Giving your wedding guests a small favour as a “thank you” for sharing your special day has become a tradition, and frankly, it might be our very favourite wedding tradition of all! We love the idea of creating little DIY gifties that your guests wouldn’t think to make themselves or receive anywhere else, especially if you make things that are custom to your event. Just because you’re making your own favours, however, doesn’t mean you have to get very complicated with your ideas.
Check out these 15 simple but totally unique wedding favour ideas that your guests will actually enjoy using!
1. Personalized DIY lip balm
Sure, you could buy all your friends pre-made lip balms and simply change the labels on them to suit your wedding date, but making things yourself is always more fun! This recipe is all natural and uses gentle essential oils to make it smell lovely as well. When you’re finished the balms, you can still make yourself a custom label too! Check it all out on Apple Brides.
2. Custom fortune cookies
Speaking of fun custom DIY gifts, have you ever seen anything as fun and novelty as these brightly coloured DIY fortune cookies? We love the idea of matching them to your decor scheme, filling them with fortunes that are all wedding, love, and happiness themed, and handing them out after dinner just like a restaurant would. A Subtle Revelry shows you how to make them.
3. Customized local honey jars
Sometimes the best wedding favours are all natural things that come from the local area specifically, especially if you know many of your guests traveled from miles out of town to be there. Visitors will appreciate their own little jar of sweet local honey, especially if you’ve customized a stylish label especially for the occasion. See how Apple Brides created these ones!
4. Mini pie jars
Let’s be honest- most people at a wedding are hoping that their favours will be delicious food or treats! We know that’s what we always cross our fingers for. Give your guests what they want plus a little bit of novelty by making individual mini mason jar pies with a custom wedding label! We love these strawberry ones by Green Wedding Shoes, but you could really make any flavour of pie you like.
5. DIY spice jars
Perhaps most of your wedding guests are cooking enthusiasts who love to experiment with spices when they cook? That’s an idea you can definitely work into your favours! Snixy Kitchen shows you how to make these cute miniature spice jars to give to each person. Try including a combination of fragrant but complementary spices, or give each person one type and let them swap as they please while they eat dinner.
6. DIY S’more kit
When it comes to wedding favours, novelty is key! Where else are your guests going to get a miniature S’more making kit, especially one packaged so adorably? A Vote and A Vow walks you through the steps for giving your guests everything they need to build a quick, tiny S’more treat and roast it right there at the dinner table- as long as they promise to be extremely careful with the matches!
7. Customized mint tins
You might not be actually creating these metal mint tins yourself, but designing and customizing the labels for your wedding and choosing a colour scheme that matches your decor is all a part of the DIY favour process! Since your event will involve snacks or dinner, people will appreciate being able to freshen up when they’re finished eating. Check out these mint mints (ha!) on Martha Stewart Weddings.
8. Custom burlap tea and coffee pouches
Not everyone drinks coffee, but those who do always appreciate being able to try new roasts and blends! These little burlap coffee pouches are an especially great favour idea if you live in an area that has a signature type of bean or ground roast. Do most of your friends actually avoid coffee? Make them little burlap tea bag kits instead! Get the instructions for either idea at Ruffled.
9. Cocktail fixings
These little stamped paper baggies might look pretty calm on the outside, but that’s only because there’s a party inside each one! PR Wedding Planner suggests making each guest a little cocktail kit, containing miniature sized of the ingredients they’ll need to make all different types of fancy cocktail drinks.
10. Mini succulent plants
Are you trying to keep up the idea of new beginnings throughout the whole night at your wedding? Well, nothing puts the “fresh” in “fresh start” like a pretty little plant. Succulent plants make some of the best live wedding favours because they’re low maintenance and very easy to care for once your guests get home. Check out how Weddings by Lilly customized the labels and mini planter pots on these succulents.
11. Mini bud vases
Maybe you’re into the “living wedding favour” idea but succulents just aren’t your taste? Give each person their place setting or table and seat number attached to a miniature case containing a small blossom or single rose. These won’t last as long as a succulent plant after the wedding, but your guests can use their tiny cases again for future flowers at home! Check out these wooden base ones from Project Wedding.
12. Floral seed paper
Have you ever heard of the “seed bomb” trend that’s sweeping the DIY world? Well, these little seed paper gifts are like a smaller, low maintenance version of those! They’re a great way to keep your wedding green and encourage your guests to get gardening. Check out how the seed paper is made on Wedding O Mania.
13. Bird seed hearts
Are you having a springtime wedding, right around the time that the baby animals start to wander and the birds come back from migration to sing to you again? Help your wedding guests enjoy the return of the birds a little more by giving each person a DIY birdseed heart to hang outside their home! Intimate Weddings guides you through the process of making them.
14. DIY paper wrapped soap
Whether you buy each guests a luxury soap or create an all natural soap recipe of your own, guests will love receiving a custom gift that they’ll actually use. Try wrapping each person’s bar in softly coloured, crinkly-edged paper and a ribbon, just like Fab You Bliss.
15. DIY potpourri sachet
Are you a big fan of freshening up a space in all-natural ways? Then you’re probably a big potpourri fan! Wedding favours are an awesome change to share your love for homemade potopurri with your friends. Follow the steps on Intimate Weddings to make both this DIY potpourri recipe and the adorable sachet you see in the picture!
