Ideas for a cheap wedding favor are welcomed by budget mindful couples. All it takes is a bit of ingenuity, research and a hands-on willingness for a creative approach. You'll be rewarded with great favors and a healthy wedding budget.
Cheap Wedding Favor Ideas
Party favors have grown to be a traditional component of wedding celebrations, but they are also an additional expense. If you're in the market for cheap wedding favors, you may be happy to learn that couples can cut this expense
Affordable Wedding Favor Ideas
When it comes to low-cost wedding favors, a creative mind and vivid imagination can open the door to making wedding favors more affordable, while creating special memories in the process. Instead of thinking of your favors as "cheap," think of them as unique and special. Whether you put them together as a do-it-yourself project or you take the time to shop frugally to find the right favors for your special day, saving money on wedding favors does not mean they have to be junky.
An Overview of Inexpensive Favors
Almost anything can qualify as a wedding favor, and with the cost of the celebration overall, the more inexpensive the favors, the better. Try:
- Tea lights or candles (if you have the time and you're willing to learn, you can even make your own)
- Scented soaps (another favor you can make yourself with a little bit of research)
- Candy, mints, or cookies
- Keychains that are either obviously wedding-related or just related to the season in which you were married or the theme of your wedding, like those found at Little Things Favors
- Small photo albums
- Bath products (again, make your own and save money), including bath bombs or salts
- Packages of gourmet coffee
- Potpourri in a sachet
- Pens or pencils with a message or your names or a wedding-themed pen that displays a new message in a window on the side every time it's clicked
- Bookmarks that fit with the theme of your wedding
- Packets of flower seeds
- Small bottles of bubbles
- In-season fresh fruit
- Event or movie tickets, which may be more affordable in bulk, and works best if everyone lives in the same area
- Children's toys, like beach balls for a beach wedding or fairies/princesses/swans for a fairy tale wedding
- Lucky elephant figurines (trunk pointed up)
- Lucky bamboo plants
- Fortune cookies
- Handheld paper fans in your wedding colors
- Coasters
- Cookie cutters (heart-shaped is a good choice)
Cheap Candy Favors
Shop in the party section of a large store for bonbonniere bags, those tiny organza bags ideal for holding favors in typical wedding fashion. Fill them with one of the following candies and tie them with a pretty ribbon and favor tag marking the date.
- Foil covered chocolates
- Jordan almonds
- Cookie Dough Bites
- Jelly Beans
- Candy coins
- Lemon drops
- Cinnamon Disks
- Mints
More Easy and Cheap Favors
Candy isn't the only cheap favor that's easy to create. Get inspired by this list of affordable favors for any wedding:
- Potpourri: If you want something other than candy, shop for small baskets, miniature buckets, or decorative tins that can hold potpourri.
- Votives: Look for glass votives for small candles to be your favors. For a more unique approach, try fairy tale castle candle holders or other shaped candle holders for your favors.
- Small picture frames: Small picture frames do double-duty by serving as both a table place card holder and a favor.
- Music: Guests are sure to appreciate receiving a CD filled with the bride and groom's favorite music. CDs and cases can be purchased at discount stores, office supply stores or online. Music can be burned onto the discs on a home computer, and you can use your personal printer to print out pictures to insert into the CD case.
Cheap Wedding Favors for Themed Weddings
You may think themed wedding favors would be harder to find at affordable prices, but that doesn't have to be the case.
- Beach weddings: Look for small flip flop picture frames, add a small collection of sea shells to favor bags, or fill small jars with layers of colored sand to create cheap favors.
- Valentine weddings: Heart shaped tins filled with cinnamon hearts or Wedding Conversation Candy Hearts make budget-friendly favors.
- Spring weddings: Consider a living gift, such as a small potted plant, to keep the favor budget in check. Purchase flats of blooming annuals from the local nursery or home improvement center and repot into small pots or containers. Wrap with silver foiled paper and tie with a ribbon. The container part is unimportant since it will be wrapped, and your guests will most likely be planting them in their gardens anyway.
- Christmas weddings: It's easy to find Christmas themed favors because it is such a big holiday. Look for Christmas party favors and you'll come across goody bags, all ready filled with holiday treats that can easily be used as wedding favors.
Shopping for Discount Wedding Favors
Your local party warehouse is a great source for cheap wedding favors. There, you'll find wedding favors to suit all budgets. From porcelain potpourri containers to lead crystal vases, you're sure to find something elegant and affordable.
Discount dollar stores are a good place to find the basics needed to create cheap wedding favors. The downside of shopping at these stores is that amounts of merchandise may be limited and result in the need to visit more than one store location to get enough supplies to furnish favors for your wedding celebration.
To find a selection of several types of inexpensive or discount wedding favors online, try:
Favors for Less
Coming up with ideas for wedding favors that cost less may take a little more work, but for couples on a budget, it's well worth the effort. Look at it as an opportunity to add a personal element that makes your celebration a little more special.
