Wedding Favors are a little something the bride and groom traditionally give out to the attendees of the wedding as a thank you for being a part of their special day. From what I have seen online most of the people talking about this subject agree that if you are on a budget these are not necessary. Favors also tend to have a bad rap for getting left behind and being a waste of money.

If you do not want to do individual favors but still want to do something for your guests I have seen some people talk about doing a raffle or a scratch off type game where there is a big prize or a couple prizes that are more useful to more people. (electronics, gift baskets, gift cards, outdoor games, etc)

I have run into quite a few ideas that a decent amount of content creators think are cool. If this is a tradition you would like to do, there are plenty of ways to give out meaningful & useful favors if you have a very small budget or a massive one. If you don’t want to give out favors that is completely fine and don’t let anyone change your mind, it is YOUR big day and YOUR choice.

Everybody is different and what everybody likes is different. That being said, I have also seen a consensus from most creators and bloggers that a LOT of wedding favors get left behind if they are “tchotchke” type items. From what I have seen, if the items are personalized with your wedding/ marriage information and not consumable, people tend to feel bad for throwing them away so they “forget them”. The items that get taken and appreciated by a higher number of people generally fall into one of 3 categories: edible, immediately useful, and/or personal. Immediate family and close friends are more likely to enjoy a “tchotchkes” with the wedding information on it. It is also perfectly fine to give different people different Favors as long as it is with good intentions. You could also offer a couple different kinds based on what you think will be enjoyed at your wedding by your guests. It is completely up to you. No matter how cool the favors are, a few guests will inevitably forget them so I highly suggest choosing something you wouldn’t mind having a handful leftover. 

Some of these ideas cost a lot more than others financially and some are easier to DIY. I will use $ for low cost, ^^ for anything that has a wide range of cost based on how or where you get the products * for easy to DIY, and ** for possible DIY with specialized equipment. If you are able to DIY anything on this list it should bring the financial cost of the item down but it is good to keep in mind that time is also a cost so if you spend too much time on DIY projects it might not be worth it for you personally. It all depends on how much time and money you want and have to put into favors.

Now for the fun part…… FAVOR IDEAS

EDIBLE

• Snack Bars – ^^ * or ** depending on what kind of bar it is. Below is just a few of the ones I have seen
  -Popcorn – Ice Cream – Candy –  Pretzel – Trail Mix – Movie night (popcorn and candy) – Caramel apple – Nachos – Charcuterie – S’mores – Donut – Smoothie – Hot Chocolate
• Personalized Chocolates / Mints $ * (need printer and certain sizes of label printer paper) These are pretty easy and cheap but I have seen some creators say these were not a huge hit from what they have seen but they also double as cute decor depending on the colors and designs so I figured I would include it.
• Jars of Honey, Jam, or  Syrup  ^^ * Can DIY but might need to order some supplies
• Custom Cookies ^^ * could possibly DIY if you are creative
• Bride and Grooms favorite candy filled bags or jars $ * (need printer and printer label paper)
• Take home containers if you are going to have plenty of food / deserts left over
• Cupcakes ^^
• Bottles of Olive oil ^^  *   This is one I have seen very mixed reviews on if people liked them or not it really depends on your guests
• Hot Sauce bottles ^^ *
• Bags of Coffee/ Tea  ^^ * 

Immediately Useful

• Scratch off tickets $
• Fans (hot wedding) ^^
• Blankets (cold wedding) ^^
• Bottle Openers (if beer bottles are offered at wedding) $
• Custom matchbooks for smokers $ *  
• Dancing shoes -flip flops – For people to change into if there shoes are uncomfy $
• Custom decks of cards  This one has mixed reviews but if your guests are big card players like my family this might be a big hit. ^^
• DIY hangover kits ^^ *
• Custom chapsticks ^^
• Make your own flower petal cup where guests can choose what colors of flower petals they want to throw in the air when you “exit” creating beautiful photos ^^

Personal

• Handwritten thank you notes to each guest $ * !!!MY PERSONAL FAVORITE!!! Inexpensive and very personal, these seem to be a big crowd pleaser based on my research. This will take up a decent amount of time depending on the number of guests.
• Hire an Artist to do sketches/ drawings/ small paintings of the guests ^^
• Have a way to print photos (like a photo booth, Poloroid camera, or photographer with printer) so guests can take home photos of them all dressed up having fun at the event.  – This can be two fold if you encourage them to take 2 printed photos they can also put one in a book and/or sign them as your GuestBook. ^^ **