Top 10 wedding favour ideas your guests will love

The tradition of presenting wedding guests with a small gift began centuries ago, and it’s thought to have originated in France. Aristocratic couples would gift every guest with a ‘bonbonniere’, or a little trinket box of sweets. At this time, sugar was an indulgent and expensive treat, and so as well as a delicious way to say thank you, it was also a clear display of wealth. 

Today, the tradition has evolved into the modern custom of gifting wedding favours to every guest. Couples take the opportunity to give their family and friends a small token of appreciation for their love and friendship, and of course, to say thank you for coming to celebrate with them on their special day.

Here’s a handy list of 10 of the top wedding favour ideas guaranteed to delight your guests and ensure they go home with a memento of your wedding that will make them smile.

One: Sweet and delicious

Staying true to where it all began, anything sweet and delicious as a wedding favour will be to everyone’s taste. Get creative by printing photos onto chocolate or sweets, or, if you’re having a coastal wedding, have your initials run through a colourful stick of rock. Perhaps you might want something made in the New Forest, then why not gift your guests a box of New Forest Shortbread. 

Bespoke flavours and unique packaging are all possible so that your favour ties in perfectly with your personal wedding scheme.

Two: In great taste

Local produce or foodstuffs of any kind are always a treat. It’s a sustainable option and something that everyone on your list will appreciate. Think olive oil or limoncello from your Mediterranean destination wedding, maple syrup in beautiful glass bottles with a personalised label, or pink Himalayan salt that looks pretty in clear glass containers with custom tags. 

All these foody options make great favours for your guests to take away and savour those happy memories every time they have a taste.

Three: Chic and useful

Perfect for destination weddings where guests have travelled to celebrate with you are passport holders, travel wallets or luggage tags. They’re chic and always useful, and can be personalised to double up as place settings at your wedding table.

Four: Sustainable favours  

Seeds hold the potential to be a long-lasting and fragrant memento of your special day. This eco-friendly and highly sustainable wedding favour can be placed within handmade paper with a personalised note that will biodegrade naturally in the earth, or gathered into a muslin ‘love bomb’ to be thrown into the garden. 

Choosing seeds that reflect the blooms used in your bouquet or floral decorations is another lovely touch.

Five: Signature scent

Custom made candles with a signature scent blended especially for your wedding makes an evocative keepsake. Candles and matches of any sort work well as every time your guests light their candle, they’ll be transported right back to your wedding celebrations and think of you, the couple that made the perfect match!

Six: Stay cool

Ideal for summer ceremonies or sunny destination weddings are handmade fans and pretty parasols that look gorgeous in photographs, and help your guests to stay cool. 

Sunglasses also work well for everyone. Depending on the style you choose, they can bring a fun touch to the photo booth, and are a fantastic quirky wedding favour they’ll get to take away. 

Seven: A sweet and scented reminder

Another option for those couples choosing a more sustainable wedding celebration is to repurpose your beautiful bouquets and centrepieces into pretty posies.

Invite a friend to divide them up towards the end of the day to create mini-bouquets or arrangements in simple glass bottles for guests to take home and enjoy. A deliciously sweet and scented reminder that will last beyond the big day itself. 

Eight: Children’s wedding favours

Let’s not forget the kids. Crayons, colouring books, stickers and masks always go down well as children’s wedding favours, and a little pocket-sized game they can play with their friends is guaranteed to please not only the younger guests, who will be kept busy for five fun-filled minutes, but their parents too.

Nine: Winter wedding favours

Another super wedding favour idea, especially for autumn or winter celebrations, is a warm and sumptuous throw to cosy up in. These can perfectly complement your wedding colour scheme and are a gorgeous gift  that guests can snuggle up in to reminisce long after the event. Embroidering the throw with a personal message or your initials is another delightful touch.  

Ten: Dance the night away

A CD or digital playlist of your top wedding tunes with an image that captures the fun and playful spirit of your celebrations is a fantastic thank-you to the ones you love. 

Invite guests to share their favourite tunes beforehand so that their choices make it onto your playlist too. This adds a whole extra dimension when they’re singing along or dancing in the kitchen months later! 

Inspired and now wondering what would be on your playlist? Check out these suggestions for 10 Song Ideas For The Perfect First Dance here.