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9 Wedding Favors Your Guests Will Actually Want to Grab

Taryn Williford
Taryn Williford
Taryn is a writer, editor, content strategist, and homebody from Atlanta. I might have helped you declutter your apartment through the magic of a well-paced email newsletter. Or maybe you know me from The Pickle Factory Loft on Instagram.
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updated May 3, 2019
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(Image credit: Cynthia Chung)

Let’s pour one out right now for all the personalized matchbooks and mesh-wrapped Jordan almonds of the world. They get left behind on wedding reception tables and probably tossed in the trash at the end of the night. Not what you had in mind for your gift to your guests, huh? Here are nine better ideas for wedding favors that your guests will love to take with them.

The most important thing when choosing wedding favors is this: Know your guests! It’s impossible to find one thing that would thrill everyone at your wedding, but if you know a lot of your friends and family are foodies or beer drinkers or have green thumbs, use that to your advantage.

Tiny Potted Plants

Choose a cactus or something easy to take care of. Plant favors work best if your guests are local. Use a sticker or stencil to add your names and wedding date to the pot, like the tiny succulents above from Style Me Pretty.

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(Image credit: Hannah Hudson)

Coffee & Tea

Choose your favorite blends and package them up to take home. I love that the bride and groom each chose their favorite brews for this favor from Brides.

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(Image credit: Paige Jones)

Pint Glasses

Two birds, one stone. Use them to serve drinks throughout the night, then invite guests to take them home. That’s what I did at my wedding, pictured here.

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(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Hot Sauce

Like a great Mexican restaurant, a household just can’t have enough bottles of hot sauce lying around. This Ace Hotel wedding on Ruffled agrees.

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(Image credit: Closer to Love Photography)

Candles

Homemade or store-bought, just make sure they smell incredible. The couple in this Style Me Pretty wedding sourced theirs from Etsy.

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(Image credit: Belathée)

Actual Booze

Send ’em off with a little nightcap for later. The couple in this Texas wedding on Snippet and Ink included little recipe cards with each mini bottle of Tito’s vodka.

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(Image credit: Raymond Hom)

Something Local

If a majority of your guests are coming from out of town, treat them to some local flavor or a souvenir of their trip. Martha Stewart put together this crab kit perfect for a Maryland wedding.

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(Image credit: Elyse Hall)

A Midnight Snack

Nobody’s going to pass up fries at 11:30. Nobody. That’s why I love this detail from Ali’s wedding, of A Dash of Details.

Nothing at All

Potentially unpopular opinion: I don’t think you need to hand out wedding favors at all. It all comes back to knowing your guests: A list made up of urban dwellers with small spaces and minimalist tendencies will be happy just to celebrate your day with you without taking home a souvenir. Skip the favor and put the extra budget towards the open bar.

Re-edited from a post originally published 2.4.2016 – TW

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