Wedding favours often end up abandoned on tables or quietly binned. Here’s how to choose favours your guests will actually appreciate—or whether to skip them entirely.
- The Hard Truth About Wedding Favours
- Should You Even Have Favours?
- Edible Favours (Always Popular)
- Practical Favours
- Charitable Donations
- Consumable Experience Favours
- Personalised Favours (That Work)
- DIY Favours
- What to Avoid
- Budget Guide
- Creative Alternatives
- Presentation Matters
- When to Give Favours
- Final Thoughts
The Hard Truth About Wedding Favours
Reality check: Many wedding favours are wasteful. Guests leave behind:
- Personalised items with your names/dates
- Decorative trinkets with no practical use
- Anything breakable or fragile
- Heavy or bulky items
- Things that don’t travel well
What guests actually want:
- Something edible
- Something practical
- Something they can use immediately
- Or honestly, nothing at all (they came for you, not free stuff)
Should You Even Have Favours?
Reasons to Skip Favours
It’s perfectly acceptable not to have them.
Modern couples increasingly skip favours because:
- Guests don’t expect them
- Money better spent elsewhere
- Environmental concerns
- Less waste
- One less thing to organise
Alternative: Donate favour budget to charity and display card explaining this. Guests appreciate meaningful gesture over token gift.
Edible Favours (Always Popular)
Why Edible Works
- Everyone eats
- Consumed and gone (no storage needed)
- Can be locally made
- Suits all ages
- Often relatively affordable
Best Edible Options
Chocolate:
- Small boxes of quality chocolates
- Personalised chocolate bars
- Chocolate truffles in pretty boxes
- Local chocolatier specialties
Cost: £2-£5 per guest
Sweets:
- Jars of traditional sweets
- Fudge in small boxes
- Turkish delight
- Marshmallows
- Rock (seaside weddings)
Cost: £1.50-£4 per guest
Baked goods:
- Mini cakes or brownies
- Shortbread in cellophane
- Biscotti
Cost: £1-£3 per guest (homemade) or £2-£5 (professional)
Local specialties:
- Yorkshire tea bags in pretty packaging
- Local honey jars
- Jam from local producer
- Artisan preserves
- Yorkshire parkin (traditional gingerbread)
Cost: £2-£6 per guest
Booze:
- Miniature spirits
- Small bottles of local gin/whisky
- Wine splits (small bottles)
- Liqueurs in pretty bottles
Cost: £3-£8 per guest
Caution: Not everyone drinks. Offer alternative for non-drinkers or children.
Practical Favours
Actually Useful Items
- Hangover kits: Contents: Pain reliever, antacid, vitamin C, mints, water bottle
- Cost: £3-£5 per guest
- When: Place in hotel welcome bags or give at evening reception
- Why it works: Genuinely helpful morning after
- Seed packets: Contents: Wildflower or herb seeds in pretty packets
- Cost: £0.50-£2 per guest
- Why it works: Guests can grow something, eco-friendly, supports bees
- Best for: Spring/summer weddings, garden themes
- Candles: Quality tea lights or small votive candles
- Cost: £2-£4 per guest
- Why it works: Everyone uses candles
- Consideration: Ensure good quality (cheap candles smell bad)
- Coasters: Pretty coasters guests can actually use
- Cost: £1-£3 per guest
- Why it works: Functional, everyone needs them
- Consideration: Design should suit various homes (avoid overly personal themes)
- Bottle openers: Especially for beer/wine-loving crowds
- Cost: £1-£3 per guest
- Why it works: Practical, long-lasting
- Plant succulents: Small potted plants
- Cost: £2-£5 per guest
- Why it works: Living favour, looks beautiful on tables
- Consideration: Travel challenges, some guests kill plants
- Face masks/hand cream: Especially post-pandemic
- Cost: £2-£4 per guest
- Why it works: Self-care, everyone can use
- Best for: Spa-themed weddings
Charitable Donations
Making Donations Meaningful
Instead of physical favours, donate to charity:
How to do it:
- Choose charity meaningful to you as couple
- Display card at each place setting explaining donation made in guests’ honour
- Amount doesn’t need to be specified
- Include charity’s mission briefly
Example card wording: “Instead of favours, we’ve made a donation to [Charity Name] in honour of our guests. This cause is close to our hearts because [brief reason]. Thank you for celebrating with us.”
Cost: Whatever you’d spend on favours (£2-£5 per guest = £100-£250 for 50 guests)
Why guests appreciate it: Meaningful, no waste, supports good cause
Consumable Experience Favours
During the Wedding
Late-night snacks:
- Pizza slices served late evening
- Chips and curry sauce (Northern favourite)
- Bacon sandwiches
- Ice cream cart
- Donut wall
Cost: £3-£6 per guest
Why it works: Guests love late-night food, it’s consumable, creates fun atmosphere
Breakfast items: For morning-after brunches:
- Pastries
- Fresh fruit
- Artisan bread
- Local preserves
Cost: £3-£8 per guest
Photo booth prints: Guests leave with photos from your wedding
Cost: Usually included in photo booth hire
Personalised Favours (That Work)
Most personalised favours fail because they’re too specific to you. However, some work:
Successful Personalisation
- Matchboxes or lighters: With your initials and date, design kept simple and elegant
- Cost: £0.50-£1.50 per guest
- Why it works: Practical for smokers and candle users
- Drinks coasters: With minimal personalisation (just initials or date)
- Cost: £1-£3 per guest
- Why it works: Practical, personalisation doesn’t overwhelm design
DIY Favours
Homemade Ideas That Work
- Jam or chutney: Homemade preserves in small jars
- Cost: £1-£2 per guest (plus time)
- Consideration: Need proper jars, labels, significant time investment
- Bath salts or scrubs: Homemade beauty products
- Cost: £1-£2 per guest
- Consideration: Allergies, shelf life, time investment
When DIY works:
- Small wedding (under 50 guests)
- You genuinely enjoy making things
- You have plenty of time
- Budget is very tight
When to skip DIY:
- Large wedding (100+ guests)
- You’re already stressed
- Time is limited
- You’re not confident in quality
- It’s not actually saving much money
What to Avoid
Favours That Always Fail
Personalised tat:
- Keyrings with your names
- Magnets with your photo
- Ornaments with your wedding date
- Anything heavily branded with your details
Why they fail: Too personal to couple, guests have no use for them
Fragile decorative items:
- Delicate glass ornaments
- Ceramic figurines
- Anything breakable
Why they fail: Don’t travel well, serve no purpose, often broken
Single-use novelty items:
- Bubbles (wedding ended hours ago)
- Sparklers (used at wedding)
- Confetti (literally threw it away already)
Why they fail: Can’t be used again
Heavy or bulky items:
- Large picture frames
- Books
- Anything guests must carry home
Why they fail: Travel burden
Generic meaningless items:
- Cheap plastic toys
- Poor-quality items that break immediately
- Things clearly bought in bulk because they were cheap
Why they fail: Feel thoughtless, get binned
Budget Guide
What to Spend
Skip them: £0 Budget favours: £1-£2 per guest Mid-range favours: £2-£5 per guest Premium favours: £5-£10 per guest
For 80 guests:
- Budget: £80-£160
- Mid-range: £160-£400
Is it worth it? Many couples regret spending £300+ on favours that were left behind. Consider whether that money could better serve you elsewhere (better food, music, photography, or even honeymoon fund).
Creative Alternatives
Non-Traditional Favour Ideas
Welcome bags for hotel guests: Instead of favours for everyone, create welcome bags for traveling guests staying in hotels:
- Local snacks
- Water bottle
- Area guide
- Hangover kit
- Thank you note
Cost: £10-£15 per room (fewer than per person)
- Lottery tickets or scratch cards: Fun, unexpected, everyone loves potential win
- Cost: £1-£3 per guest
- Tree planting certificates: Certificate stating tree planted in guests’ honour
- Cost: £2-£5 per guest through various charities
- Book donations to library: Donate books to local library in guests’ names
- Cost: Variable
- Display: Card explaining donation
Presentation Matters
Making Basic Favours Feel Special
Even simple favours feel elevated with proper presentation:
Packaging ideas:
- Organza bags
- Small boxes with ribbon
- Cellophane bags with pretty ties
- Mini burlap sacks
- Kraft paper bags with stamp
- Glass jars with fabric lids
Labeling:
- Names if assigned seating
- Ingredients list if food
- Minimal personalisation (avoid heavy branding)
Display:
- Arranged prettily on plates
- Part of table setting
- Displayed on favour table near exit
- In welcome bags
When to Give Favours
At place settings: Traditional, ensures everyone gets one
On the favour table near exit: Guests take if they want, reduces waste
With welcome bags: For hotel guests before wedding
During reception: Integrated into meal or evening (dessert treat, late-night snack)
Final Thoughts
The best wedding favour is often no favour at all. Your guests came to celebrate your marriage, not to receive gifts. If you do give favours:
Choose:
- Edible items
- Genuinely practical items
- Charitable donations
- Quality over quantity
Avoid:
- Personalised tat
- Wasteful trinkets
- Anything guests must carry awkwardly
- Items that seem thoughtless
Remember: You’re not obligated to give favours. Better to have none than something that ends up in the bin. If you’re unsure, skip them and invest that money in elements that genuinely enhance your guests’ experience—better food, longer bar service, or improved entertainment.
Ultimately, your guests will remember your wedding for the celebration, not the small gift they may or may not have taken home.
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