Unusual favours

[StrongInside]

Hi,

I know there were several threads discussing favours but I wonder if anyone has any fresh ideas. I am trying to think of ways to make the wedding memorable for its fun and unusual details. Changing the traditional reception table layouts, playing about with ceremony seating etc. So I would like the favours to be something quirky too, if possible, ones that our guests will actually want to take.

We don’t have a theme as such, just a specific colour scheme.

Chocolates, drink bottles, mini plants, mints- all so commonly done, it sounds boring to me. And some of it too random, like tea bags??

I don’t like a charity donations idea either- I actually want guests to have a physical thank you gift.

Any ideas?

To those of you who are anti-favours, I’m definitely of a different opinion and while I agree they shouldn’t be wasted a lot of money on, a token of appreciation for each guest doesn’t have to cost the earth.

Cyberve, the tea and hot chocolate seem a bit random- not everyone drinks leafy tea or hot chocolate. Candles aren’t unusual to me, and we have some single men attending- they definitely are not into candles. If I got one as a guest though, I would keep it😊

Small packets of wildflower seed
Jam

We did it old flower seed packets

Wild flower seeds

I like doubling up place names as favours, now just to find something that would appeal to men and women that is also quirky.

Love the Christmas bauble, so practical and would definitely be used! Wish ours was in winter too now, haha!

Wildflower seeds personalised with the wedding date sounded cool, inexpensive and would have done some good for the environment (and easy to put in the tiny handbag or pocket!), but not all of our guests have a garden. Or do I just ignore that fact?

With regards to bar tokens, we are already providing more than just a standard drinks package per guest, and not everyone in our friends group drinks themselves under the table, so I think there will be plenty of drinks as it is. Sweepstake sounds fun haha!

@NemophilistRebel did most guests take them home? Did you worry about those without gardens?

@ThatLibraryMiss Thanks, I guess I didn’t want anyone to be disappointed. I hate never winning anything😊

@muddypuddles12 did they all get taken home?

Bee bombs then. Can be chucked on any random green space.

Win win.

I didn’t worry about the ones without gardens but then many people who didn’t have gardens had balconies that they could be put into a pot.
And we suggested people just spreading them where they liked.

I wasn’t going to bother with favours but had so many people saying we should and so I wanted to do something that would potentially help wildlife without a forced donation to charity like some people do

I made my favours, they were edible and pretty much all taken. They also doubled as the place card.

Honestly, these details seem so important when you're planning a wedding but they're not really. All the guests want to do is get drunk and have a good time. The average guest goes to at least one wedding a year (we had 4 last year) so it's not possible to stand out. Concentrate on making your day great rather than unique.

@StrongInside every single one! And a lot of people have either kept them unlit as decoration, or if used, they have kept the glass jars with their personalised labels on them and found other uses for them around their house. (I bought plain glass jars online with silver lids - not expensive as bought in bulk)
One friend even refilled the jar with her own wax after she had used it as she loved it so much!
I think people just like anything personalised with their name on, which was so easy to do as I just printed them myself so could personalise are no extra cost.

Give them all a raffle ticket number and get a decent prize and get a kid to pick out a winner, or just leave them people are right that nobody wants anything keep sake ish because its not their wedding.
I didn't do favours specifically for anyone I had a sweet table and toys, puzzles, bubbles and crayons for kids on a table etc and some flip flops people could take if they wanted and then put a box in each of the toilets filled with hair spray, grips, mints, deodorant, plasters, tooth picks etc almost everything went.
Then again we had a very relaxed wedding with take away pizzas delivered in the evening too!

@JayAlfredPrufrock Oh my goodness, now that’s original and guaranteed that none of our guests have seen this before (certainly doesn’t sound like common knowledge!). Thanks! I’ve quickly looked them up and you can get them fairly cheaply, then personalise with the guest’s name and double it up as a place card, ha!

@NemophilistRebel that’s how I feel too, charity donations can feel forced, and this way we would be helping the environment. And if some seeds get left behind, I’ll scatter them myself😊

@Sewinginscotland I think it’s possible to stand out if you have a wedding that has some non-traditional elements. I’m yet to see a wedding that has a unity ceremony that isn’t sand or knot tying, that has more than one colour paired with white, that doesn’t have boring drawn out speeches etc. But I agree that on the day, I won’t be caring about favours and guests probably won’t think about them twice either.

@muddypuddles12 That’s so nice that they all get taken! Just shows that it depends on the guests, so many people say not to bother, no one wants them. Your example gives me hope😊

We had seed bombs and Lego minifigs at ours

@8paws8legs I’ll be doing that for the kids too. Nice touch to put all that stuff in the toilets for your guests! I might do a basket in case someone forgets to bring something to freshen up. I could use it too!

Bee bombs with personalised labels that double up as place names sound like a winner to me! Thanks everyone!

@Gabrielknight Were the Legos any specific characters?

We done charity pins, a different one for men and women which represented charities that mean something to our families (dementia and prostate cancer)
We still see people wear them on jackets almost 4 years on

Just ones our guests might like. We have alot of geeky friends so tried to match them to the person. Batman etc. Or jobs so we had firefighters/painters/nurse etc They held flags with the name on too :)

We got married at a zoo - so got a load of small fluffy wild/zoo type animals from a wholesaler. Got a mixed selection, and had fun deciding who got what. Still think most of our friends have them.

At my friend's wedding they gave everyone fake money notes for people to play at the roulette and blackjack table at the reception.

I love favours

My dss had gorgeous little iced biscuits that she ordered, in heart shaped boxes

I went traditional for ours - choc almonds in nice little old fashioned bags

I don’t feel they need to be unusual - but there are lots of fun options out there

Best one was a red tunnocks teacake for women and a blue one for men

I have a lovely one, nice Welsh slate coasters hand decorated by bride with initials and date of wedding. They got engaged on the mountain that the slate comes from.

Another who thinks nobody (of the guests) really cares about the favours. Best ones I had were scratch cards, a bit of fun at the table to see who won and who didn’t, good icebreaker too

I think it’s possible to stand out if you have a wedding that has some non-traditional elements. You are way over thinking this. Your wedding will never be as memorable to anyone else but you, so why does it have to stand out? If it is from the internet, it ain’t unusual or unique.