Wedding favors for a memorable destination wedding should reflect the ambience of your exciting venue. Whether your wedding celebration takes place surrounded by the sophisticated streets of Paris or against the rustic beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains, you can find the perfect wedding favors for your guests.
Destination Wedding Favors and Cost
Planning a destination wedding is often less stressful than planning a traditional wedding. If your wedding package doesn't include favors, you can easily take care of this detail with minimal stress as well.
Decide on how much you are able and willing to spend on favors. Typically destination weddings have fewer people at the ceremony and reception than traditional weddings. For this reason, a bride and groom may be able to pay a bit more for various wedding items, including favors, than if there were more people attending.
Alternately, if there are many people attending your destination wedding, or if you chose this type of nuptial celebration to keep your costs down, you can certainly give a wonderful favor without blowing your budget.
Universal Destination Favors
There are a number of small gifts that can be used almost universally for destination wedding favors. Naturally these range in price depending on the retailer, item, and materials. Some of these more universal favors include:
Luggage Tags
Reflecting the travel element of the wedding, luggage tags are both practical and lovely. You can choose from leather, silver, and much more. You can either choose a simple shape and style, or choose a more individual motif. For example, give a nautical theme luggage tag for a cruise ship or beach wedding.
Mini Travel Cases
Mini travel cases are another great universal destination favor. You could choose empty travel cases and fill with a traditional favor, such as mints, Jordan almonds, or candy. Or, you can choose travel sets such as men's shaving sets and women's manicure travel sets for individual guests. Look for colors that compliment your wedding theme and add a pretty ribbon. Mini sports bags, backpacks, or luggage bags can also be given as gifts in themselves, or filled with treats as above.
Sun Sets
If you are traveling to a sunny location for your wedding, your destination wedding favors could be small set of sunny day needs -- a mini bottle of sunscreen, a pair of inexpensive sunglasses, and a colorful water bottle. Group attractively on the reception tables, and you're sure to have an eye-catching favor your guests will love.
Travel Scents
Boxed travel candles, travel incense sets, scented luggage sachets, and mini bottles of room fragrance spray are another favor idea that will work for most destination weddings. Choose scents and colors that go with your wedding. Your guests will be left feeling pampered with your thoughtful favor.
Mini Photo Albums
Giving a mini photo album will be appreciated by your guests for a destination wedding. Their memories of the wedding and the trip will have a place to be displayed and remembered. Photo albums with a slot for a front picture can also double as place card holders.
Destination Specific Favors
Although you can personalize a more universal favor with your choice of color, design, motif, and even personalized engraving, you may want something that is even more customized to your wedding.
Destination wedding favors can be made, purchased, or designed to fit the atmosphere or locale of your ceremony and reception.
Consider if one of the following motifs fits your wedding and would be appropriate for your destination favor:
- Beach themed wedding favors
- Tropical or Island wedding favors
- Western Wedding favors
- Mountain wedding favors
- Country wedding favors
- Ski-related favors
- Casino related favors for Las Vegas Weddings
- Nautical favors for cruise ship weddings
- Historical or antique themed favors
- Disney wedding favors for a Florida or Disneyworld wedding
For special locations, consider:
- A bakery or confectionary favor from the region
- A small bottle of spices used in the region's cooking
- For different countries, a small flag or other symbol
- Small local art or cultural items -- pottery, woven napkins, jewelery
- Standard wedding favors personalized with the language or images of the region
More Tips
- Purchasing favors at your arrival destination will be less to pack. To save stress, order ahead of time so favors are ready for your wedding. Some companies can arrange for favors as part of your destination wedding package.
- If you do decide to pack favors, you may want to stay away from glass, breakable items, and chocolate or food items that may not arrive intact.
- If your guests will be few, you may wish to skip the favors altogether and instead pay for your guests' post-wedding breakfast or other meal along with a card of thanks for attending.
