Thoughtful Wedding Gifts For Guests, From Personalised Wedding Favours To DIY Ideas
Wedding gifts for guests offer a small token of thanks for their attendance and can be touching keepsakes. While they're one of the smaller jobs during wedding planning, they can still take some thought and time, particularly if you choose a handmade option.
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Wedding favours are one of the oldest wedding traditions, though they are often one of the last things a couple tackles on their wedding planning checklist. They date back to the 16th Century when the French aristocracy would present wedding or party guests with bonbonnière, a small box of sweets to thank them for attending. Modern times see the tradition go far beyond confectionary, with couples adding some flair to wedding favours, from personalised trinkets and mini bottles to enjoy during the reception, to flower seeds that will later bloom into a beautiful reminder of the day.
Credit: Joshua Tucker Photography
Though not essential, wedding favours can be a meaningful way to personalise a tablescape and connect with guests with a token that reflects your bond. 'Couples often go for something traditional or personal to them,' William Bartholomew of William Bartholomew Party Organising tells us. 'It's also a way to give an insight into the bride or groom's culture.' With dresses, décor, menus, flowers and wedding seating plans taking up a lot of headspace, many couples leave planning their wedding favours until last. Whether you're looking for some last-minute wedding favour ideas, or want to tick off wedding gifts for guests early, we've compiled the best ideas from wedding planners, gifting experts, and guests.
Are wedding favours necessary?
Before we get into ideas for wedding favours, the caveat is that, while a thoughtful gesture, they're not regarded as a necessity. 'We've seen some wonderfully creative wedding favours, but in a world where we all have so much 'stuff', they're not essential,' Matthew Shaw, founder of events company Sauveur, tells us. 'I would always suggest leaving these until the end,' Shaw explains. 'While lovely, they do eat up budget, and you should ensure you have everything else checked off the list first.' Wedding planner Tallulah Adams of Davenport House echoes this sentiment, explaining, 'We've seen wedding favours left, lifeless, on the tables and swept up with the linen at the end of the night; even personalised perfumes at a huge expense. Something to start the party, such as a wedding favour linked to a speech, always goes down well.' Popular options are a small drink to enjoy during the speeches, personalised teabags or after-dinner chocolates.
DIY vs shop-bought favours
Along with shop-bought treats and trinkets, there’s a long history of couples creating their own wedding favours. 'It could be something homemade like a little bottle of Limoncello or a liqueur,' Bartholomew suggests. 'Sometimes couples give out little jam jars filled with homemade fare like honey or preserves.' Miniature plants or succulents tied elegantly with jute string are also a popular choice for green-fingered couples, while bakers could offer homemade cookies or chocolates that nod to the heritage of wedding favours. Crafting wedding gifts for guests yourself can seem like a mammoth task, so gifting expert Courtney Rogers suggests getting the bridal party involved before the event. 'Why not host a 'sip and create' party before the wedding where they craft the wedding favours together in advance,' she tells us.
The obvious upshot of buying wedding favours is that it's less labour-intensive, and all the work is done for you. However, wedding gifts for guests can be expensive, considering their volume. More complex wedding favours, such as an engraved keyring or custom-made box of chocolates, could set you back hundreds or thousands of pounds depending on the size of your wedding. However, a smaller token, such as a little pack of seeds, you can buy in bulk of 100 for around £100, with personalisation included.
DIY wedding favours pros & cons
- Thoughtful
- Original and personal
- Can be less expensive
- Possible to match them to wedding invites and other stationary
- Time-consuming
- Labour intensive
Shop-bought wedding favours pros & cons
- One less thing to think about
- Quick to organise
- It's easy to add a personal touch
- Ensures the gifts are uniform
- Often more expensive
- Opportunity for more luxurious gifting
6 Ideas for crowd-pleasing wedding favours
1. Seeds, plants and flowers
One of the more affordable wedding guest favour options is to opt for small packets of seeds that guests can plant at home. 'A bride I knew was a huge advocate for bees, and how important they were to our eco-system, so a pack of wildflower seeds on each table was a thoughtful and appropriate gesture we all knew the significance of,' wedding guest Emma tells us. Small bunches of flowers wrapped in ribbon, dried flowers in brown paper cones, or miniature plants or succulents are also popular.
2. Edible goods
This can mean mini bottles of spirits, cocktails, baked goods, chocolates or other confectionery. 'My all-time favourite favour was a little bottle of homemade gin, though not many of those bottles lasted long into the night,' wedding guest Glen told us. Confectionary can also point towards a bride or groom's home town or country. 'We had bags of Marmite crisps and mini Coffee Crisp chocolate bars to signify the meeting of two great nations, Great Britain and Canada,' wedding guest Lizzie told us.
3. Keepsakes and trinkets
Certain trinkets and small objects hold special significance at weddings in many cultures. In India, small engraved elephants symbolise power, wealth, and good luck, while in Ireland, tiny bells are often placed on tables for guests, and the bell-ringing ritual is said to ward off evil spirits and bless the marriage. More general keepsakes include a keyring, coaster or bottle stopper, which are useful items that will remind guests of the day. These gifts are easy to personalise, though doing so can incur higher costs.
Credit: Neil Jackson Photographic
4. Cosmetics
These could be mini hand creams, personalised soaps, lip balms, a small bottle of bubble bath or a draw-string bag of bath salts to enjoy a relaxing moment after the wedding. For a more lavish wedding gift for guests, Gifting expert Rogers suggests, 'Thoughtful mini perfumes and aftershaves for each of the guests to treasure are a lovely touch at a wedding.'
5. Candles and crystals
Miniature candles can be a lovely gift for guests to light and think of your special day. 'Personalised candles from Jo Malone and Diptyque are favourites - and Jo Malone has an excellent wedding favour range,' Rogers tells us. Bartholomew also notes crystals as a choice for couples, telling us, 'At a wedding I did recently, the couple gave organic cotton bags of crystals to all the guests, to carry the good energy and love away with them after the ceremony.'
6. Donations
Some couples may prefer to donate the money allocated to gifts for wedding guests to a chosen charity. This can be marked by an explanatory card on each table or a badge, as bride Anna explains: 'We donated what we would have spent on favours to Alzheimer's Society, a charity close to our family's heart, and everyone got a little badge to wear.'
Alternatively, the wedding favour budget could go into a 'cocktail hour' or aperitivo moment (particularly if you're serving Italian cuisine) before the evening event. Give out drinks tokens or an invitation to collect a special tipple instead of a favour. Wedding planner Adams says, 'Something we love is drinks tokens that elegantly link to a small menu in the bar for guests to choose from, their first drink on you. A cocktail hour adds a level of class and excitement to the period right after speeches and gets people out of their seats and mingling again, ready for the evening entertainment.' Another lovely idea to replace wedding favours could be a DIY bouquet bar, as Chris Waugh, a Bloom & Wild Florist, suggests. ‘A DIY bouquet bar doubles as entertainment and the wedding favour, with guests able to create an arrangement from various stems to take home.’
Affordable wedding favour ideas
For those who want to uphold the tradition without huge costs, there are plenty of wedding favour ideas on a budget. These small gift ideas for wedding guests still add a personal touch to the tablescape and are relatively easy to execute.
Napkin holders: Initials can be engraved onto wooden hearts or on ribbon for a personal touch.
Packets of plant or flower seeds: As mentioned earlier, this popular wedding favour can be adapted for those on a budget by opting for simple packaging and buying seeds in bulk.
A single flower: ‘For something unique, why not gift a single stem flower with a personal note tied on with twine,’ Waugh suggests. Match these to your wedding flowers and it can pull a whole scheme together, especially if you've gone for striking seasonal blooms on your tablescapes, such as autumn wedding flowers.
Mini packets of sweets or chocolates with personalised packaging: These can be ordered in bulk with a small personalisation fee.
Scratch cards: Chances are that with as many scratch cards as you'd need to gift your average wedding guestlist of over a hundred, there will be some winners. 'We had scratch cards on personalised cards and stuck a penny on for each guest. It was great seeing who had won!' bride Becky recalls.
A handwritten note: Sometimes simplicity is the best option, and a handwritten note costs very little other than your time. 'You could a personalised note or short poem for every guest, or write down a special memory you've shared,' Rogers suggests.
Credit: Rebecca Searle Photography
Wedding gift bags for guests
Another idea for those with more budget is a wedding gift bag for guests. These wedding gift bags could reflect the wedding theme - for example, a beachside wedding gift bag could include flip-flops for dancing, a fan and suncream - or be a 'recovery kit' for the morning after. Wedding guest Veena tells us, 'I went to a wedding where we were given 'welcome bags' in our hotel rooms with hangover cures, lip balm, snacks and water - and I've been using it ever since.'
While wedding favours are an excellent opportunity to get creative, they should never cause stress. As wedding planner Adams explains, 'Wedding favours are something to think carefully about, but please don't spend hours and hours fretting over the perfect gift when you are already giving so much to your guests on your wedding day. The incredible experience, beautiful wedding breakfast, and fantastic party are always more than enough.'
