Ideas For Cheap Wedding Favours

Ranked #9,942 in Education, #222,729 overall

Think Outside The Favours Box

Depending on the number of guests you have it can be easy to spend well over a couple of hundred pounds (or dollars) on your wedding favours.  So this lens is about helping you cut your costs with creative ideas for cheap wedding favours.

Whether you choose the traditional route of sugared almonds or go for a modern twist, there are lots of ideas to fit your wedding budget. Perhaps making your own favours, maybe even nurturing your own plants or seeds or buying clever little gifts where you don't have spend a fortune on the bag or box - this lens will help you set your creative thinking free.

Make Your Own Wedding Favours

One way to really save some cash is to make your own wedding favours. You don't have to be particularly creative as there's lots of ideas for all levels of skill.

Probably the easiest type of wedding favour that you can make yourself is a chocolate truffle. Easy and very cost effective (as well as quick), you can rustle up enough pieces of chocolate heaven for all your guests in less than a couple of hours.

Candles really are very versatile and make great wedding favour gifts too. Not only are they practical for your guests but they can make a welcome decoration to your table. Tealights with a ribbon tied round make a great little gift or wrapped in tulle look great, especially if you finish them off with a personal message for each guest.

If you've got a crafty streak, then perhaps creating small gifts from wire is perfect for you. Depending on your skill level, you could create little photo holders, photo frames or little sculptures of a bride a groom. It's a really lovely way to say 'thank you for coming' as well as being reasonably cost effective.

More Ideas For Making Your Own Wedding Favours

If you need some more ideas or further instructions on how to make your own wedding favours, why not try one of these helpful books?
Loading

Top 5 Wedding Favours

5. Cookies or brownies on a stick stuck into a rustic-looking wooden box full of covered Styrofoam
4. Small potted plants that can grow during the first few months of your marriage
3. Personalised seed packets with your names, wedding date, and a poem on them
2. Simple candies wrapped up in tulle that matches your wedding colours
1. Framed pictures of you and your husband that can be taken home and treasured for years to come

Favour Photos

Loading

Wedding Favour Seeds, Plants and Flowers

Wedding favour seeds, plants and flowers are becoming more and more popular with brides these days. They give a really personal touch to a wedding, particularly if you've grown and nurtured the plants yourself, but better still they're really cheap.

Plants seem to be very popular at the moment. You can nurture these yourself or buy them from a garden centre. The cheapest way to do it is buy seeds and grow them yourself when the seedlings are big enough, pot them in plastic pots and you've got the basis of your gift. Conceal the plastic pots with ribbon, material or paper to finish off your gift.

If you're not so green fingered, then buy seed packets from your local garden centre or superstore. Divide up the packs and place in mini envelopes or cotton gauze. Finish with a little ribbon bow and a personal message with information on the seeds, or make your own favour bags and boxes.

Make Your Own Favour Bags and Boxes

Sometimes the most expensive part of your wedding favours is actually the box or bag you put them in. These easy and simple ideas to make your own favour bags and boxes will ensure you keep your costs to a minimum.
  • You can make simple bags for sweets by buying tulle from your local haberdashery. Use a plate, about 9 inches in diameter (depending on the size of bag you need), as a template and cut the tulle into circles. You could use standard scissors or pinking shears for a zig-zag edge. Then simply place the sweets or other gift in the centre, bunch up the tulle and tie with a small piece of matching ribbon. Really easy and very cheap!
  • Doilies make great cone shaped containers for small sweets (and are so cheap to buy). Select the size of doily you want e.g. small plate size or saucer size is usually best. Simply roll the doily into a cone shape. Fix the cone with a Glue Dot and you're done.
  • You can also use the cone trick with coloured paper or card, bought from your local stationer or craft shop. Follow the instructions for doilies above.
  • Buy plain boxes and decorate them yourself with ribbons and bows. It will be more cost effective for you doing it this way. You can buy ready-made bows or use pull-bows for an easy and very effective decoration. Again, just fix the ribbon or bow with a Glue Dot.
  • If you're feeling a little bit more adventurous you could make the box yourself. There are lots of templates around, but if you have to make lots it could take a lot of time.

Choose Favours That Don't Need A Bag Or Box

One easy way to have cheap wedding favours is to go for gifts or sweets that don't need to be packaged. These types of gifts are either already wrapped up or can work on their own, therefore you don't need a favour box or bag.

Literally, think outside the box! Candles, photoframes, plants and pre-packaged chocolates don't need a bag or box and so you'll save a fortune. Just finish off with a personal message to the guest and you're done.

The Final Twist

If you really want to save on your wedding favours, I'd suggest not having any at all. The last four weddings I've been to have had no wedding favours, including my own. It's becoming more and more acceptable, and I don't think anyone noticed or cared.

So, dare to be different and consider having no favours at all.

Top 10 Cheap Wedding Favours

Vote for your top budget wedding favour....

Homemade chocolate truffles

Easy, cost effective and very yummy!3 points

Little seedlings with a personalised message

Allow your guests to watch your love grow.2 points

Personalised cookies

Yummy scrummy!1 point

Wedding Marketing

Wedlock Magazine, the marketing journal for the we more...1 point

Sugared almonds

Traditional and simple.0 points

Cookie cutters

Simplicity at it's best.0 points

Hersey Kisses

Kiss, kiss!0 points

Tealight holders

Cheap and cheerful!0 points

Shot glasses

Becoming more popular.0 points

Personalised painted seashells

Easy if you live by the beach!0 points

Memory CD of the day

Treasure those memories.0 points

Favours: Yes or no?

Have favours had their day? Will your guests really miss them if you don't provide them? Tell us what you think in this quick poll. Should you fork out a couple of hundred pounds or dollars on something that guests probably won't even take home?

Loading poll. Please Wait...

Our Link List

Cheap Wedding Success
Tips and ideas to help you plan and create the perfect cheap wedding.
Ideas For Cheap Wedding Favours
Whether you're making your wedding favours yourself or need to find budget options, this lens will kickstart your ideas!
Wedding Invitation Ideas
Free wedding invitation templates and designs for creative DIY brides. Simply follow the step-by-step instructions and print them out for cheap, but stunning wedding invitations.
Negotiate Your Way A Cheap Wedding
Discover tips and techiques to save on your wedding by using negotiation. Winning strategies that have been tried and tested by other brides.
Chat About Cheap Weddings
Join the Cheap Wedding Success Forum and discover the secrets of other budget brides.
Cheap Wedding Success Directory
Find hundreds of suppliers offering great value for money wedding products or services. From favours to photographers, they're listed, so come on in!
Chat About All Things Wedding
Chat with other budget brides in the Cheap Wedding Success Forum. Share, help and be helped with all your wedding dilemmas.
Wedding Anniversary Ideas
Got an anniversary coming up? Get a creative gift for your loved one with these ideas. There's also help with party planning, speeches and understanding the meaning of your anniversary.
Modern Wedding Ideas & Inspiration
What to be different? Then check out these modern wedding ideas including all the latest trends in vintage, retro, country and alternative weddings.

Latest Cheap Wedding News

Loading

Let me know what you think!

  • missyharrell Jul 20, 2010 @ 8:58 am | delete
    I really like your wedding favor ideas! Thanks for sharing this very informative lens! :)
    Flower Girl Dresses
  • Susan52 Jan 4, 2009 @ 4:15 pm | delete
    I think some of the most popular favors are homemade. You can be very unique and creative that way. I like your ideas!
  • WG-Tiaras Dec 16, 2008 @ 12:16 pm | delete
    Thanks for submiting your lens in to the Wedding Planning Group, we only accept wedding related lenses of a high standard into the group, so we wanted to say congratulations and welcome. Feel free to submit any other wedding related lens you may own. The Wedding Planning Group is sponsered by Wedding And Gems Tiaras and Jewellery
  • Pastiche Feb 9, 2008 @ 1:25 pm | delete
    I love weddings, and I love saving money. Lensrolled and 5 stars!

    Don't forget the wee ones if you will have children at your wedding. An inexpensive favor for children is a colouring book of wedding pages and a small package of colored pencils or crayons.

by

mrsnicolaray

Nicola loves all things weddings and is the owner of Cheap Wedding Success - a website dedicated to planning and creating the perfect cheap wedding. more »

Feeling creative? Create a Lens!