5 Tips for Memorable Wedding Favors Your Guests Will Love

One of our favorite wedding day details is wedding favors. At The Barn at Cranberry Creek, we’ve seen some really great ones – sunglasses, etched drinking glasses, candles, cider mix, local honey, mini hand sanitizers, and edible treats – just to name a few. (We really love the edible ones!) 

Wedding favors are a great way to show your guests you appreciate their support and to give them something to remember the wedding day by, but sometimes these tokens get left behind or tossed the morning after. To guarantee your gifts get noticed (and appreciated), follow our best tips on picking out the perfect favors. (Spoiler alert: wedding favors don’t have to be expensive to be appreciated!)

1. Think practically.

Personalized hand sanitizer. We’re in!

Like any good gift, you’ll want to put some thought into your selection. Before you dish out the cash take a moment to reflect—is this something you would want? You don’t want your favor to collect dust or—worse yet—end up in the trash, so consider something that’s practical or even edible.  Edible favors are a fail-safe option guests can enjoy at the reception or on their way home. Among those favors in the “something useful” category are locally roasted coffee, luggage tags or acrylic frames for the photo booth pictures taken at your reception. 

2. Consider a personal touch. 

Chances are, if your guests love you enough to attend your wedding, they’ll love something personalized to remember your special day. We’ve seen some really great personalized cups. Guests used them at the reception, then were able to take home their memento. These are especially nice because they drastically reduce the waste at your wedding. Ever noticed people getting a new cup every time they go for a drink? Monogrammed packaging on candles is another fun favor we’ve seen, as well as labels for cider mix and coffee guests can take home to enjoy. 

3. Make it meaningful.

Cider mix with personalized labels. The perfect fall wedding favor!

Choose favors that express your personalities, speak to the wedding’s setting or share something you love with your guests. We’ve seen some of the best favors highlighting our small town of Boonville. This is especially meaningful when most of your guests are traveling into the area. Share a piece of your unique heritage by giving out tins of cookies or pastries with a family recipe attached. You could even make a donation to a cause close to your heart in lieu of traditional favors. Let guests know of the donation by placing a note at each place setting or table. One of our couples did this and made a donation to World Vision in honor of each family attending their wedding. Talk about tugging at the heartstrings! Guests were touched and left with full hearts. So did we!

4. Try before you buy.

Once you’ve decided on your favors, do a trial run (especially if you’re buying them online). Order a sample before you hit “buy now” and end up with 100 favors you hate—you want to make sure the truffles taste good or the handcrafted soaps are the right scent. Even if you’re just purchasing personalized tags or packaging to wrap homemade gifts, ask to see a proof to make sure everything is spelled correctly. Order favors one month before the wedding to allow yourself time to assemble, if necessary. If you’re ordering edible favors, make sure you and the supplying vendor are on the same page. You don’t want to be wrapping favors on your wedding day because the bakery didn’t write down those instructions. (Yes, that really happened.) 

5. Wrap it up. 

Personalized packaging can go a long way when it comes to these tiny tokens. From colorful boxes and clear cellophane bags to tiny tin pails and slim silver canisters, your favor packaging can, and should, make as much of an impact as what’s inside it. Remember, edible favors require special packaging. Paper bags or boxes can quickly absorb the grease of cookies or custom popcorn (leaving you with an unsightly favor box). Line the container with wax paper before adding any edible goodies to keep grease from leaking through. We recommend going one step further and leaving the packaging to the experts. If you’re going to spend the money for nice, edible favors, why not go one step further and take the worry out of this last step. 

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Fresh popped popcorn to go! So much fun!

We hope these practical tips from our experience at The Barn at Cranberry Creek are helpful as you plan your wedding. Keep in mind, you’ll want an eye catching display for your favors. Signs with directions are also helpful (if appropriate). 

What’s your all time favorite wedding favor? What about unique favors you’ve seen at weddings? We’d love to hear!