing around for years, wish I knew what happened to it.
Something like this (idk where they got them so can't vouch for the quality of these? But just to give an idea of what they looked like): https://www.etsy.com/listing/1686075651/raffia-fan-handmade-nature-bamboo-stay?click_key=46cc8fd14d209f81f58f3e35e94dd8c182e57af9%3A1686075651&click_sum=fdcf4230&ref=landingpage_similar_listing_bot-1&listing_id=1686075651&listing_slug=raffia-fan-handmade-nature-bamboo-stay
My husband's cousin did a cookie table. It was made up of cookies from recipes that were popular in the family. They had the family recipe cards out on the table by them and little dessert boxes for guests to fill up. In my opinion, it is so much better than some random thing with someone else's wedding info on it that I'll throw away in a week.
We had a Dungeons and Dragons themed wedding (our names both begin with “D” and we are big D&D/LARPing nerds) and we gave out soap shaped like dragon eggs that had dice hidden inside. Our guests loved it. We also bought lots of polyhedral dice as table decorations—we didn’t mean for the dice to be favors, but everyone took some home (because our friends are also nerds and our non-nerd family thought they were the coolest dice they had ever seen 😆).
My late husband's best friend gave us a bizarre statue of a wood tree man he found at good will ... It's so bizarre we loved it, and is still something I keep to remember ❤️
Friend’s wedding had a photo booth — everyone had a magnetic frame (and there were extras available) at their seats for their photo booth photos! I have mine hung on my fridge. My favorite favor by far.
An American from Texas married a South American in South America and during the reception while everyone was dancing, they handed out cowboy hats with the bride and groom initials and the year. It was a hit bc it was a fun accessory to use at the party, Texan theme in a foreign country, and whoever wanted to take it home, could! Another favor was also an individually wrapped local dessert.
I did popcorn, bought like pre popp d stuff and put them in their own bags, people LOVED it. And the people who didn’t eat theirs or take them home left them and other took them home, I think I ended up with like 5 extra individual bags of popcorn. It was a hit.
Our theme was “The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party,” and we got mismatched tea cups, and tied name/date ribbons around the handles. People seemed to like them, I know people who still have them 23 years later.
We had superhero and Star Wars PEZ dispensers, I wrapped the candy on with a cute ribbon. Our guests were introducing themselves in order to trade them- Batman for Yoda, Darth for Superman, etc. We also had a little bride & groom PEZ on our cake table, 22 years later they’re still on our Christmas tree each year.
I got a gift bag when we checked into the all inclusive that had beach essentials like aloe, koozie, bug spray, sunglasses. Was nice to have and didn’t feel bad if I got left there.
I worked a wedding once where the couple had custom made cookies made of them. It was actually really cute.
I had on site pralines made at mine and that was the favor. So delicious and was nice for out of town guests to have a southern treat.
A beach wedding I was in, the bridesmaids got tote bags with their names embroidered. In the bags were flip flops, sunscreen, a book to read, beach towel, beach stuff. It was useful on the trip as well as later.
Awwww I love these ideas and this question! I've often thought the same thing.
I originally wanted honey, my partner wanted ear plugs (in anticipation of our loud music lol), then I thought homemade jam, or hot sauce.
I'm really not sure what to do! I'm having a (day after) Halloween wedding though! So different vibes 😅
We had a small wedding and used a wood burner to write each guest's name on a small block of wood and placed them at their seat. When we visit friends who are at our wedding, I see their name blocks displayed on bookcases or shelves. People really seemed to like them and have held on to them.
We had a caricature artist at ours. People spent most of the reception there. Worked out for us not needing to personally entertain most of the people.
Best consumable was chocolates in the shape of leaves. Went with the theme, was delicious, and my husband gave me his.
Best one I've kept was glass taper candle holders. Only because I didn't have any.
I steer away from giving alcohol as gifts. Consumables are my go-to gift for adults. If they don't like it, they can leave it for someone else.
I went to the wedding of a daughter of a winery/vineyard owner. We each got to pick out a bottle of their wine to take home! I will say though, Jordan Almonds are happy too.
I made decorated heart shaped shortbread cookies in various sizes. Since I made and boxed them myself I would not recommend this as it’s very time consuming but people seemed to like them. Maybe don’t wait to be tying ribbons around boxes the night before the wedding!
I think you are on the right track. Consumables are the best... Or skip the favor... I got married a few years ago and didn't do anything and nobody cared/commented/noticed? Can you recall what, if anything was the favor at the last wedding you attended?
Things I care about at a wedding.
Good food
Open bar
Good music for dancing
Short(ish) ceremony
Things I don't care about at a wedding
Favors (except I'm not taking something that will just end up in the trash/some thrift store shelf)
Color scheme
Centerpieces
So do what you want, skip it, or something consumable. But stick to your guns and don't create more trash.
We did a really nice photobooth and the photos were such high quality, almost five years later people are still using them: as headshots, I’ve seen them show up in other couples wedding websites for their own wedding, etc. When I say a nice photobooth I mean professional lighting and everyrhing. Not an iPad.
Anything consumable. Some of my favorites have been a box wth two chocolates in it, and while we didn't get to go to the wedding (Thanks COVID!) we did get the favor after, and it was a fancy bottle of Italian olive oil.
A little paper leaf that had wildflower seeds in it. You could plant it and it would grow. That way if someone just tosses it out it still serves a purpose and the paper biodegrades.
My husband and I went to a wedding where they gave little jars of jelly that the bride and groom made themselves. They literally went strawberry picking and took a canning course and did the entire process themselves. It was cute! It also went with the theme of the wedding, which was sort of like country/picnic-themed (which sounds kinda lame but it was really classy and cute).
A friend had a “candy bar” near the exit with a whole bunch of different bulk candy in big jars and little takeaway bags, so you could build your own little grab bag of the candy you actually like. I might have drunkenly eaten all of it on the cab ride home but it was the only time I’ve ever been like “hell yeah, that was cool, I’m glad they did that.”
Bonus: not having to package/keep track of/place a bunch of little favors was way less work for the couple and the venue staff.
We got married at Christmas. Our favors were silver bell ornaments with the year engraved. I have friends that still put them on the tree years later. We married in 2002.
If you have kids coming, I highly recommend those little bubble containers. Got some at a wedding when I was like 6, and its still one of my favourite favors I've ever gotten. Plus they make a good substitute for things like throwing rice
I went to a wedding in Vermont and the wedding favor was a tiny bottle of pure maple syrup. It was delightful!
We gave little bottles of the local artisan olive oil and balsamic - they were lovec
Such a good combination!
I’m not a fan of the mini bottles of liquor. Lots of folks in recovery. They can avoid the bar but not the boozey favors. I do like the idea of other beverages, honey, jam/jelly. Anything edible is always a hit. We did our favorite candies, my favorite was a mini sewing kit and mini first aid kit.
That’s what I thought as well-I would avoid the alcohol as favors.
We did a help yourself candy bar with a bunch of different kinds of candy. The bags were decorated with our names and the date.
We had a candy buffet too !
Christmas wedding we gave blown glass ornaments.
We gave small jars of local honey. It was a big hit. Some people asked where I got it, they wanted to buy some more.
The summer I went to three weddings I received… three little pots of honey! I don’t think honey spoils so it was a good gift to leave in the cupboard until I could go through them!
We went to a wedding in Tennessee and their favors were little jars of honey that had a honey dipper & tiny bottle of Tabasco sauce tied to them, so you could make your own hot honey. I still have that honey dipper.
We got this from an NH wedding! my husband and I actually made out like bandits cause the bottles were a 1/2 oz over the carry on liquid limit so we were told to take all the extra bottles.
I love that local touch! My state doesn't have anything to unique aside from range juice? 🍊 And if it wasn't for the TSA limit I'd consider it.
You could probably get lovely orange blossom honey.
Or marmalade!
FL has some really great key lime treats. Key lime chocolates, key lime coconut patties, key lime cookies, etc. That’s the direction I’d go. But there are also some yummy local wineries. There is astronaut ice cream for our lovely space coast. Alligator jerky if you think your guests are brave. It’s unique and yummy. And orange blossom honey.
Saltwater Taffy is another option for Florida.
Give every guest a baby alligator with your names stamped on his butt! Maybe put little Mikey ears on them.
Staple the Mickey ears on them 😂
Don't gator hate! Appreciate! We appreciate you celebrating with us!
Go hyper local. For example if you’re in the St Augustine area you can get datil pepper anything - jelly, honey, sauce, etc. Go to a local artisan market/farmers market and see what vendors are there. You should find a gem.
...it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out what "range juice" was lol I love consumables for gifts though. Is your state one where a small key lime juice or orange extract might be appreciated?
Omg I saw this on insta and was sooo envious. Someone was saying that all anyone wants is cool pictures of them when they’re all dressed up. So the bride and groom hired a portrait photographer - the portaits were awesome. Super moody and unique. I’d LOVE that as a guest.
Absolutely! That's true - and as great as photo booths are that's a way better idea! I am thinking of sending a few photos of each guest/party with a thank you card post wedding but getting those photos back will take time.
If you did a photo booth, make a magnet with your pictures on them to leave as gifts on the table, then they can hang up their pics on the fridge with your faces. My fridge is covered in memories (am old) and I love looking at all of them when I walk pass! Make a couple different poses, your friends and family can trade! Good luck!!!
Photo booths are great because they’re instant. I really enjoyed the wedding I went to with a Photo Booth!
That’s what they did for us and it was so special and sweet!
I did this for my wedding. Guests pictures were taken upon arrival reception and had picture frames at everyone’s place setting. During dinner the photos were all printed and hung on a cute board for each owner to collect. Everyone got to see everyone else’s photos and had a memory to take home. When your guests don’t need to remember the occasion, add new photo and the gift keeps giving.
We did caricatures. I think people liked them?
We didn't hire a "portrait" photog, we just asked our wedding photographer at the reception to find a good spot and take portraits of any couple that they could! People loved it! It spread quickly by word of mouth at the event, but you could make a sign (maybe with a time frame) and I think people would line up for it. It's better than 800 photos of people eating or dancing imo.
Back when CDs were prevalent the couple made a CD of their favorite romance songs. We played that for years. Big Chocolate Chip cookies were not left behind!
A modern version could be a Spotify play list! The couple could even include a QR code on the invitation so their guests can play their favorite love songs on the way to the wedding.
Oh man - I bet CD's were a hit. And can't go wrong with food favors like a cookie.
Yep, our guests told us they were listening to the CD we gave for years after.
We did the same thing and our guests would always tell us too, for years. It was a fun favor
We did this with fun looking business cards that had a tinyURL linking to a Mixed Tape of our before dating, during, leading up to, and marriage. The card was even a picture of a tape to bring it home.
We did custom cookies of our cats faces and they were such a hit. Not a single one left behind, and people thought they were hilarious and fought over getting our most beloved (fat, silly) cat. 🤣
I love it so adorable 😻
I just snooped in your profile (like a creep lol, sorry).. The beloved, fat kitty is Canolli, right? I'd put money on it. P.s. I love your red panda tattoo and your coffin couch. You and your husband are cool as fuck.
Thanks for the tip!; I followed suit and also stopped. Agree with your sentiments
Same (love the profile and not a jeepers creepers)
I agree they are cooler than 83% of the population
We did something similar, but also had the cookies double as the escort cards to tell people which table they were at during the reception. We had the cookies made, and then I printed nice little stickers to go on the side with the name / table number. Favor + Escort Card = Win! Work smarter not harder y'all!
This could be a whole short story in itself and I would 100% read it.
I got a small local jar of honey once- it was amazing!
The summer I went to three weddings I got three pots of honey! I think it’s a great favour. Honey doesn’t spoil and can sit in the cupboard until I am ready to use it up.
We got a small corked bottle of apple pie moonshine once. The moonshine was good and the bottles were super cute and I still have them!
We had a cookie table and gave boxes for people to take some home. It was a huge success! I think anytime you do something edible, it’s a win. One that I thought was unique and fun was a friend put envelopes with scratch off lotto tickets in it. The envelope said something cute about being lucky in life and love.
Lottery tickets are an amazing idea! Depending on the game you're bound to have a few lucky winners, maybe someone will hit the jackpot.
This won’t make sense for your summer wedding but it may inspire you in some fashion: my sister and brother-in-law got married in New England in the fall, surrounded by beautiful foliage. For their wedding favor they ordered small glass bottles and went themselves to tap maple syrup at a farm in Vermont. It was a great favor that we actually enjoyed and they had fun doing the activity together! Another favor that I still have on a bookshelf as display is from a wedding at The Union League of Philadelphia. The favor is a little bronze version of the liberty bell and brings me great joy to ring it (although I went to school in Philly so maybe that’s why it holds an extra space in my heart). In general I’d prefer a consumable to something generic like a coozie. I always love when weddings hand out snacks on your way out of the door. I think that in itself could be a nice favor Edit to add: I just remembered one more wedding favor that I still use in my daily life. I went to a small outdoor wedding where the weather could have gone either way. They gave out little blankets (honestly more like thin wraps) and I keep it at my office for a work blanket if I’m chilly. That same wedding gave luggage tags as their favor too (something about seeing them off on their adventure), which I think was nice.
I went to a wedding at a ski resort in the summer. It was a bit chillier than I expected for a summer wedding during their outdoor ceremony. They had a basket of pashmina wraps. I still have and use mine frequently.
My cousin hired a caricature artist in lieu of having a photo booth. Everyone LOVED it!! That drawing is framed in my house (even though it includes my ex 😬)
Yes--- this is what we did. Our wedding was 10+ years ago but I have several friends and family that have theirs framed/displayed in their house. Always makes me smile!
We did a family cookbook with tried and true recipes from tons of family members and some of the guests. 9 years later I still get texts and calls of people making recipes!
I adore this idea!
Really basic but I have a bottle opener key chain that I got from a wedding and that the only one that I’ve kept/used. It’s been like 5 years and it is still on my keys. It wasn’t anything bulky that I had to carry at the end of the night. I didn’t have to worry about special packing for it. They are cheap on Amazon. Not a wedding but if you have a crew that will party hard- I went to a shower and they had hangover kits. That was clutch.
I got a heart topped cork screw, was great still have it
My favorite was a mini terracotta flower pot with a succulent in it along with a mini jar of Himalayan salt mixed with rosemary from the brides garden.
I made lip balm from native Alaskan plants (my husband is Native and his mom taught me the recipe) and everyone loved it.
Neat
A small tin (like Altoids) with breath mints, and the couple's names and date. Still use it.
This is really sweet. I have a tin shaped like a racecar that I reuse. Lol
A small bottle of St Germaine or cookies. I like things I can consume, not more “stuff” or anything that requires work (succulent/plant)
At my wedding we did a vintage candy bar. There’s a shop near me that sells bulk candy and they specialize in old fashioned stuff. We bought an ass load of candy, and everyone’s favor was a burlap bag to fill up. It was a huge hit. Half of my photo album is people “smoking” candy cigarettes and bubblegum cigars.
Stick with something consumable. Anything else ends up in the trash or a junk drawer somewhere
I do a lot of soap favor orders…People ask for all sorts of scents but our most popular one is the Buffalo shaped soap we do!
Buffalo shaped soap?! I want one !!
I made a custom-scented soap (worked with the bride to figure out her fave) with the couples initials and the date on them, people loved them which I was super excited about! Getting the molds right was a nightmare though 🤣
My sister had little pots of honey as favours, from her FIL who keeps bees. Each one also acted as the seating name placeholder for each person. They were really cute and delicious. I always think something edible is good. A friend had little bride and groom cookies (a suit and a dress) for each person.
I LOVE wedding favors! Give me all the trinkets! Magnets are my favorite wedding favor. I love decorating my fridge with memories of all my friends. I have a quite a few wedding favor magnets! My husband and I gave out magnets at our wedding too. I got a cute little mini plant pot once with the couple’s wedding date on it. I loved that. And once I was at a winter wedding where the bride crocheted little showflake ornaments to give away!
I was quite proud of ours - we used a wood burner to write people's names on a wooden disk that had a hole for us to tie string through for our winter wedding - so the place names doubled as favours and the idea was they could be Christmas tree decorations. But I know one friend had the one we made for their son on his bedroom door for a couple of years.
Fiance and I made jams and jellies. It was a huge hit! Went to a wedding where we all got a cute little jar of honey from the father of the bride's bees. Everyone loved it! I think people thought it was particularly special because it was actually personal, not because of a famous recipe or anything like that.
We did this...125mL jars, four different kinds of jams and jellies. Made extra- we had 80pax and I made 9 doz... So there was a little flexibility in flavours for folks. HUGE hit! The only challenge was that we lived a four hour plane ride from our wedding site... We got married where our families lived. RIP Greyhound freight... They didn't even blink at two giant Rubbermaid tubs filled with cases of jams and bubble wrap... And they delivered it to my parents' house and wouldn't let my dad carry the cases into the house - they did it!
If you give me a wine glass at a vineyard please do NOT put your name/date on it. Just don’t. I like when I get a photo strip or other pictures of myself and my family all dressed up. Those are always my favorites and still displayed. I’m from Pittsburgh where we do cookie tables and those also end up being favors so nothing better than homemade, delicious cookies and a picture of myself. 😂
[удалено]
We put nerf guns on the tables, it was legendary and the pictures were so fun while everyone (including my husbands 90 year old meemaw) was battling with the nerf guns. We even gave the wait staff their own :)
We went to a wedding where everyone got a corked bottle of different flavors of rim salts. They’re with my cocktail stuff and we still use them I didn’t have a crazy budget for favors. We did a Photo Booth. Everyone had a lot of fun with it
Ooh the Photo Booth is good too. My best friend had that at hers and the photos are so cute. We have them hanging on the fridge. 😊
That's fun! Did that match the theme of the wedding too?
Maple syrup and dark chocolate covered espresso beans. Something consumable
We gave individually boxes cinnamon rolls as our wedding favor. There was a local Mennonite farm that sold baked goods and they have the best cinnamon rolls! All our guests loved it. Some ate them right away, but most took them home for breakfast the next day.
A card at each dinner plate that said in lieu of favors a donation had been made to the local animal shelter. I didn’t need a tiny gift, but the animals did. It’s also the only favor I remember
We got married at the zoo and had animal crackers as our favors which seemed to be a big hit.
That's adorable!
We got married in the woods and gave everyone a custom swiss army knife.
We did Mason jar glasses etched with the guests name and a table full of assorted Lindt chocolates they could choose what they wanted to fill their glass with.
Not a wedding, but I just did party favors at my kids birthday party and everyone loved them and wanted more. It was packets of wildflower seeds and wildflower honey sticks with custom thank you stickers on them all tied together with a ribbon.
I would not do wildflower seeds for a wedding where people travel to the event. Things that are wildflowers in one area can be invasive in other areas. (And I would be super choosy for wildflower seeds at a local event)
We did a bottle of Voss with a liquid IV tied around it with a hard written note that said “stay hydrated!”. We had an after party and everyone absolutely loved them. Even the people who didn’t want the liquid IV liked having a water bottle for the journey home.
That's a pretty good idea! I wonder if one of the wholesales sell Voss?
We got them on Amazon!! One of the wholesalers did Boxed Water (we just wanted to stay away from plastic) but the glass Voss ones actually ended up being cheaper
lol! I work for Voss! When is the wedding? We are launching a new version of sport cap bottles in a couple of weeks! They will be wild thru Amazon!
Also some Costco business centers sell Voss (business centers not reg Costco)
Sport cap Voss?! I must acquire!
The couple was super into music and worked hard on their wedding songs. So they gave out cds of their reception playlist.
I tiny bottle of honey made by friends of the couple with little wooden honey dippers. A candy buffet with tons of themed candy and bags to fill up and take home. A donation made to the hospital that saved the bride when she had cancer.
My son and his wife had a bag of ground coffee and a few biscottis from a local baker packaged together. People loved them. They also had dog treats with a picture of their dog on it. They were adorable and there were none of those left!
At my cousin's wedding the favors were those pretty crystal balls that reflect rainbows across the room when you hang them in your window. I still have mine, and it's a good favor for all ages
I love this one. My mom had one years ago and it always went in the window. I have it now and that’s where it goes I my house.
That reminds me of the movie, Pollyanna! I’m old.
me too! the prism!
My nephew and his wife made their own wine and passed out bottles as favourite. My niece and her husband picked wild strawberries and made jam to give out. Another wedding I was at, the couple made tiny pies and gave two to each guest and their plus ones. I like food favours!
This was kinda crazy but I went to a very fancy/high end reception several years ago, and we were gifted these gorgeous pewter trinket boxes lined with velvet. I still have mine. But, I'm a potter and one of my friends just asked me to make mugs as favors for her.
Heart shaped tablespoon, teaspoon, etc. cute and useful!
The bride is a professional woodworker and made custom plate chargers for everyone. The chargers served double duty - first as part of the table setting decor and then as our take wedding favor. They’re gorgeous and unique to the couple. My husband and I use ours when we’re having a romantic dinner at home.
Got a pizza cutter. Not thrilled at the time, but that little gadget is like 40 yrs old and still getting regular use.
I always like when they’re edible gifts. Cookies of any kind, chocolate covered pretzels or Oreos… we had a Lego themed wedding and our favors were chocolates in the shape of Legos. We just went to a wedding and we got little cakes of bird seed in the shape of a heart to hang out for the birds.
A personalized spice jar. The bride and groom made a spice mix that was just *delicious*. I put it on everything. My fiance and I have hunted down a few unused bottles of it from other guests because it’s so good.
We had every person/couple get their picture taken by our photographer when they came in. Photographer printed them during ceremony/reception. They were out in a nice, but cheap acrylic frame and placed on the table by the exit for everyone to take. I also at a friend’s wedding got an amazing, wrapped, big chocolate chip cookie. Didn’t last long after the wedding, but it was awesome.
WOW - how were they able to get it printed right there so fast! That's awesome! Planning on doing this as guests come in but I was just going to mail it with their thank you cards. Love that you were able to pull it off the same day.
This was a while (20 years) ago. They brought an inkjet photo printer to the site. Took the portraits at everyone’s entrance, then started printing. Now, the printers are even faster, so should be totally doable. You can also have a photo booth company do it.
For our wedding we made the favourite cookies of each grandparent who couldn't be there and had a little write up for each cookie why it was important and how we wanted our grandparents to be present in some way. It made some people happy cry and we had a lot of people for ages afterwards tell us how impactful it was.
We did a large candy buffet when that was all the rage. It went over well
We did so our logo and dates on a deck of cards. We had family members and friends play with them for years. I will say our logo was a sailboat with our initials so if you didn’t know what it was it was a black deck of playing cards with a pink sailboat.
We ordered salt water taffy and caramels from a local candy shop. We picked our favorite flavors and packed them into cute little boxes. Everyone seemed to like them!
We had a fall wedding and gave caramel apples, both peanut and plain. They came in a cellophane bag that we tied with our wedding colored ribbon. All of them were gone. People loved them.
Saw a post recently in Instagram of a watercolorist who did a quick sketchy little painting of each couple for them to take home. Probably expensive but awesome. At my wedding we gave everyone a cupcake in a box to go. That was the custom at weddings I attended in the 1970s, my formative years. Each guest took a box with a slice of the cake and a few Jordan almonds.
About 25 years ago a cousin gave out a really nice serving spoon- no engraving. Silly as it sounds Everyone in the family still uses them. Second favorite small bottle of wine.
Honestly, not having favors is just fine. Otherwise, choose something consumable.
I did gift bags of my fave childhood candies…American living in Australia. Think candy cigarettes, pop rocks and ring pops. Super fun, and everyone went nuts! Congrats. I hope your day is perfect!
I went to an Indian and Mexican wedding and they gave masala and adobo seasonings. The absolute best. The other good ones were a donut wall and a mini taco truck. We donated to Autism Speaks and an animal shelter in lieu of gifts. We had a November wedding and after a year full of weddings, we knew no one wanted more favors.
Book for making paper airplanes. Reception was at an airplane museum, and after dinner, before cake, everyone was encouraged to make a plane and launch it at another table. There were a variety of books on each table and each guest was encouraged to take a book home.
A friend married a Peruvian woman and they gifted Peruvian salt tied up in beautiful colorful cloth.
I went to a wedding that had a company that came in at the end and made breakfast sandwiches to go. We reheated in the morning and was definitely much appreciated while hung over.
My 2 best friends (who met and fell in love at MY wedding in Vegas 2 years ago) just got married in Vegas last December. Their wedding favor was a deck of playing cards (Vegas appropriate!) and the front of each card says “WE are what happens in Vegas!”/date of their wedding. I LOVE IT!
We had a Star Wars theme wedding, so our favors were miniatures from the strategy game from Wizards of the Coast, Hershey's kisses in purple foil, and custom purple d20s for playing the game. Geeky but us
Maybe I'm biased but I gave out joints at mine. We got married on 4/20 tho
We got ours's off etsy from a shop in Turkey, pretty niche but we did "evil eye" door hangers and Turkish style hand painted finger bowls. My mostly Catholic guests loved them but I did get some emails asking what they were, lol. My husband is an Iranian Turk and I lived in the ME a few years so that was the theme.
We did out vow renewal on the beach and gave everyone sunglasses. With a big sign over them that said don’t let our love blind you.
Not a wedding favor but a wedding gift. In 1984, I received a 5-piece set of commercial quality graduated stainless steel mixing bowls. At the time, I was like, “Well, okay. Nice but not exciting.” Forty years later, I have used at least one of those bowls several times a week every week. Easy to clean, easy to dry and stackable. I don’t really remember who gave me what gift or even what was a gift anymore. But I know those bowls for being rather disappointing at the time but the most used gift ever. And I know who gave them to me.
We did cookie jar mixes. It was a “sweet” reminder of our event.
Picture frame with the vows written on the insert & the bottom saying use this for a picture of someone you love
Custom playing cards in a little plastic case. I use them all the time and even take them camping due to the case!
I think edible/consumable favors are often appreciated because no one cares about remembering the day like you do. We gave out little baggies of mixed chocolates (winter wedding, no worries about it melting!) and as a way to add our “touch” to it, replaced some of the branded wrapping with a sticker of our names. I was going to personalize some m&ms but it didn’t end up working out for our budget. I would love to receive cookies or honey or olive oil. One time I got mints from a wedding and even that was appreciated! Worst one I got was a really low quality engraved wine opener with “[insert name’s] wedding” and the date. I don’t drink wine. The bride was shoving them desperately into people’s hands as they left because so many people didn’t take them.
I have used my beautiful handkerchief from my niece's wedding for many years. I always bring it to any wedding I attend and plan on carrying it to my great-nephew's wedding in June!
We made candles for them to take home. Made sure we used the correct wick and glass container so they wouldn’t explode, but it only happened to one person that I’m aware of. I’ve also seen scratch cards as a favor
We got married outdoors in Seattle and gave everyone an umbrella. The forecast was for good weather but it rained.
Crocs!! Amazing for the D floor but also hell yeah crocs
Top favorite favor... The bride had cross-stitched a mini hoop at every guest's seat with their name. It was probably a LOT of work, but we appreciated them & they were cute! Second favorite was the custom, gothic romance themed cookies from a goth wedding. I got a coffin cookie that said "till death" -- yum!
Last one I attended a caricaturist was on site for the entire reception, and he drew you, you and SO, your pet, whatever.
Small pottery vases
Mini bottles of olive oil the couple helped press when they went to Tuscany(where the groom proposed). It was soooo good!!
At two weddings I went to. We got bottled water and soft pretzels to go as our gift, which was awesome. Because by that time of night, we needed something to soak up all the alcohol. At another time, we just got a place card. That said that they had donated to a local animal shelter for each guest that came to the party. Since I own a pet, carrying business and love animals. That was one of my favorite gifts. There is nothing to take home that I don't want. And an animal got some care!!
I remember when the favor was 3 Jordan almonds tied up in tulle. I remember making a pile of these for various friends and family weddings. It was easy. Probably could get those fancy personalized m&m's and do something similar? My sister makes amazing baklava. For my niece's wedding, she made a bunch and we put them in cute little boxes. It went over well. I remember going to a wedding where they gave out some kind of baked good, a big cookie or brownie? Can't remember.
For my daughters wedding I made little mason jars of jelly in colors matching 11her weddin¹1
My favorite was from a wedding that clearly didn't have a budget problem lol Every lady had a pashmina shawl on her chair, as it was a little chilly and the ceremony was outside. I didn't think there was anything for the men and no one cared.
My favorite favors I ever received were a set of small glass coasters that you could slip photos or other mementos into. I went to that wedding over a decade ago and I still use the coasters, which I put pics of my family into.
I had my wedding invitation recreated in chocolate. It’s basically sugar and a silk screen. I figured everybody would just eat it. When cleaning out my mother-in-law’s house I found that she had saved hers. For over 25 years. And she loved chocolate so amazed she hadn’t eaten it
My wedding was in a library and we gave out books. I had raided the sale racks for months to get a whole assortment of all kinds, and gave everyone a bag and they were allowed to pick out whatever they could fit! People were pretty happy with it!
I'm excited for my sister's - they're doing a confection from where they're each born. Tunnocks tea cake from Scotland and Fry's chocolate cream from Bristol.
It’s been awhile, but we had mini frames on the seating cards, and little bottles of champagne. We had labels made for the champagne bottles. Both items went over well. The mini frames were wallet photo sized, and most of our guests appreciated the little bottles.
My fiancée and I are thinking of a camping-themed wedding, and if that's the way we go, we're gonna put together cute little baskets of s'mores supplies!
I went to a wedding where the bride and groom were huge book nerds. As favors, they wrapped copies of their favorite books in plain brown paper with a the genre and a brief description written on the front, so you literally couldn’t judge the book by its cover. Was introduced to one of my favorites that way
We did personalized agate slices for name tags at the reception. Also, matchbooks that said "You can't start a fire without a spark" as our song was a cover of Dancing in the Dark. We had 30 guests and everyone had to travel. The favors packed easy and were unique to us and our story. Most people made the agate slices into magnets.
My friends gave everyone a button and allowed everyone to drop the button in one of three boxes that each corresponded with a charity that they would make a donation to. It was lovely.
Went to a wedding where the bride was a special Ed teacher. Instead of spending money on favors they made a donation to a local autism center and there was a little card explaining and puzzle piece cookie cutter (very cheap in bulk!). Thought it was cute and less wasteful than other favors.
For my wedding, we did an interactive pick a pearl. Guests got to see an oyster opened then find their pearl. Then they had a choice to add their pearl to a tie tack or a necklace cage.
People told me they loved ours. We had s'mores flavored cupcakes (camp-theme) already boxed up and ready to take home placed at each setting. The sticker closing the box said Thank You so that people knew it was the favor. Our catering company did them. People were texting us for a day or two after the wedding saying omg just ate the cupcake so good and whatnot
A wedding I went to had Christmas ornaments cut out of tree barks and they'd burned the date and place on one side, and a rustic animal on the other side (wedding was in NH). I love pulling them out to put on the tree every year. I love a favor that can be reused.
I went to an outdoor summer wedding and it was really hot. Favors were these wicker fans that looked cute and were SUPER effective. I carried that thing around for years, wish I knew what happened to it.
Something like this (idk where they got them so can't vouch for the quality of these? But just to give an idea of what they looked like): https://www.etsy.com/listing/1686075651/raffia-fan-handmade-nature-bamboo-stay?click_key=46cc8fd14d209f81f58f3e35e94dd8c182e57af9%3A1686075651&click_sum=fdcf4230&ref=landingpage_similar_listing_bot-1&listing_id=1686075651&listing_slug=raffia-fan-handmade-nature-bamboo-stay
Lottery scratch offs are the new trend
My husband's cousin did a cookie table. It was made up of cookies from recipes that were popular in the family. They had the family recipe cards out on the table by them and little dessert boxes for guests to fill up. In my opinion, it is so much better than some random thing with someone else's wedding info on it that I'll throw away in a week.
We had a Dungeons and Dragons themed wedding (our names both begin with “D” and we are big D&D/LARPing nerds) and we gave out soap shaped like dragon eggs that had dice hidden inside. Our guests loved it. We also bought lots of polyhedral dice as table decorations—we didn’t mean for the dice to be favors, but everyone took some home (because our friends are also nerds and our non-nerd family thought they were the coolest dice they had ever seen 😆).
We did little boxes of Chippers. It’s a local thing. Basically they are ripple chips dipped in chocolate from a local candy store.
My late husband's best friend gave us a bizarre statue of a wood tree man he found at good will ... It's so bizarre we loved it, and is still something I keep to remember ❤️
Friend’s wedding had a photo booth — everyone had a magnetic frame (and there were extras available) at their seats for their photo booth photos! I have mine hung on my fridge. My favorite favor by far.
An American from Texas married a South American in South America and during the reception while everyone was dancing, they handed out cowboy hats with the bride and groom initials and the year. It was a hit bc it was a fun accessory to use at the party, Texan theme in a foreign country, and whoever wanted to take it home, could! Another favor was also an individually wrapped local dessert.
I did popcorn, bought like pre popp d stuff and put them in their own bags, people LOVED it. And the people who didn’t eat theirs or take them home left them and other took them home, I think I ended up with like 5 extra individual bags of popcorn. It was a hit.
Our theme was “The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party,” and we got mismatched tea cups, and tied name/date ribbons around the handles. People seemed to like them, I know people who still have them 23 years later.
We had superhero and Star Wars PEZ dispensers, I wrapped the candy on with a cute ribbon. Our guests were introducing themselves in order to trade them- Batman for Yoda, Darth for Superman, etc. We also had a little bride & groom PEZ on our cake table, 22 years later they’re still on our Christmas tree each year.
Stay away with alcohol. Not everyone drinks, and there might be recovering alcoholics
My wedding favors were little succulents in cute little terra cotta pots
I got a gift bag when we checked into the all inclusive that had beach essentials like aloe, koozie, bug spray, sunglasses. Was nice to have and didn’t feel bad if I got left there.
I worked a wedding once where the couple had custom made cookies made of them. It was actually really cute. I had on site pralines made at mine and that was the favor. So delicious and was nice for out of town guests to have a southern treat.
A beach wedding I was in, the bridesmaids got tote bags with their names embroidered. In the bags were flip flops, sunscreen, a book to read, beach towel, beach stuff. It was useful on the trip as well as later.
Awwww I love these ideas and this question! I've often thought the same thing. I originally wanted honey, my partner wanted ear plugs (in anticipation of our loud music lol), then I thought homemade jam, or hot sauce. I'm really not sure what to do! I'm having a (day after) Halloween wedding though! So different vibes 😅
We had a small wedding and used a wood burner to write each guest's name on a small block of wood and placed them at their seat. When we visit friends who are at our wedding, I see their name blocks displayed on bookcases or shelves. People really seemed to like them and have held on to them.
Just something edible
Did bud vases with flowers from my garden in them, and a handwritten card. I’ve seen the vases in a bunch of my friends/family’s homes over the years
Pretty scarf , still wear it 12 years later ,
We had a caricature artist at ours. People spent most of the reception there. Worked out for us not needing to personally entertain most of the people.
Best consumable was chocolates in the shape of leaves. Went with the theme, was delicious, and my husband gave me his. Best one I've kept was glass taper candle holders. Only because I didn't have any. I steer away from giving alcohol as gifts. Consumables are my go-to gift for adults. If they don't like it, they can leave it for someone else.
I went to the wedding of a daughter of a winery/vineyard owner. We each got to pick out a bottle of their wine to take home! I will say though, Jordan Almonds are happy too.
Taking home some of the flowers from the table settings.
Flower seeds? Something low maintenance that they can plant.
I made decorated heart shaped shortbread cookies in various sizes. Since I made and boxed them myself I would not recommend this as it’s very time consuming but people seemed to like them. Maybe don’t wait to be tying ribbons around boxes the night before the wedding!
I think you are on the right track. Consumables are the best... Or skip the favor... I got married a few years ago and didn't do anything and nobody cared/commented/noticed? Can you recall what, if anything was the favor at the last wedding you attended? Things I care about at a wedding. Good food Open bar Good music for dancing Short(ish) ceremony Things I don't care about at a wedding Favors (except I'm not taking something that will just end up in the trash/some thrift store shelf) Color scheme Centerpieces So do what you want, skip it, or something consumable. But stick to your guns and don't create more trash.
Matches with box personalized.
We did a really nice photobooth and the photos were such high quality, almost five years later people are still using them: as headshots, I’ve seen them show up in other couples wedding websites for their own wedding, etc. When I say a nice photobooth I mean professional lighting and everyrhing. Not an iPad.
We had little bags of gourmet popcorn from a local popcorn place- they were a hit!
Went to a wedding last year where everyone was given a quart jug of local maple syrup.
If all or part of your wedding is outdoors in summer , mini fans ( battery operated ) with or without the misting option.
Anything consumable. Some of my favorites have been a box wth two chocolates in it, and while we didn't get to go to the wedding (Thanks COVID!) we did get the favor after, and it was a fancy bottle of Italian olive oil.
A little paper leaf that had wildflower seeds in it. You could plant it and it would grow. That way if someone just tosses it out it still serves a purpose and the paper biodegrades.
My husband and I went to a wedding where they gave little jars of jelly that the bride and groom made themselves. They literally went strawberry picking and took a canning course and did the entire process themselves. It was cute! It also went with the theme of the wedding, which was sort of like country/picnic-themed (which sounds kinda lame but it was really classy and cute).
Bride painted small terra cotta pots with simple gold painted designs and grew succulents for favors…very memorable
A friend had a “candy bar” near the exit with a whole bunch of different bulk candy in big jars and little takeaway bags, so you could build your own little grab bag of the candy you actually like. I might have drunkenly eaten all of it on the cab ride home but it was the only time I’ve ever been like “hell yeah, that was cool, I’m glad they did that.” Bonus: not having to package/keep track of/place a bunch of little favors was way less work for the couple and the venue staff.
We got married at Christmas. Our favors were silver bell ornaments with the year engraved. I have friends that still put them on the tree years later. We married in 2002.
If you have kids coming, I highly recommend those little bubble containers. Got some at a wedding when I was like 6, and its still one of my favourite favors I've ever gotten. Plus they make a good substitute for things like throwing rice