In the traditional wedding favour offering of sugared almonds, Italian tradition dictates that the bittersweet almond represents life’s ups and downs, and the sweet coating represents the couple’s wish for their life to be sweet. It’s a lovely sentiment, but unfortunately we’ve all been to too many weddings where the organza bags on tables go largely untouched. And what’s the point of edible wedding favours that don’t get eaten?
Wedding favours are meant to be tokens of thanks for your guests; just a little something to show them how much you appreciate them being a part of your special day. So often, though, favours – whether they’re sugared almonds or non edible wedding favours – don’t get used. When weddings cost a not insignificant amount of money to throw, you want to make sure you’re spending your money on something that your guests will actually take away with them. (I think a good rule of thumb is that if it can't be eaten, drunk or used practically, it’s probably best avoided.)
In this way, edible wedding favours are even better: because your guests don’t even have to remember to take them away after all the drinking and dancing. They can eat them and enjoy them right there and then, with no waste in sight.
So here’s 8 of my favourite edible wedding favours, to give you some ideas and inspiration for your big day…
Delicious alternative edible wedding favours
If it ain’t broke…
Truffles
Truffles are a classic, classy way to end a meal – but why not gift them to your guests as they sit down? My silky cake truffles are decadent without being cloying, so you can’t blame them for not letting them last til tea and coffee…
Themed cookies to match your cake or stationery
If your wedding has a particular visual theme, like a marble pattern or a specific colour palette, then you could serve your guests delicious bagged cookies decorated in the same way. This works especially well if you have a motif or monogram that’s run throughout your decor, and can continue in cookie format. (For example, Katherine and Dan had a bird themed wedding cake, for which I painted some bird decorations. These could have made really cute biscuit favours, too!)
Brownies
I mean…they’re delicious. Enough said!
Edible wedding favours that double up
Two birds with one stone…
Alcohol miniatures
Give your guests a miniature serving of your tipple of choice. My lovely couple Aleysha and Jack did this, using their own home-flavoured gin as their edible wedding favours. Even better, they also incorporated it into an activity during the reception, where they had a Gin and Tonic station complete with tonics and different aromatics. They encouraged their guests to take their mini flavoured gin up to the table and pimp their perfect G&T, which is a great way of making sure that all the favours were appreciated and used up on the day!
Place name cookies
As well as matching your cookies to your cake or stationery like above, why not use them as your place names? Each cookie can be painted or embossed with the guest’s name and, once they’ve found their seat, they can get rid of all the evidence!
Unusual edible wedding favours
Surprise and delight…
Hot sauce
If you’re well known as a couple who like to add a little spice, then why not give your guests bottles of hot sauce as favours? If it’s good enough for Beyoncé to have in her bag, it’s certainly good enough for me. Just keep an eye out for it sneaking on to some full Englishes the next morning…
Jars of homemade curd or ganache
This is one of my favourite ideas for edible wedding favours, because it feels so luxurious and decadent: miniature jars of homemade curd or silky ganache. Either choose the same flavours as your cake, or go for a completely different one: I offer homemade lemon, raspberry or passionfruit curd, as well as a chocolate ganache and a gooey salted caramel. They’re totally naughty, in the very best sense of the word.
(Of course, these might not fit as neatly into the ‘can be consumed right there and then’ point that I made earlier. They are delicious when taken home and eaten on toast, or with ice cream, or with anything else you might want to elevate with a delicious punch of flavour. However, they can be eaten on the day – as proven by Gem & Josh, who made the incredible decision to have little pots of caramel as part of their wedding day dessert table at The Fire Pit Camp.)
Local delicacy
Or perhaps you can take inspiration from your setting for your edible favours. If lots of your guests have travelled from abroad, you might want to treat them to a delicacy that the region is famous for. Alternative you could get hyperlocal; for example, you could find a local honey from nearby, so your guests might even be able to see the beautiful countryside that contributed to it.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to edible wedding favours, so if you have any ideas you want to bring to life, please do get in touch; I’d love to hear what you’re thinking. Just like nobody puts Baby in the corner – nobody leaves a Sugar Buttons favour on the table!