Fresh Ideas for Custom Wedding Favors

I’m getting married in just a couple weeks (commence bridal freak-out; Jag founder – aka Father of the Bride – has been in a mild state of panic since the engagement) — and that means in between working on client projects, I’ve been deeply entrenched in the world of weddings and bridal blogs and Pinterest. And something I’ve noticed in that time is a lot of overlap between certain elements of the wedding planning process, and what we do here at Jag Forms.

Even T-Jag is ready to walk down the aisle!

For example: custom wedding invitations and ceremony programs? That’s commercial printing. We do that. (And we certainly printed all the collateral for my wedding, as well as for one of my best friends back in September).

Wedding favors? Those are essentially promotional products — and you can bet we’re producing the favors for my wedding, as well as that friend who got hitched back in September. (And for my soon-to-be brother-in-law’s wedding earlier this year, too!)

Now, when it comes to wedding favors, you can only stand so many Jordan Almonds before you’ve had enough! Here are some of our picks for fun wedding favors based on current trends — plus a few extras we think are a little more unique:

Drinkware

Uber-trendy mason jars (with or without handles), wine glasses, or pint glasses are all great picks. If you have to source your own dishes for your wedding, these favors pull double duty as drinkware for the wedding and a take-away favor for guests.

Drink Koozies

I’ve seen these all over the Pinterest wedding page, with couples using silly puns to personalize their koozies, such as “To have and to hold and to keep your drink cold.” Silly, yes, but cute.

Sunglasses

“Don’t get blinded by our love!” proclaims a sign in one popular post on Pinterest, where custom sunglasses are the wedding favor du jour. Sunglasses are a surprisingly affordable option and come in lots of styles and colors, so you can go with a classic black “Ray Ban” style pair of shades, or coordinate with your wedding colors.

Luggage Tags

Perfect for a travel-themed wedding, or a destination wedding. There are various styles available, all at different price points. If you can afford, spring for something in a leather-like material instead of plastic. The luggage tags can even do double-duty as your escort card holders!

Tote Bags

It’s a rare person who turns down a free tote bag. I have a closet full of bags, and get plenty of samples from vendors all the time, but even I will take home a free tote bag if offered one … and then will even spend money on a new one if I like the style or design! If you have a cool design for your wedding, using it on a stylish tote bag favor is a really fun way to commemorate the big day.

Seed Packets & Seed Paper

“Watch our love grow” and other sentimental sayings are perfect to customize a favor of seeds in a custom printed packet, or the unique seed paper — which can be imprinted with a message. When they get home, your guests can plant the seed paper — and watch as a beautiful plant blooms.

More Ideas

Any of these items can be customized, and all come in a variety of styles and colors to perfectly match the mood of your wedding:

• Candles
• Chocolates & other candies
• Mint Tins
• Journals
• Bottle Openers

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the 18 months of planning my own wedding, it’s that the one element that truly makes each wedding unique is the couple itself. Otherwise, the formula for weddings are all pretty much the same. So take what makes you as a couple unique and use that to put your signature mark on the big day. That includes your favors, too! Pick something that is significant to the two of you as a couple, or that ties-in with your theme. No matter what, be creative! Our wedding has a fairy tale theme … not so conducive to a specific favor … so we took inspiration from our venue, Oregon’s Timberline Lodge, near the top of Mt. Hood. Since our wedding is in the middle of winter, and the parking lot will be piled with snow, we’re sending our guests home with useful custom ice scrapers!

More For Your Wedding

Here are other items often used for weddings that we can provide fully customized:

• Cocktail Napkins
• Matchbooks
• Invitations
• Programs
• Return Address Stamps
• Embossers