Easy, Inexpensive Wedding Party Favors Guests Will Actually Love

When it comes to wedding planning, there are about a million things to think about. It’s no wonder that so many couples become super stressed as their wedding date approaches. For many of those couples, the most stressful parts are all of the little things that suddenly pile up right before the wedding. One of those things that frequently piles up is the need to find and buy or make wedding party favors.

However, wedding party favors don’t need to be stressful. In this post, I’ll discuss whether you even need wedding party favors. And, for those who decide they want party favors, I’ll go over easy, inexpensive wedding party favor ideas. I hope these ideas provide inspiration while reducing stress and costs!

Should You Give Wedding Party Favors?

First things first, do you even need to give wedding party favors? In recent years, couples have started to question many of the wedding traditions that are expensive but don’t always add a lot to the celebrations. One of those things is party favors.

On average, couples spend $450 on party favors and gifts for their wedding party. Some estimates for just party favors have that closer to $250, while popular wedding planners advocate spending $10-$20 per person! Yikes! So party favors can end up costing a big chunk of money.

However, how many party favors have you actually kept? Do you even remember what they were? Wedding party favors rarely leave a big enough impression to merit their costs. Plus, with many individuals embracing a more minimalist and less consumerist lifestyle, party favors can end up feeling, if anything, somewhat burdensome. Wedding guests often admit that they throw party favors away or resent the clutter they create.

Why You May Want to Give Wedding Party Favors

At the same time, many couples enjoy the tradition of giving party favors. Party favors can also enhance your theme and the ambience of your wedding if they are planned well. Plus, they can remind guests of the fun they had at your wedding.

So if you don’t have strong feelings about party favors or if you prefer to not give them, you should feel free to skip this tradition. Likewise, if your budget is tight and/or if you don’t have any ideas for favors you’re excited about, then it will save you time and money to skip this tradition.

In contrast, if you are excited about the idea of party favors and have the budget for it, then you might use one of the easy, affordable wedding party favor ideas below. For my wedding, I preferred to not give out party favors. However, my fiancée likes the tradition and feels strongly enough about it that we’ve decided to give out favors. We’ll probably go with option 1 or 12 for our wedding in April 2025!

Easy, Inexpensive Wedding Party Favors

For those wanting to give out party favors, you have a wide variety of options. In general, avoid giving out party favors that don’t have any use beyond being decorative. TBH, those will likely just get thrown away.

Even for party favors with a use, think critically about whether guests will truly enjoy them. For example, personalized soap is a popular option. However, how often have you ever used and enjoyed inexpensive, decorative soap? I know that any time I’ve used cheap, pretty bars of soap, they’ve left me feeling sticky and uncomfortable. And will your aunts, uncles, and even friends use those personalized shot glasses? I’m guessing I’m not alone in having a bunch of decorative shot glasses that haven’t seen the light of day in years.

Generally, guests prefer party favors that are consumable or that fit some kind of need they have. For example, I’m marrying into a family of Midwesterners who love playing games and my Dad also comes from a family of Midwesterners who love playing games (what is it about the Midwest and games!?) So we often could use decks of cards at family events. That makes idea #12 actually pretty useful for many people at our wedding.

Of course, what is useful and enjoyable to you and your guests likely varies. The point is, think critically about what favors will actually be appreciated by your guests and what favors will likely get relegated to the back of a cupboard or the garbage bin before you purchase anything.

1. Give Out Bags or Boxes of Your Favorite Candy

For me and Andrew, our favorite party favors that we ever received from a wedding were bags of candy. The bride and groom had bags of his favorite candy, her favorite candy, and their favorite candy. We especially loved this because their favorite candy also happened to be our favorite candy (Reese’s peanut butter cups!)

You can save on this option by bulk buying your favorite candy at your local grocery store. Then purchase gift bags and personalized stickers and assemble the bags yourselves. I am obsessed with gift bags that left you put a picture of your pet on them! For a slightly easier and more expensive option, you can purchase bags that already have personalized stickers on them. You still have to fill the bags yourself, however.

2. Put Nice Truffles in Decorative Boxes

For my older sister’s wedding, she purchased truffles from Costco and put them in handmade boxes that my mom very generously crafted. You can make this an easier option by purchasing beautiful little gift boxes from places like Amazon, Etsy, and The Knot. Then, bulk buy candies or truffles at Costco or Sam’s Club. Or, for a more expensive option, purchase truffles from your favorite chocolatier. I’m very partial to See’s Candies!

3. Personalized Chocolates Make Great Wedding Party Favors

For a simple, elegant favor, you can buy personalized chocolates. You can find individually wrapped chocolates that are wrapped in gold, silver, or a variety of other colors that can match your color scheme. One hundred of these gold plated chocolates will only cost you about $50, so you can buy these as a standalone favor or add them to a gift bag of other items if you want to get fancier.

4. Customized Candy

Similarly, you can purchase personalized M&Ms, Hershey Bars and Kisses, candy hearts, and a wide range of other options. Depending on the option you go with and how you personalize them (personalization stamped on the candy itself or just on the packaging), these can range from less to more expensive. However, if you and your partner love a particular candy, this can be a fun, easy option.

5. Personalized or Heart Shaped Tea

There are so many great options for this idea. I especially love these glass bottles of loose-leaf tea that end up being about $1.50 a piece if you’re ordering 100 of them. You can also buy heart-shaped tea bags with personalized tags. Or, for the simplest and generally cheapest option, standard tea bags with personalized packaging.

6. Personalized Hot Sauce Is a Fun Option for Unconventional Wedding Party Favors

A lot of edible party favors veer towards the sweet side. But sometimes you and your partner are more of the savory/spicy variety, in terms of taste and/or personality! For these couples, personalized hot sauce might be the perfect option. Some brands like Tabasco allow you to purchase big boxes of hot sauce with your logo on the back of the bottle. And bonus, it’s only $100 for 144 bottles! You will still have the Tabasco label on the front of the bottle, however.

If you prefer more customization, you can purchase bottles of personalized hot sauce that are assembled for you (about $2.13 a piece for 100 bottles).

7. Bags of Popcorn for a Healthy, Cheap Option

Similar to the bag of candy option above, you can purchase gift bags and personalized stickers. However, instead of filling the bags with candy, fill them with unpopped popcorn. Unpopped popcorn is generally super cheap. Plus, it’s easy to make on the stovetop in any pot with a lid. And it’s a healthy snack. So if you prefer savory or healthy snacks, this is a great option.  

8. Personalized Matchbooks

I love this idea because it feels a little throwback in such a great way. Maybe it’s because my parents gave out personalized matchbooks at their wedding. You can go with really simple designs that include just your names and wedding dates, to much more intricate options with a variety of details and design elements. Either way, there is a design that can fit your theme and personalities.

9. Personalized Wine Glass Charms Do Double Duty as Wedding Party Favors and Seat Labels

If you want your favors to do double duty, consider giving out personalized favors that also serve as seating labels. Wine glass charms are a great option for that. Similar to many of the other options here, you can vary this from more simple to more complex. For a simpler and less expensive option, you can go for these adorable wooden wine charms. A more expensive option is to purchase wire charms that are molded into the name of each person. The difference generally ranges from $0.50 per charm for a simpler option to over $3.00 per charm for a more complex one.

10. Coasters: Practical and Inexpensive

I don’t know about you, but coasters are often something I could use more of for entertaining. There are tons of great online stores with beautiful, customized coaster designs. If you want to get even more creative, try designing your own coasters! I’ve talked about how much I love the graphic design website Canva. It’s simple and easy to use and you can create and print your own coasters! By creating your own designs, you can often save money while still creating something that perfectly fits your theme.

11. Seed Papers Are Beautiful, Eco-Friendly Wedding Party Favors

Personally I love these heart-shaped personalized seed papers. For 100 guests, they end up being about $0.75 each (pre-tax and shipping). Plus, personalization is free. They’re small, easy to pack for out-of-towners, and fit the theme well for a spring or outdoor wedding. Not to mention, kids and adults will enjoy the novelty.

12. Playing Cards – Fun and (Sort of) Practical

As I mentioned above, playing cards are a favor that many people in my and my partner’s family would actually love. Customized playing cards can range from a couple of dollars a pack to $10+ each depending on how fancy you want to get with the customization. Most options fall in the $3.50 a pack range if you want your picture on it, with names or initials and a simple design falling closer to the $2-$2.50 range.

13. Custom Koozies

Custom koozies are right on that line of, will people use these or not? It really depends on your guests. If you have a lot of older relatives and/or kids coming, then mayyybe not. If your wedding skews younger and outdoor entertaining is big in your friend group, this can be a great option.

It also happens to be a very inexpensive option. For the cheapest options, look for companies that create promotional products for companies. Often their prices are way better than a company that caters to weddings and parties. If you want something cute or elegant and don’t want to put in any design time, many Etsy and specialized wedding companies like The Knot Shop have cute options.

14. Bookmarks – A Cute Favor for Bookworm-Friendly Weddings

Like koozies, the usefulness of this option will depend on your guests. However, I love this adorable and somewhat unconventional option for the right audience. The cool thing about bookmarks is that you have a huge amount of freedom for customization, from very artsy designs to simple options. Plus, they are usually very cheap even for highly designed bookmarks.

For example, you can create your own designs on Canva, Adobe Photoshop, even Powerpoint (just save a slide as a jpeg or png) and print them from a company like Print Runner. You can make your bookmarks have rounded edges, a matte finish, a hole for a tassel, and so much more. If you want to spend more, you can get metal or leather bookmarks, bookmarks personalized to each guest to use as seat markers, the list goes on and on.

15. Travel Size Lip Balm and Hand Lotion – Wedding Party Favors Travelers Will Actually Want

Everyone needs lip balm and hand lotion. For guests who have traveled, these gifts are probably especially useful. You can bulk buy name brand lip balms from Costco, Sams Club, and a variety of online retailers. Similarly, you can find bulk bundles of travel size hand lotion on places like Amazon. You can wrap these two items together with a little ribbon or twine or put them in a gift bag for your guests.

16. Hangover Kits for a Tongue-in-Cheek Favor

A hangover kits works great for a wedding or bachelor/bachelorette party. For this, you can get standard gift bags or gift bags that are specifically designed for hangover kits, saying things like “Did You Die?”, “I Regret Nothing,” and “Wedding Recovery Kit.”

Then fill the bags with items that are helpful for a hangover and preferably things you can cheaply bulk buy at Costco, Sam’s Club, Amazon, etc. For example, you could include Liquid IV and/or Emergen-C, coffee or tea packets, ibuprofen, lip balm, etc.

17. Luggage Tags for Travel-Loving Guests

For guests who have traveled (or like traveling in general), luggage tags are a fun option. I personally prefer luggage tags that are not personalized. For example, luggage tags that say “And so the adventure begins” are a popular option for weddings that also work for travelers in the future. You could also customize a design that includes a heart or some other symbol of your wedding.

I’d personally feel weird using a luggage tag that has the names of other people on it. But you do you!

18. Personalized Water Bottle Stickers

These days, practically all of us carry a water bottle everywhere. And it has become very popular to adorn our water bottles with fun stickers. Consequently, personalized stickers that you can put on a water bottle, laptop, or other item can be an inexpensive and fun party favor for all ages.

You can design stickers that are specifically made to be waterproof and work on water bottles. You can make your own stickers on Canva. Or, for the easiest option, you can use pre-designed templates and just give the seller your customization details.

19. Personalized Magnets

I can personally always use magnets. We have way more cards and pictures on our fridge than we have magnets. Magnets can be a practical and surprisingly beautiful option for wedding party favors. From beautiful resin designs to magnets with your favorite picture on them, you can find a lot of great options for relatively cheap.

20. Personalized Notepads or Sticky Notes – Practical and Cheap

Lately, personalized notepads have taken off as a cute and reasonably affordable wedding party favor option. However, I prefer personalized sticky notes for their added practicality. Even as a writer I don’t use notepads often, but many of us use sticky notes for grocery lists, reminders, and more. Either way, depending on your guests’ interests and preferences, these can make fun and practical gifts they’ll keep going back to.

21. Scratch Off Tickets Are Fun Party Favors

You can purchase $1 or $5 scratch off tickets, depending on your price range. Also remember to provide each guest with a penny to use for scratching off! Guests will love having a little activity they can do during transition moments in the wedding and they might even win some money! Keep in mind that scratch off tickets can leave dusty residue, so be mindful of whether that will be a problem with, for example, any rental linens.

Considerations for Party Favors

As you are deciding what kind of party favors to give out, keep in mind a few helpful pointers. First, how many people will be traveling to your wedding and how will they be getting there? For people who are traveling and especially those who are traveling far, anything bulky or fragile might be tough to take home. Likewise, liquid or semi-liquid items might be a no-go for travelers coming with only carry-ons.

Second, will there be a lot of kids at your wedding? Will you offer the same party favors for kids and adults and, if so, are your party favors kid-appropriate (i.e. not something like small bottles of alcohol)?

Third, what do you expect the weather to be like? If you’re having an outdoor wedding in the middle of the summer, then maybe those chocolate truffles are not your best bet unless you have a way of ensuring they won’t melt.

And finally, who is bringing the party favors to the venue and how much space and bandwidth do they have? If you’ll be bringing the party favors to the venue yourself, you might want something easy to pack and transport given that you’ll likely have many other things to bring with you.

Final Thoughts on Easy, Inexpensive Wedding Party Favors

As your wedding date gets closer, tasks and expenses tend to pile up. For the things you can control, it’s nice to make them as easy and inexpensive as possible. Or even eliminate those things from your list in the first place! I hope this post has provided helpful inspiration to solve all your wedding party favor woes, whether it provided validation for not giving out wedding party favors or providing helpful ideas that can save you time and money.

Which of these is your favorite idea? Have you seen wedding party favors that you especially loved? Let me know in the comments!

Interested in related content? Check out my complete guide to wedding planning, how to save money on your wedding, wedding decorations on a budget, the best wedding diet and workout plan for you, and a guide to micro weddings and elopements. And if you enjoyed this post, please consider liking, subscribing, or sharing. It’s always a huge help!