Most of us think that weddings are memorable only for the bride and groom— the celebration of their union, the beginning of their lives’ new chapter. However, only a few of us realise that weddings can be the guests’ special day, too. Families are reunited. Long lost friends catch up on each other. Busy people clear their schedules for a much needed and deserved vacation. Weddings are memorable for all.
That is why one of the most common wedding details are wedding favours. Couples spend time and exert extra efforts in choosing, making or buying the perfect wedding favours. And guests look forward to receiving it. It’s the ultimate ending to such a gorgeous and love-filled day.
A wedding favour is a way to show your gratitude and appreciation to your guests. When choosing what to give, it’s important to get something that holds meaning for you as a couple. This can be an item related to your love story, the things you like or your favourite food. Or it can be a small piece that fits your wedding theme.
However, while these things are cute and awesome, you can also consider having a wedding favour that they will keep after your big day. You wouldn’t want your guests to trash your wedding favour as soon as they get home, right? A unique and useful wedding favour will do. Examples of this are handcrafted gift boxes, ‘love’ bottle stopper, vintage key bottle opener, personalised cheese knives, reed diffusers, custom seed packet, tealight holders, engraved shot glasses and personalised organic soap.
Do you want to make sure that there would be no left over on your wedding favour table at the end of the night? We’ve compiled a list of creative and functional wedding favour ideas that your guests will surely love! And they will even make them think twice about throwing them away. Check them out!
What Is a Wedding Favour?
There are many names to call it: wedding favours, souvenirs, tokens, giveaways, etc. These are the items given as a take-home gift to guests during weddings. It serves as an expression of gratitude and appreciation of the newlyweds. Typically, wedding favours bear the names of the newlyweds and the date of the wedding to remind their guests of that magical day.
What Is the Best Type of Wedding Favour?
A common characteristic of a wedding favour is that it is uniquely made and crafted specifically to symbolise the newlyweds and their special day. They vary from one wedding to another, depending on the couple’s choice.
However, the best type of wedding favours that will be greatly appreciated by the recipients are useful wedding favours. They are practical wedding favours that can be used or consumed by guests long after the wedding.
Another type of wedding favours that are on trend nowadays are handmade items, especially when bought from small businesses or startups. They are handcrafted gifts designed with personalised touch and custom made to suit the couples’ preferences.
What Can I Give Away as a Unique Wedding favour?
If you are looking for your very own unique wedding favour, there are many choices to choose from. Aside from the previously mentioned types of wedding favours, other types of wedding favours include a simple token, such as a polarised picture, personalised tumbler cuff, ‘make your own’ wedding cocktails and wood slice coasters, as well as a luxury wedding favour like signature perfumes or expensive jewellery.
There are many ways to make your wedding favour as unique as possible. With the growing number of small and startup businesses dedicated to catering their customer’s preferences, having the perfect wedding favour is not impossible.
Below are 25 examples of unique and useful wedding favours for your guests.
1. Lavish Bath Bombs
Give something a little different and choose Bath bomb party favours. These are a great, exciting addition for your wedding. Each bath bomb is individually wrapped then placed in a white box. On that box is a label that is customised to suit your wedding.
2. ‘Love’ Bottle Stopper
Remind your guests of your love as they take a sip out of their favourite bottle of wine by giving away ‘love’ bottle stoppers. These elegant souvenirs are made of solid chrome with unique designs to symbolise your love. They are a good way for your guests to save any of their remaining bottled beverages. Once you order, the items are made in Australia and shipped wherever you are, gift boxes and ribbons included.
3. ‘Vintage Key’ Bottle Opener
Who doesn’t love wine? Help your guests to easily open their wine bottles with this unique and useful wedding favour that can be personalised. It’s sentimental yet practical.
If you are going for a vintage, antique or shabby chic-themed wedding, the vintage key bottle opener is a perfect wedding favour for you. You can easily get custom-made bottle openers to complement your wedding theme. These bottle openers are made with high-quality metal alloy and are typically shipped across Australia.
4. Personalised Cheese Knives
Cheese is a great addition to various dishes to make them more delicious. For one, preparing a charcuterie is best when you have the right tool for cutting those cheeses.
Hand out to your guests these cheese knives made with mango wood, stainless steel and epoxy resin. It’s the best gift for cheese lovers! Your guests will definitely display this beautiful keepsake in their kitchen.
A cheese knife is a practical item that comes in different sizes and colours. You can also add your own design and even engrave your special message for personalisation. These useful wedding favours are also handmade and shipped from Australia.
5. Personalised Reed Diffusers
Another handmade wedding favour idea is a personalised reed diffuser, which is perfect for relaxation and a peaceful evening. It comes in 30 or 100-ml bottles. The guests will be delighted to have this as it can add a constant fragrance to their room without using a scented candle, flame or heat.
You can choose whether to buy the diffuser with or without oil, but both come with a gift bag and a personalised label. You can also opt to add a ribbon and personalised label, including the recipient’s name and the wedding details.
6. Organic Greek Olive Oil with Edible 24kt Gold Flakes
Let’s talk about fancy and luxurious wedding favours. From the Italian glass bottle up to the organic extra virgin Greek olive oil infused with edible 25 kt gold flakes is sure to wow your guests. With this kind of wedding favour, your guests will most probably put it on display and make it the star of their kitchen pantry.
Greece has the finest olive oil in the world. Greek olive oil is the best in the world! It’s loaded with antioxidants. It can be used in sauteing, frying, stewing and baking and offers several health benefits. With edible 24kt gold flakes, organic Greek olive oil is a premium kind of wedding favour!
7. Custom Seed Packet
Do you want an eco-friendly wedding favour? Or do you love gardening?
Boast the green thumb in you. Give away packets of seeds that can grow into a beautiful flowering plant or a nutritious fruit or vegetable. These packets can also symbolise your new life together as a newlywed growing in love. The customisable packets are handmade in Australia with biodegradable materials in either kraft or ivory white colour. You can also have plantable seed papers in the shape of hearts!
Seed packets make a very useful and fun wedding favour. These may encourage people to grow flowers or their own food. Wouldn’t it be good to see butterflies and bees visiting the flowers? Your guests will love the idea!
8. Personalised Definition Candle
Calming, relaxing, and aromatherapeutic— personalised definition candles are perfect wedding favours that can keep all the stresses away. In addition to bringing a special ambience to any space, these candles can also be used as decor elements by your guests.
If you decide to have personalised definition candles as wedding favours, you can choose from the many types and available scents, such as jasmine and vanilla. The mini-sized candles can last up to 20 hours when lit, while the medium-sized candles last up to 40 hours. These candles can be used anywhere around your home, such as in the living room, bedroom, and even in the bath.
9. Organic English Tea Box
One example of consumable wedding favours is the organic English tea box. It’s a great box to give as it contains premium-grade English breakfast loose-leaf tea— it’s a rich and refreshing wedding favour! This blend goes well with milk and sugar. Furthermore, organic English tea offers many health benefits, such as reducing cholesterol levels and your risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.
This wedding favour consists of individual packs of organic loose teas, which can be enjoyed by more than one person. It’s eco-friendly and can be personalised by adding your desired label design.
10. Personalised Bridesmaid Manicure Gift
Your bridesmaids deserve self-pampering. Gift them with a personalised manicure set for memorable manicure sessions. Moreso, this is a great idea if you know that they are regular customers at the local nail salon before the pandemic.
Handmade, the manicure gift can come in various personalised designs. You can use an organza bag and put shredded paper or wood wool at the bottom to make it look better. You can then fill it with whatever you desire: nail art stickers, nail polishes, nail polish remover, nail file, lotion, nourishing cream, cuticle pushes, cotton balls and more. The ladies will be so thrilled to receive this kind of favour.
11. Tealight Holders
Tealight holders are one of the cutest little dainty stuff you can have as your wedding favour. They can be handmade with wooden slices, dried flowers, cotton grass and jute ropes. You can also have them personalised and choose among many colours to suit your wedding motif.
Aside from its beautiful looks, tealight holders can also be used to hold candles and set a cosy, calm and romantic ambience. They are a brilliant gift idea, a piece of art that can serve decorative purposes. If tealight holders have a particular meaning to you as a couple, it makes these favours extra special.
12. Engraved Shot Glasses
Engraved shot glasses as wedding favours will remind your guests of the good times they had during your wedding day, whenever they use them to take a shot of alcohol. They come in different designs and can be used as a beautiful detail at home. Engraved shot glasses are a conversation piece that can make any space unique. It’s not every day that you see this kind of shot glasses!
While engraved shot glasses are pretty as they are, empty but with engravings, you can also fill them with other small gifts like nuts and candies. And you don’t have to worry about these glasses breaking because they can be put in a dishwasher and safely washed.
13. Personalised Engraved Crystal Metal Pen
Are you ready to give a stylish and sparkling yet very useful wedding favour?
Practicality and usefulness are the two reasons for having a personalised engraved crystal metal pen as your wedding favour. This pen is equipped with chrome fittings and can be professionally engraved according to your desired design and personalised details. It is often available in three colours: gold, white and black. Lastly, the crystal metal pen has packaging options you can choose from.
14. Honey Jar with Topper and Dipper
Unleash your guests’ sweet tooth with a jar of honey with topper and dipper. How sweet!
This wedding favour contains golden runny honey and includes a dipper. Honey is a superfood with numerous benefits. And while it doesn’t seem like you have a lot of use for this kind of dipper, it’s actually very useful. You can use it to drizzle honey without getting your hands sticky, as well as on other gooey things like jams, caramels and syrups.
When preparing this wedding favour, you have the freedom to choose the topper, the twine and the fabric (Hessian, Calico, or White) to be used in your bottle. You can be as creative as you can.
15. Personalised Organic Soap
From the all natural and eco-friendly options of wedding favours belong the personalised organic soap. This kind of soap is natural plant-based, gluten-free and dairy-free, perfect for your vegans and environment-friendly guests. It can have different scents and colours.
Among the reasons why a personalised organic soap is a great wedding favour are:
- It’s sustainable.
- It serves a very real purpose as we need frequent washing of hands nowadays to fight against viruses and diseases.
- There’s a soap for every budget.
16. Personalised Champagne Flutes
If you want to add an item to your guests’ priced collection of fancy drinking glasses, give away personalised champagne flutes at your wedding. This type can be handmade with reusable plastic and features a built in shot glass to hold a jager. You can have it personalised by choosing the text and colour you want on it. Or add a monogram for a more personal touch.
Champagne flutes are an everyday essential that your guests will think of as practical, thoughtful and heartfelt as a gift. With a luxury gift box and ribbon, these will look stunning!
17. Personalised Tumbler Glass
Thinking about something that can be used every single day? Give a personalised tumbler glass.
This will remind your guests that you love them and you care for them. That you never want any of them dehydrated. By having a personalised tumbler glass as your wedding favour, you can keep them well hydrated. It’s also something that can be used by anyone.
To make it personalised, you can put your chosen design or your guests’ names on the tumbler glass. You can have a monogrammed one too. A good thing about this gift idea is that it can suit different budgets. If you have a set budget, you can quickly find one that’s fit for it. You won’t worry about overspending or underspending.
18. Scrabble Cufflinks
How about something unusual?
Contribute to your guests’ fashion style with elegant scrabble cufflinks that can be personalised based on their names’ initial letter. This wedding favour can be handmade with wood and comes with a display box. You can even do it yourself and add more personal details. Who said that scrabble tiles are just for a game?
Scrabble cufflinks are also a perfect addition if you’re having a rustic or boho style wedding.
19. ‘Make Your Own’ Wedding Cocktails
The ‘Make Your Own’ wedding cocktails as wedding souvenirs let your guests extend your wedding party in the convenience of their own homes. You can have each bottle contain up to 50 mL of cocktail, as well as different colour combinations.
If you have virtual wedding guests, this is also a unique gift to send to them. You can have a very unique wedding toast as they have prepared their own cocktail at home. With personalised labels on the glass bottles and card tags, these ‘Make Your Own’ wedding cocktails’ are enough to let your guests know that you appreciate them for being part of your special day.
20. Tibetan Silver Bookmarks
Are you a couple who loves to read? Show off the bookworm in you and encourage your guests to read books as well by giving them beautiful handmade Tibetan silver bookmarks. They are made of Tibetan Silver, pearl beads, glass beads and gemmed charms. These also come in different colour combinations, so you can choose one that will suit your wedding theme or personal preferences.
What makes bookmarks a unique gift? They are simple, symbolic, very practical but not too expensive.
21. Shot Glass Succulents
Shot glass succulents are one-of-a-kind wedding favours that you can have in your wedding. They have been a growing crowd-pleaser! Not only are they natural and decorative, but they are also affordable when you order in bulk. Your plant loving guests will definitely love this favour. For those who are not much into plants, this wedding favour is easy to care for. It only needs a small amount of water and requires no regular watering.
22. Personalised Wedding Chocolate Favours
Who doesn’t love chocolates?
Personalised wedding chocolate favours are a classic. These never get old. No one can resist a sweet, decadent, elegant dessert. It’s even simple to prepare, and you can pair it with anything. You can have custom chocolate bars with your names engraved on them, s’more kits, marbled chocolates or rich chocolates with your pictures on them. These wedding favours can be put into monogrammed paper-covered boxes, muslin bags or any packaging of your choice.
Pro tip: You can order wedding chocolate favours in bulk for a reduced cost.
23. Plantable Wildflower Paper Hearts
Paper hearts are pretty and romantic. What if you make them plantable? Then they become more meaningful!
Give your guests plantable wildflower paper hearts that they can plant and grow in their backyard or inside their homes for additional greenery and pop of colours. These may symbolise your love living on as the plants grow and blossom with flowers.
Plantable wildflower paper hearts are easy to make, but you can also purchase from a reliable supplier. You can have seeds of either wildflower annuals or perennials. These will look great in small plastic bags or small flower pots.
24. Personalised Coffee Blends
Who doesn’t love a cup of coffee in the morning?
Coffeeholic couples often choose to give away personalised coffee blends to their guests. This way, they can still bring a smile to their wedding guests while they’re at home, sipping a cup of delicious brewed drink while thinking of the lovely memories from your special day.
With customisable bags, these wedding favours are easy to fill and seal. Your guests can easily make their own coffee right after your wedding. However, make sure not to buy beans weeks in advance. Otherwise, you might end up giving stale beans at your wedding. Instead, buy your beans a couple of days before your big day.
25. Wood Slice Coasters
Another example of useful and practical wedding favours are wood slice coasters. And these are perfect, especially if you’re having a rustic wedding. They are rustic, earthy elements that can complement your wedding theme.
Wood slice coasters are sustainable and eco-friendly options. You can have monogrammed coasters, and they are sure to catch attention at any gathering. As they need to protect furniture from water spills and rings, the coasters should feature a water-resistant seal. You can also opt for a magnet and a printed text directly on the wood.
Wedding Favour FAQs
Does Everyone Get a Wedding Favour?
If you are having a wedding where all guests are named and counted, then it is possible that all your guests can receive a wedding favour. Favours may also vary from one guest to another, depending on their role to your wedding. For example, bridesmaids and groomsmen may receive favours different from families and friends of the couple.
In some cases, only selected guests are given wedding favours or the favours are limited so that guests can receive them while it lasts.
How Much Should I Spend on Favours?
The budget for your wedding favours totally depends on you. Some prefer to spend a big amount on favours. Some opt to have a budget friendly wedding favours. An average Australian wedding spends $2–$5 per guest on wedding favours.
Is It OK Not to Have Wedding Favours?
Definitely, it is ok not to have wedding favours, especially if you are having a small and intimate wedding. You can always extend your gratitude to your guests in ways other than wedding favours.
What Is a Wedding Bomboniere?
Wedding bomboniere is a more traditional name for wedding favours. It is a small gift or keepsake given away to party guests. Aside from weddings, bombonieres are also given during other important events such as baptism, engagement, christening, etc.
How Far in Advance Should I Order Wedding Favours?
The safe time to order your wedding favours is one to two months before the wedding. It gives the suppliers enough time to work on the items. At the same time, you can be assured that the items will not be damaged when ordered too early and stored for too long.
Why Do We Have Sugared Almonds at Weddings?
Sugared almonds are old traditional wedding favours. Each guest shall receive five pieces of sugared almonds representing the couple’s five wishes: love, health, happiness, fertility, and long life together.
