Since the first couple stood before the altar and promised to love and cherish each other from now until forever, wedding guests have been handed little bundles of thanks known as favours. It’s a tradition as old as they come and the perfect way to show your appreciation for all those that braved the English weather to join in your party.
Of course, there are two little issues: choice and price.
You want to give your guests a gorgeous wedding favour they’ll hold onto, something as indispensable as it is beautiful, and yet without it making your budget crumble like the biscuity-base of your favourite pudding.
You want to give your guests something memorable, sweet, fun, unique, personal and, most of all, easy on the pocket. It’s not simple but, as you’re about to find out, it’s absolutely doable:
1. Bring Back The Mix-Tape
If you are looking for something to tick off all the boxes we mentioned above, then you should try embracing the good old days and give each of your guests your wedding playlist or a copy of your wedding bands album or the songs that make up your little love story. Think about it for a couple of moments - what could be more amazing than a gift that makes your guests dance for weeks, months and years after your big day? Exactly. The trick is presenting it perfectly. Our advice: make some CD sleeves out of brown card and twine, pick a typography that suits your wedding, be creative with your words and then stick a magnet on the back of each so they can be given pride of place on all your guests’ fridges. Oh, and if you really want to make people dance, pop a note inside the envelope that says you’ve turned your mix-tape into a Spotify playlist too.
2. One In A Million Sort Of Love
Every person on the planet gets excited by the sight of a scratch card. It’s one of those rare moments in life that can make your heart skip a beat, your imagination run wild and the hairs on the back of your neck dance like crazy. So, if you’re stuck for ideas, go and buy as many scratch cards as you have guests, package them up nicely and then place them in pretty teacups alongside each guest’s name place. And then, to really make this favour sparkle, pop a lucky penny into the envelopes too; that something thoughtful they can scratch with. It’s so simple and yet so thrilling.
3. So Good You Could Kiss It
We’re not sure if you’re aware of this, but the average person loses three and a half lip balms a day (probably!). That’s why you should look at making each of your guests smile from ear to ear by giving them a new one. But don’t just go for something dull and mundane and altogether meh, pick some fascinating flavours; something yummy like white chocolate truffle or strawberry champagne and blueberry ginger or banana and banoffee pudding. You’ll make a lot of people happy for not a lot of money.
4. A Willy Wonka Wonderland
Imagine how many faces will light up when they spot an old dressing table in the corner adorned with a dozen glass jars filled with a hundred types of sweetie, and then imagine their euphoria when they spot some cute little paper bags and a sign saying, “fill your bag, fill your tummy”. You can pick anything you want, from fudges of every flavour to sweets that hark back to your childhood. Of course, if you want to make it extra special, personalise your paper bags with a cute little saying; something cheesy and cute like, “because love is sweet”.
5. Sign Off With A Sparkle
If you’ve been a fan of our blog for more than a week, then you will have noticed our obsession with the sparkler exit. When your big day (and night) comes to a close and starts to become nothing more than your most incredible memory, there is no better photo you can cherish than you and your soul mate leaving the party amongst a flurry of cheering faces and heart-shaped sparklers. There just isn’t. So, if you want our humble advice, pop a sparkler on each person’s plate and add a little note that says, “these are to be saved for the moment Mr and Mrs Beautiful wander hand-in-hand into the night”. You can then send every guest a copy of the photo to make this moment live on forever.
6. Live On As Lego
It doesn’t matter if you are a toddler or a grandparent or somewhere in between, everyone has a soft spot for Lego. So, knowing this, how awesome would it be if you and your partner in happily-ever-after were made into Lego figures? There just isn’t a nicer (or quirkier) touch to add to your big day, nor a better way to be thought of long after your night comes to a close. Who knows, you may even become a family heirloom, passed down from generation to generation. Creepy? Kind of. Brilliant? Without a doubt.
7. Treat Them To A Takeaway Tipple
One of the most popular wedding favours of all time is the tasty tipple, and that’s because of the freedom. It could be a quaint little bottle (the kind you can imagine filling the shelves of a chemist centuries ago) filled with a locally made sloe gin, it could be a cocktail you and the love of your life invented specifically for your wedding reception, it could be that rocket-fuel shot you always used to drink at university or it could be a taste of a land far, far away, where the two of you went for your first holiday. Whatever you decide, you’ll find this is the perfect pick-me-up for your guests. Just don’t expect this favour to survive your party and get taken home - it’s a wedding and people don’t have that kind of restraint at weddings.
8. Everyone Has At Least One Sweet Tooth
Some people may prefer a cheese board to a cheesecake, but that doesn’t mean they don’t love a bit of chocolate now and again, which means the door is open to please your guests without spending a pretty penny. Pop your guests name onto a cocktail stick and then pop that a Ferrero Rocher, or ask your best friend (the one that can bake) if they will make you some bite-size cake squares to be enjoyed as chic nibbles, or have a selection of yummy truffles wrapped up in some vintage handkerchiefs and handed out as pretty favours. Basically, the world is your box of chocolates and they all taste good.
9. Nothing Beats The Power Of Words
If you a) can’t make up your mind on the favour-front or b) realise you have spent every last penny of your budget already and are now panicking, we urge you to take a lovely deep breath and celebrate the fact nothing is sweeter than a little thank you letter. You could ask the person that did your wedding invites to mock-up a gorgeous thank you card or you could just pop a few words onto some old-fashioned luggage tags - it doesn’t matter. So long as you show your appreciation, people will smile. If, however, you manage to find a dollop of time spare, try and make each thank you note personal to each guest. Say thank you to Gemma for setting you and your fiancé up on your first date, and tell your Mum how much you appreciate them always being that one person you can talk to, and so on. It won’t cost anything but card, ink and time and, in return, you can guarantee your thank you notes will be popped into memory boxes everywhere.
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