Top Wedding Favor Ideas

One of the most important outcomes of your wedding day (other than the meaningful and lasting union of you and your beloved, ‘natch) is memories. Help cement those precious memories for everyone in attendance by providing wedding favors for guests.

However, wedding souvenirs for guests are more than a keepsake. They also serve as a way to thank your guests for sharing an amazing and special day with you. A wedding favor is an especially delightful “thank you” for any guests who traveled from out of town.

The wedding souvenirs you select can match your theme, location, and decorations or represent something meaningful and important to you and your partner. Some of the best wedding favors are ones that your guests can use immediately (like food) or repeatedly (such as a coffee mug).

So, sending your guests home with unique wedding favors is a great way to end a reception on a high note. The good news is that you can find useful wedding favors without breaking your budget.

How much to spend on wedding gifts for guests?

Before you come up with any wedding favors ideas, it is essential to settle on a wedding favor price point. The two factors to consider are your overall wedding budget and the number of guests attending your wedding.

For example, to avoid an exorbitant price tag, couples with a large wedding may want to take it easy on wedding souvenirs. On the other hand, couples throwing a small wedding may choose to be a little extravagant with their wedding gifts for guests. However, those on a tight budget may decide to forgo wedding favors altogether.

That’s ok. Please remember that wedding favors for guests are a fun bonus. Yes, they are a special addition that your guests appreciate, but those in attendance are there to celebrate your wedding. If your budget can’t accommodate wedding gifts for guests, don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourselves.

Generally, the best wedding favors cost between $2 and $3 each. However, reducing these costs (and upping your time commitment) is possible by creating DIY wedding favors. Before embarking on the DIY route, ensure you (and everyone you recruit to help out) understand precisely how much time and energy is required.

Wedding favor ideas

Ultimately, it does not matter how much you spend on your wedding souvenirs for guests, because, like any present, it’s the thought that counts with the best wedding favors.

Foodie wedding favors ideas

Chocolate bars

A classic. Who doesn’t like a chocolate bar? (Fine, anyone with a chocolate allergy. Otherwise…) Chocolate is always a hit. To convert an everyday chocolate bar into a wedding favor, type “personalized chocolate bars” into any search engine. Your hunt will return several possibilities for turning the most popular chocolate bars into a memento of your big day.

If you like the idea of providing chocolate favors but prefer a shape other than “bar,” consider alternatives like truffles, coins, M&M’s, eggs (especially for a spring wedding), or chocolate-coated coffee beans.

S’mores packs

How do you make a chocolate bar even better? Add a graham cracker and a marshmallow (which are tasty even when eaten alone). A s’more pack takes the chocolate bar favor concept and amps it up to 11. Of course, you can always include personalized wrapping around your chocolate bar. Consider including a phrase like, “There’s always s’more to love,” or another s’more-related pun … “s’more the merrier,” “bite off s’more than you can chew,” there are a million of them.

Hot sauce

If spicy is more your thing than sweet, consider a bottle of hot sauce as your wedding favor. This idea is especially fitting if your wedding is in a location known for a particular hot sauce or spicy cuisine. 

In addition, with a bit of searching, you can find a company to personalize your hot sauce labels … You know what? We don’t need to keep typing that, right? From this point forward, assume everything can be personalized unless otherwise noted.

Macarons

Macarons are delicate little cookies with a crunchy exterior and soft interior. They come in a wide variety of flavors, which makes them adaptable to almost any wedding theme. Made with meringue, sugar, and almond flour and filled with ganache, buttercream, or jam, Macarons are also slightly on the challenging side to make, which is why they are considered a delicacy. So, if you’re skilled at macaron making (or can finance a professional baker who is), consider this fun and versatile wedding favor.

Honey

As a wedding favor, honey is almost too perfect. Its golden color represents success and fortune. Its sweet taste is reminiscent of fun and frivolity. Even its name is a term of endearment used by many couples. Also, since regional honey varieties have a distinctive taste, this wedding favor is a fun reminder of your wedding’s locale. 

Coffee

If your reception is likely to be a raucous affair, this gift will be most welcome the following morning. Plus, everyone either drinks coffee or knows someone who does, making this a practical and welcome wedding favor. For an all-in-one gift, pair it with a coffee mug (see below).

Hot chocolate

Complete your cozy winter wedding with the perfect complement: hot chocolate. Your guests will appreciate the gift of warm, comforting goodness. You can further personalize it by including flavored hot chocolate that complements your wedding theme, marshmallows, and a mug (see above and below).

Useful wedding favors

Hand sanitizer

Once openly mocked as Hollywood comedy shorthand for a germaphobe, the Covid-19 era gave everyone a newfound appreciation for hand sanitizer. Fortunately, the hand sanitizer boom of 2020 has passed. So, if you want to give it as a wedding favor, not only will you be able to find hand sanitizer, but you will also be able to afford it.

The boom in hand sanitizer’s popularity also spurned some product evolutions. You are no longer limited to hand sanitizer that smells like a backcountry still. Instead, many lovely scents are available, such as apple, honey, peppermint, vanilla, basil, and much more. Also, depending on the time of year, you may be able to find seasonal scents.

Golf balls

If you and your spouse love hitting the links, consider giving these dimpled spheres as wedding favors. Even non-golfers will respect the levity of this fun gift; of course, golfers will appreciate it much more. The only downside is that you have to be willing for these mementos to wind up in a stranger’s backyard, lost in the woods, or at the bottom of a pond.

Sunscreen

Are you having an outdoor wedding? If so, sunscreen is the perfect wedding favor to hand out before the ceremony begins. Sunscreen is also a practical wedding favor if you’re having a destination wedding with a nearby beach.

Luggage tags

Here is another idea for a destination wedding. To ensure that your guests get the most efficient use of these wedding favors, consider sending them as part of your invitation. Luggage tags are always useful, and you could get some that match your wedding colors, making it easier for your guests to spot their luggage on the baggage carousel.

Hand fans

Outdoor weddings are beautiful, but they’re also a bit of a gamble since you can’t predict the weather. Even a mild day can become uncomfortable as guests wait for the wedding ceremony to start. Help offset the chance of seasonal discomfort by giving hand fans as wedding favors when your guests arrive. Plus, your invitees can pretend they are Southern belles and spend the day sighing and saying, “I do declare.”

Umbrellas

Same as above, except for rain. Even the Southern belle bit still works; just substitute twirling a parasol for the fanning.

Coffee mug

Whether you do or don’t include coffee (remember, see above), a coffee mug is one of the most practical wedding favors. Every time a guest pulls this gift from their cabinet, they’ll be flooded with happy memories of your special day.

Scented candle

The great thing about giving scented candles as wedding favors is that they can fit almost any wedding theme. Whether it’s the appearance (for example, a candle in a mason jar is perfect for a rustic wedding) or the scent (for a beach theme, a sea-scented candle lets guests take the ocean home), there’s a candle to fit your needs. 

Playful wedding favor ideas

Bubbles

Bubbles are a blast. You may be surprised how much joy is derived from the simple act of blowing through a soap-filled wand to create a string of bubbles. They may not provide hours of entertainment like when you were a child, but, then again, they may. Plus, a shower of bubbles is an environmentally friendly way to send you and your spouse off after the wedding instead of throwing rice or confetti. They help create amusing wedding photos, too.

Seeds

Sure, this may also seem like a practical gift, but a packet of seeds is also a fun way to symbolize the growth of your relationship. Plus, when your guests look at the budding plants and flowers, they’ll fondly remember your big day. Consider including a small pot to house the seeds.

An experience

We’re in “the experience economy,” a term coined in a 1998 Harvard Business Review article. The experience economy is a cultural shift where participating in an event is more appealing than purchasing a physical object. You can thank the experience economy for the rise in pop-up shops and experiential activations.

So, consider providing an entertaining experience at your wedding or reception instead of giving your guests something to take home. Some possibilities include setting up a playful area for games and photos, staging an old-timey ice cream and soda bar, or having a food truck or two on-site.

If you need a beautiful setting to house these wonderful wedding favor ideas, as well as the ceremony and reception 😉, please get in touch with DFW Celebrations to schedule a tour of our Dallas wedding venues.