Wedding Favors Your Guests Will Actually Want to Take Home

You’ve chosen the venue, planned the menu, ordered the flowers and booked the entertainment. Then somewhere along the way, someone asks:

“What are you doing for wedding favors?”

After more than 18 years of planning weddings, here’s my answer: you do not need to have wedding favors.

Really.

A wedding favor is meant to be a small gesture of thanks to the people who came to celebrate with you. But it shouldn't become another item on the wedding checklist that you feel obligated to buy simply because “that’s what you do at weddings.”

If you’re going to spend the money, I want your guests to actually enjoy what you give them.

My First Choice? Something They Can Eat

I have watched a lot of guests leave weddings over the years, and edible favors are usually a safe bet.

Photo Credit: Edward Ross Photography

Beautiful chocolates, cookies, cupcakes, French macarons or another favorite treat can all work well. You could choose something from a local bakery or chocolatier, incorporate your culture or family traditions, or simply give guests something the two of you genuinely love.

For a destination wedding in Banff, Canmore or the Canadian Rockies, I also love the idea of choosing something locally made. It gives guests a little taste of the place they've travelled to celebrate with you.

And since we recently talked about candy bars, I’m going to make an important distinction: a candy bar is not a wedding favor. It’s a fun offering for guests to enjoy during the reception. A packaged treat specifically intended for each guest to take home? That can absolutely be a favor.

Please Think Twice About the Tchotchkes

Here’s where my wedding planner opinion gets a little stronger.

I would much rather see you put $500 toward something that improves your guests’ experience than spend $500 on 150 little objects nobody really wants.

Keychains engraved with your wedding date. Tiny picture frames. Trinkets with your names or initials on them. They may look cute lined up on a table, but what happens to them afterward?

Here are a few examples of personalized favors I would think twice about:

Over the years, I’ve seen plenty of favors still sitting on tables when the lights come up at the end of the night. Someone paid for every one of those.

Before ordering anything, ask yourself:

If I were a guest at someone else’s wedding, would I actually want to take this home?

If the answer is no, save your money.

Your guests are not going to leave your wedding saying, “Beautiful ceremony, amazing dinner, fantastic band... but where was my personalized keychain?”

A Favor Can Mean Something, Too

Instead of buying a physical favor, consider making a donation to a charity that has meaning for you or your family.

It doesn't have to be a well-known organization. Choose whichever cause matters to you two — a local food bank, an animal shelter, a hospital foundation, a scholarship fund, or a charity that helped someone you love.

Then let your guests know. A small card at each table explaining that a donation has been made in their name, in lieu of wedding favors, tells them where the money went and why it mattered to you.

Seed packets are one lovely way to carry that further. Perhaps you donate to the Alzheimer Society in memory of someone you love and give guests eco-friendly forget-me-not seeds to plant at home.

Photo Credit: Alzheimer's Society Canada

Now the money you had budgeted for favors has become part of your story and helped a cause you care about.

That feels far more meaningful to me than another trinket.

Put the Guest Experience First

This is really what I want couples to think about.

Your guests will remember whether they felt welcomed. They’ll remember the food, the music, the laughter, the conversations and how much fun they had. They’ll remember thoughtful touches that made the day feel personal.

They probably won't remember whether there was a favor sitting beside their dinner plate.

So please don't feel pressured to have one.

If your budget is getting tight, I would rather see you put that money toward something your guests will actually experience — perhaps better late-night food, transportation, another hour of great music or simply keeping the bar open a little longer.

And if you do want wedding favors, wonderful. Choose something delicious, useful or meaningful. Give your guests something that says, “We’re so glad you were here,” rather than something you felt you were supposed to buy.

After 18 years of weddings, my rule is pretty simple:

If your guests will eat it, use it or understand why it matters to you, it can make a great favor. If you suspect you'll be packing most of them back into a box at midnight, spend that money somewhere else.

Written by Cathy MacRae, Master Wedding Planner™ and owner of Creative Weddings Planning & Design.