Wedding favors sound like one of the sweeter parts of planning a reception, but what you find cute and what guests find cute are usually two completely different things. The sad reality is that, unfortunately, plenty of favors end up forgotten on tables, abandoned in hotel rooms, or thrown away the following morning.
The problem isn't that guests expect an expensive present, either—it’s just that most people would rather leave empty-handed than take home something they'll never use. If you're determined to send everyone off with a little gift, avoiding these particularly unpopular choices is a good place to start.
Trinkets Nobody Asked For
Fotógrafo Samuel Cruz on Unsplash
Putting your names and wedding date on something might make it feel special to you, but there’s no guarantee that guests will keep it as a permanent reminder on their coffee table. Monogrammed shot glasses, engraved keychains, and tiny picture frames quickly turn into clutter once the wedding glow wears off.
And that’s not even where the customization ends. You can stick your name on just about everything these days, including seemingly practical items like candles. While they aren't necessarily terrible, they’re tougher to justify when the label’s dominated by a giant photo of the bride and groom. Don’t forget: few people want to display somebody else's wedding branding in their bathroom.
Bottle openers shaped like keys, hearts, flip-flops, anchors, or whatever else matches the wedding theme have also had a very long run. Guests already own bottle openers, and the tiny decorative versions aren't better than the ones in their kitchen drawers.
While we’re still in the kitchen, magnets with engagement photos suffer from an even bigger problem; they expect guests to give up precious real estate on the fridge door. Your parents may happily stick your smiling faces beside their grocery list, but distant cousins won't feel the same obligation.
Edible Favors
Let’s save everyone the time and be honest with each other: guests have more than enough free food at a wedding! That’s why they don’t need Jordan almonds, which remain one of the classic wedding favors. For those unfamiliar, these sugar-coated almonds have appeared in little mesh bags at weddings for generations, and plenty of guests leave them untouched.
Don’t think that homemade food is a winner, either. Guests will probably hesitate over homemade jam, infused oil, hot sauce, or pickles when they aren't sure how carefully everything was prepared. Not to mention, giving 150 people something perishable also creates a ton of unnecessary work right before your wedding.
Cookies, too, get plenty of attention, but they’re best avoided if you’re planning to plaster them with your fondant faces! The same goes for chocolates molded into initials, wedding dresses, engagement rings, or elaborate romantic shapes. A regular bakery cookie will disappear faster than something guests feel compelled to photograph before cautiously biting someone's forehead off.
Surprisingly enough, cheap miniature bottles aren't automatically a crowd-pleaser either. Tiny containers of syrup, honey, or seasoning can look cute lined up beside the guest book, but out-of-towners can't pack liquids. Anyone flying home may decide your artisanal maple syrup simply isn't worth negotiating airport security.
Favors That Create More Trouble Than They're Worth
Sometimes, couples stretch their favors into items they think everyone else will love. Take succulents, for example. They became hugely popular favors because they photograph well and initially seem more useful than another keychain. The thing is, every guest now has to keep a plant alive, transport it home, and find somewhere to put it. Anyone staying in a hotel or catching a flight the next morning will probably abandon a new botanical responsibility, too.
Seed packets are another well-intentioned option that assumes every guest has both a garden and the desire to use it. But apartment dwellers and black thumbs aren't necessarily thrilled about another horticultural assignment. Certain seeds can also be inappropriate for particular climates, or dangerous for pets!
Now, novelty sunglasses, temporary tattoos, glow sticks, and plastic props sometimes make sense during the reception itself. However, they become less charming when presented as favors guests are expected to take home. Let everyone wear ridiculous heart-shaped glasses on the dance floor, take the photos, and leave the plastic behind. That kind of stuff isn’t really a treasured memento.
Before we wrap up, perhaps most important to remember is that anything with glitter deserves careful consideration. Glitter-covered candles, ornaments, frames, and decorative containers have a special talent for shedding onto clothing. That stuff will also probably wind up in cars, floors, and luggage. Nobody wants the memory of your wedding to show up three weeks later.
Ultimately, the best favor is something guests can eat immediately, use easily, or comfortably decline without feeling guilty. Good chocolates, quality cookies, coffee, or even a late-night snack for the ride home will usually receive more enthusiasm than another object stamped with two names and a wedding date. And if nothing feels quite right, skipping favors altogether is perfectly reasonable!
