5 Wedding Favors Your Guests Secretly Hate

They won't admit it, but these favors are going straight to the back of the desk drawer.

5 Wedding Favors Your Guests Secretly Hate

By Megan Simpson

wedding-favors-your-guests-secretly-hate
Photo: Ira Lippke Studios


The debate rages on over the pros and cons of providing your guests with favors at the end of your wedding as a reminder of your nuptials. Some couples believe this wedding gift to guests is essential, while others choose to nix the idea in favor of dessert bars, photo booths, and other take-home items.

If you do choose to offer favors to your wedding guests, discover the types of wedding favors attendees don’t want to see next to their place cards:

-  Engraved knick-knacks & trinkets. Before you spend a bunch of money on champagne flutes with your names and wedding date on them: think again. More often than not, these are the items that collect dust in the back of guests' cabinets. Your wedding was an enchanting and memorable event, but your friends and family won’t want to use or view items that have another couple’s name on them.

-  Food they have to make themselves. Mason jars filled with anything more complicated than the ingredients for s’mores may not be incredibly popular. There are, of course, guests who love receiving cookie mix and will think of your wedding fondly whilst baking said cookies, but overall, guests say “nay.” Try offering mason jars filled with pre-made treats instead.

-  Very small photo frames. Unless they’re made especially for photo booth strips, nix them. They’re charming as can be, but realistically, who wants a meaningful picture to be that small?

-  Anything that’s difficult to transport. If you have guests that flew in from out of town for the weekend, there’s a chance they didn’t check their luggage. Your cheese knife might be incredibly elegant and thoughtful, but TSA won’t necessarily think it’s as lovely as you do.

-  Foods with any kind of nut ingredient. This suggestion is especially for those having larger weddings or a number of "plus one" guests. You never know with those "common allergy" foods, so it's best to err on the side of caution.

Remember: some guests will accidentally leave their wedding favor behind, so it’d also be in your best interest to not splurge too much should you choose to give out favors – or at least be prepared to eat a lot more toffee than you might have planned! For more ideas on the subject, consider the pros and cons of wedding favors and discover favors your guests will actually want.

Opening photo by Ira Lippke Studios

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