“Favours require three ingredients: Taste-Style-Thought.
They must be something guests will want to take home.”
– Gail Dunson, co-author “Bridzilla: True Tales from Etiquette Hell”Favours or Bombonniers are a popular European tradition that date back to the time of the Romans. Often you'll see five candies that symbolize Health, Love, Prosperity, Fertility, and Fidelity. They were traditionally given to the women attending the wedding, but most people today provide a gift to every couple or every individual guest. It is up to you. This is a tradition more popular in Canada than the US. It's a fun way to thank every guest for coming to your special day. Quite often the wedding party will get together one night to assemble the favour as it can be a time consuming activity.
Bath Salts
Make your own or buy already made, from local sources like Body Saltz, bath products that your guests can enjoy at home. Put a custom label on them with your picture, names and wedding date for a personalized touch.
Chocolate Mold
The best guest favours are consumable. The reality is, unless it's consumable or extremely useful for the masses, favours end up left on the guest tables. The masses enjoy chocolate and if you look on eBay, you could find a mold of anything to fit your theme that would make an enjoyable treat for your guests. One bride I spoke to has a western theme and wanted to buy each guest a cowboy hat for the reception. Not everyone may use a cowboy hat and they could add up to be a lot of money very quickly. Instead I suggested buying a chocolate mold of cowboy hats and wrapping them as a favour for each guest. This will save a lot of money and be appreciated by more guests. There are many options to wrap the chocolates. You can use netting, plastic bags, Chinese take out boxes, or other packaging options. Choose something that suits your theme and budget.
Cocoa for Couples
Instructions for this can be found under 'DIY Projects'. Especially for a winter wedding, these cute consumables can be easily made by you and your wedding party. Get cone shaped bags at Creative Packaging and create a warm thank you for your guests to enjoy.
Custom Cookie
1. Bake massages into costume made cookies. Ask your local baker if they are able to do this for you.
Custom Cookie
2. You may want an iced sugar cookie instead. These can be very pretty and designed to suit your theme. You can even have edible photograph images imprinted.
Donation
Show your guests your humanitarian side and donate $1-2 per guest to the BC SPCA. Also consider the BC Cancer Foundation or Surrey Food Bank or any of your favourite charity organization(s).
Frame / Placecard
Buy small frames from the dollar store (if you don't like the colour, spray paint them) and put the guest names, and maybe your name & date in them. They can then be used as place cards. Then when you send your thank you cards, include a wedding photo that will fit the frame. Make sure your MC announces the frames are to be taken.
Message Stones for Guests
Either stamp an inspirational message with 'stayz on' ink on smooth rocks you find in a river bed or use metallic ink pens to write your own unique message. Rocks can be purchased at craft and dollar stores too, but with all the rivers around here, I'd go get them for free if you have the time.
Message Stones for Bride & Groom
I've also seen this as a gift for the bride and groom, where each guest gets a blank stone and they write a message of inspiration to the bride and groom. The stones are put in a bowl and they have a lovely memory and decoration for their new home together.
Wine Glass & Charm
This is a favour I'd only recommend for a small guest list. The bride that made 220 of these will tell you just how much work they were. She bought packages of silver letter beads and strung each guest's name on a jewelry ring and wrapped them around a wine glass stem. A favour tag was added to hold the charm in place (otherwise it's hard to read if they move around). Each glass was placed in a bag that has a flat card in the bottom for stability. Another ribbon was tied at the top. These can be used as placecards as well.
Wrapped Candy
Wrap chocolate bars or other candy with a custom label.
Article by DIY Wedding Resources
Article by DIY Wedding Resources
