Wedding Favours

Favours are a completely non-essential but fun element of weddings. Yes, unessential - I'm willing to bet most of your guests won't even notice that you don't have any. Honestly, think about the favours you've received from weddings - what did you do with them? Do you even remember what they were? Would the wedding have been less enjoyable without? Probably not.

That said, if they are something you want to do you might as well do them well!

Awesome candy buffet from Bridal Banter

 A very popular (and understandably so!) option at the moment is the candy buffet - a table is set up with jars of lollies, scoops, and bags or cups. Guests can choose their favourites and take them home to enjoy (or scoff on the spot if they prefer!). Jars can be repurposed jars or vases you own, purchased from Holstens, The Warehouse, or anywhere you see something appropriate, or hired from most party hire places. Lollies can be bought from your supermarket (look out for specials!) or from specialist stockists like The Lolly Shop, where you can buy colour-specific sweets to suit your theme. The cost of the candy can add up so this is not the cheapest option, but will be fun for your guests.

The more precise approach is to provide each guest with a package of sweets or a chocolate to take home. This has the potential to minimise cost (think of a fun-size chocolate bar or a few lollies per person, packaged with a wrapper you print from your computer) and add some interest to your table settings. The favours my Mum made for my sister's wedding earlier this year consisted of a wee chocolate bar in a handmade paper basket/bag with the guest's name on it - so they doubled as place names as well as brightening up the table. You can get creative with the packaging - a champagne flute, small jar, or fabric sachet will all work if you prefer to veer away from plastic or paper bags.

A little more expensive but less stressy - purchase the sweet stuff already packaged as favours. Some of my favourite boutique sweet providers (e.g. Bohemien Chocolate, J'aime les Macarons) offer this service - and there are heaps of options, places who specialise in printing personalised labels. Personalised fortune cookies look very cool, too.

Another option, which works well with vintage themed weddings, is jars of preserves as favours - a couple of days of slaving over a pot, perhaps, to churn out the goodies, but very special and your guests will think fondly on your wedding every time they spoon stewed fruit onto their cereal or spread jam on a bit of toast! Or provide a hot chocolate beverage like the one pictured above - a tutorial, complete with printable for the label, is here.

Favours don't have to be edible (though I confess to having a slight bias...) - I tend to think the edible ones are better because I'm not a person who likes keeping stuff like that, but others prefer longer-term mementos. If the latter is what you're going for my advice would be to think of something that sums you and your spouse-to-be up and try to turn that into a favour. For example, if you're a gamer geek you could give each guest a die or two - check out the awesome personalised one above (from Offbeat Bride). Or personalised USB keys, which will be useful to many of your guests.

Another approach is to provide your guests with a seedling or potted herb - this also means you can create a lush garden on your tables. Group the plants together in the centre if it makes more sense, and get the MC to let people know they are to take a plant when they go.

Folks who have photobooths at their weddings often treat the strips of photos which come out as favours - photos make great mementos and the lucky couple usually get a copy too.

We haven't decided if we'll have favours yet - if we do I can pretty much guarantee they'll be edible, though. ;-)

What's your take - do you like having a little something to take home, and did you/will you have favours at your own wedding?